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University  of  California. 

FiU'>M     1  HV    ],UiK.\KV    OF 

I)R^.    FRANCIS     L]K1U::R, 
Profc?j()r  (if  History  and  Law  in  Columbia  College,  Now  York. 

THK   OII'T    OF 

MICHAEL    REESE, 

1  S  7  3  .  ■        . 


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^Si^i^SiiiiV 


OUTLINES 


OF 


UNIYERSAL    HISTORY, 


FROM     THK 


CREATION  OF  THE   WOELD 


THE    PRESENT    TIME. 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  GERMAN  OF 

Dr.   GEORGE   WEBER, 

FROFESSOR     AND     DIRECTOR     OkP     THE     HIGH     SCHOOL    OP    HEIDELBERO, 

BY 

Dr.  M.  BEHR, 
professor  op  german  literature  in  winchester  college. 


REVISED    4iND    CORRECTED,   WITH    THE    ADDITION 
OP 

A  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

BT 

FRANCIS  BO^VEN,  A.M., 

ALFORD  PROFESSOR  OF  NATURAL  RELIGIOX,   MORAL  PHILOSOPHY 
AND   CIVIL  POLITY,   IN   HARVARD   COLLEGE. 

SIXTH   EDITION. 

BOSTON: 

HICKLING,   SWAN  AND   BREWER. 

1857. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1853, 

By  Jenks,  IIickling,  and  Swan, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusettffl. 


fp^ 


PREFACE 


The  Translator  of  this  work  makes  the  following  extract 
from  the  Author's  preface  to  the  German  edition. 

"  Believing  that  a  Guide  to  History  can  answer  its  object 
only  when  it  awakens  the  interest  of  the  pupil,  stimulates 
his  desire  fot  information,  and  excites  his  zeal  for  inquiry, 
I  have  everywhere  arrayed  the  historical  material  in  a  narra- 
tive form,  and  have  endeavored  to  give  clearness,  consistency, 
and  animation  to  that  form.  My  effort  has  been  so  to  bring 
together  the  events  of  the  world's  history  in  their  more 
prominent  aspects  and  decisive  moments,  that  the  reader  may 
obtain  a  clear  idea  of  them ;  that  the  important  facts  may  be 
exhibited  together  with  their  causes  and  consequences,  and 
thus  be  more  strongly  impressed  upon  the  imagination,  and 
consequently  upon  the  memory ;  and  that  the  course  of  the 
narrative  may  not  be  disturbed  or  broken  by  interpolations 
or  remarks  which  might  require  a  further  explanation.  Instead 
of  following  the  usual  course  of  compendiums,  textbooks,  and 
outlines,  by  heaping  up  a  mass  of  materials  in  the  smallest 
possible  space,  and  thus  forming  a  kind  of  skeleton  register 
of  the  events  of  history,  I  have  rather  endeavored  to  limit 
my  materials,  giving  place  only  to  the  most  important  and 
influential,  and  arranging  these  in  historical  succession.  .  . 
.  .  Mere  historical  events,  with  names  and  dates,  are  not 
easily  retained  by  the  memory,  and  do  not  possess  any  in- 
structive or  educative  power.  It  is  only  when  the  historical 
fact  is  presented  in    combination  with  other   objects,  so   that 


IV  PREFACE. 

the  imagination  and  thinking  faculty  are  both  employed  upon 
it,  that  it  permanently  impresses  itself  upon  the  mind  of 
youth." 

The  Translator  justly  /idds,  that  "  the  book  is  written 
throughout  in  the  spirit  of  orthodox  Protestantism,  and  is 
entirely  untinctured  with  the  neology  and  infidelity  at  this 
time  so  prevalent  in  Germany." 

Believing  that  the  method  here  explained  is  the  right  one, 
and  that  the  scheme  is,  in  the  main,  carried  out  with  fidelity 
and  spirit,  I  have  subjected  the  work  to  a  thorough  revision, 
in  the  hope  of  making  it  still  more  suitable  for  use  as  a 
textbook  of  instruction  in  American  colleges  and  schools. 
Errors  of  the  press  and  the  pen  had  been  multiplied  by  the 
translation  and  republication  of  the  book  in  England ;  and 
the  translation  itself,  though  generally  correct  and  elegant, 
was  sometimes  obscure  and  inadequate.  Accuracy  being  an 
essential  qualification  of  a  school-book,  every  paragraph  in 
these  Outlines  has  been  laboriously  examined,  and  almost 
every  name  and  date  tested  by  reference  to  trustworthy 
sources  of  information.  It  would  be  rash  to  assert  that  it  is 
now  free  from  blemish ;  but  it  is  certain  that  hundreds  of 
small  errors  have  been  weeded  out  by  this  scrutinizing  pro- 
cess. If  any  remain,  it  is  hoped  that  they  may  be  discovered 
and  removed  in  a  subsequent  edition.  A  few  notes  have 
been  added,  sometimes  to  explain,  and  sometimes  to  qualify, 
statements  in  the  text. 

One  very  important  defect  was  to  be  supplied  before  Dr. 
Weber's  work  could  be  considered  worthy  of  republication 
in  America.  Except  an  imperfect  sketch  of  the  Revolutionary 
war,  contained  in  four  or  five  pages,  the  history  of  this 
country  was  entirely  omitted.  The  gap  thus  left  might  have 
been  cheaply  filled  by  transcription  and  a  judicious  use  of 
the  scissors ;  but  as  the  book  would  then  have  lacked  unity 
of  execution,  I  preferred  to  write  out  anew  a  sketch  of  the 
history  of  the  United  States,  from  the  period  of  the  first  set- 
tlements at  Jamestown  and  Plymouth,  down  to  the  peace  of 


PREFACE.  V 

1815.  The  addition  thus  made  is  considerable,  as  it  occupies 
nearly  one  hundred  pages,  thus  enlarging  the  bulk  of  the 
original  about  one  fifth.  It  consists  of  three  parts;  —  1.  a 
brief  history  of  the  Colonization  of  North  America  (pp.  291 
—  314) ;  2.  a  sketch  of  the  French  and  Indian  wars  during 
the  first  sixty  years  of  the  eighteenth  century,  followed  by  a 
history  of  the  War  of  Independence  and  the  formation  of 
the  Federal  Constitution  (pp.  342  -  388) ;  and,  3.  a  summary 
of  political  events  from  1789  to  1815  (pp.  468  —  491).  In 
preparing  these  historical  sketches,  I  have  sedulously  endea- 
vored to  follow  Dr.  Weber's  original  conception  of  his  work, 
by  passing  lightly  over  all  the  details,  and  grouping  together 
the  leading  events  with  a  view  to  their  causes  and  conse- 
quences. Only  in  this  manner  is  it  possible  to  preserve  the 
interest  of  a  continuous  narrative,  a  •  proper  distribution  of 
light  and  shade,  and  a  correct  appreciation  of  personages  and 
events,  in  a  mere  compend  of  history.  The  pages  that  are 
burdened  with  details  are  wearisome  to  read  and  difficult  to 
remember.  A  compend  of  history  must  be  a  true  compend, 
and  not  merely  a  complete  history  viewed  through  the  wrong 
end  of  a  telescope.  The  general  plan,  therefore,  upon  which 
these  Outlines  of  History  have  been  prepared,  I  am  convinced, 
is  a  good  one ;  time  and  use  will  bring  to  light  the  defects 
in  its  execution. 

THE  AMERICAN  EDITOR. 
Cambridge,  February,  1853. 


CONTENTS 


FIRST    BOOK. 
HISTORY  OF  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 


pp.  1—4. 

I.  §  1.  The  first  race  of  men,  p.  1.  11.  §  2.  The  manner  of  living  among  the  earliest 
races,  p.  2.  III.  §  3.  Forms  of  government ;  distinction  of  castes,  p.  2.  IV.  §  4.  The 
religion  of  the  heathen  world,  p.  3. 

A.   THE  EASTERN  RACES,  pp.  5  — 23. 

I.  §  5.  The  Asiatics,  p.  5.  II.  ^  6.  The  Chinese,  p.  6.  III.  §  7.  The  Indians,  p.  7.  §  8. 
Their  religion,  literature,  art,  p.  8.  IV.  Babylonians  and  Assyrians,  p.  10.  §  9.  Nimrod, 
Semiramis,  Salmanasser.  §  10.  The  Chaldeans  in  Babylon  ;  Nebuchadnezzar.  V. 
Egyptians,  p.  11.  §  11.  Division  of  Egypt.  §  12.  Religion  and  arts.  §  13.  History. 
VI.  Phoenicians,  p.  13.  §  14.  Navigation,  commerce,  discoveries.  §  15.  History  of  Tyre 
and  Sidon.  VII.  The  people  of  Israel,  pp.  15  —  20.  §  16.  The  Patriarchs.  §  17.  Exodus. 
§  18.  Moses  as  lawgiver.  §  19.  Division  of  the  promised  land.  §  20.  The  Judges.  §  21. 
Samuel  and  Saul.  §  22.  David ;  Solomon ;  division  of  the  kingdom.  §  23.  Worship  of 
idols ;  the  prophets.  §  24.  The  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  captivities.  VIII.  Medes  and 
Persians,  pp.  20  —  23.  §  25.  Zoroaster's  religious  system.  ^26.  Astyages  and  Cyrus. 
§  27.  Croesus  of  Lydia.  §  28.  Death  of  Cyrus.  §  29.  Cambyses ;  Ammonium.  ^  30. 
Darius.    §  31.  Manners  and  customs  of  the  Persians. 

B.  HISTORY  OF  GREECE,  pp.  23—67. 

I.  Geographical  Survey,  pp.  23  —  26.  §  32.  a.  The  Greek  Continent,  p.  23.  §  33.  b.  The 
Greek  Islands,  p.  24.    II.  §  34.  The  religion  of  the  Greeks,  p.  25. 

I.  GREECE  BEFORE  THE  PERSIAN  WAR,  pp.  26  —  38. 

I.  The  time  of  the  Trojan  war,  p.  26.  §  35.  Pelasgi ;  eastern  immigration.  §  36.  Helle- 
nic races ;  expedition  of  the  Argonauts.  §  37.  Trojan  war.  ^  38.  Homer ;  epic  poetry. 
^  39.  Immigration  of  the  Dorians ;  Codrus.  §  40.  Colonies.  2.  The  period  of  the  wise 
men  and  laAvgivers,  p.  31.    a.  General  view.    §  41.     Greeks  and  barbarians.    §  42.  Am- 


CONTENTS.  VU 

phictjonic  council ;  Delphic  oracle ;  Olympic  games,  b.  Lycurgus  the  Spartan  lawgiver, 
p.  82.  §  43.  Laws  of  Lycurgus.  a.  Institutions  of  state,  b.  Mode  of  life.  §  44.  War 
with  the  Messenians.  c.  Solon,  the  lawgiver  of  the  Athenians,  p.  34.  §  45.  Draco ;  laws 
of  Solon,  d.  The  tyrants,  p.  85.  §  46.  Their  origin.  §  47.  Periander  of  Corinth ;  Poly- 
crates  of  Samos ;  Pisistratus  of  Athens.  ^  48.  The  seven  wise  men ;  Pythagoras.  §  49. 
e.  LjTic  poetry. 

II.  THE  FLOURISHING  PERIOD  OF  GREECE,  p.  39. 

1.  The  Persian  war.  §  50.  Insurrection  of  the  Greeks  of  Asia  Minor.  §  51.  Battle  of 
JIarathon  4  ^2.  Aristides  and  Themistocles.  §  53.  Thermopylae.  §  54.  Salamis.  ^  55. 
Platasa  ;  Mycale  ;  Eurym6don.  2.  The  supremacy  of  Athens,  and  the  age  of  Pericles, 
p.  43.  §  5G.  Pausanias,  the  traitor.  ^  57.  Deaths  of  Themistocles  and  Aristides.  §  58. 
Cimon;  Pericles.  3.  The  Peloponnesian  war  (b.  c.  431  —  404),  p.  45.  §  59.  Origin  of  the 
war.  fj  60.  The  war  to  the  peace  of  Nicias.  §  61.  Alcibiades  ;  battle  of  Slantinaea. 
4  62.  Disasters  of  the  Athenians  in  Sicily.  §  63.  Death  of  Alcibiades.  ^  64.  The  fall  of 
Athens;  the  thirty  t\Tants.  4.  Socrates,  p.  48.  ^  65.  Sophists;  Socrates;  Plato;  Xeno- 
phon.  5.  §  66.  The  retreat  of  the  ten  thousand  (b.  c.  400),  p.  49.  6.  The  time  of  Agesi- 
laus  and  Epamlnondas.  §  67.  The  Corinthian  war  and  the  peace  of  Antalcidas.  §  68. 
Expedition  against  Olynthus  and  siege  of  Thebes.  ^  69.  The  Theban  war  and  the  battle 
of  Leuctra.  ^  70.  Epaminondas  in  Peloponnesus;  battle  of  Mantinaea.  7.  The  most 
flourishing  period  of  Greece  in  literature  and  the  arts.  §  71.  Dramatic  poetry;  ^schylus; 
Sophocles;  Euripides;  Ainstophanes.  ^  72.  Prose  literature;  Plato;  Herodotus;  Thucy- 
dides;  Xenophon.  ^  73.  Rhetoric;  Isocrates;  Demosthenes;  Jlschines.  ^  74.  The  fine 
arts  of  the  Greeks. 

m.  THE  MACEDONIAN  PERIOD,  p.  56. 

1.  Philip  of  Macedon  (b.  c.  361  —  336).  §  75.  Character  of  Philip.  §  76.  The  Sacred 
"war.  §  77.  Battle  of  Chaeronea;  Philip's  death.  2.  Alexander  the  Great,  p.  58.  §  78. 
Fall  of  Thebes.  ^  79.  Battle  of  Granicus.  ^  80.  Battle  of  Issus.  §  81.  T^tc  and  Alex- 
andria. 82.  Arbela  and  Gaugemala.  §  83.  Expedition  into  Bactria.  §  84.  March  to 
India.    §  85.  Last  years  of  Alexander. 

THE  ALEXANDRIAN  PERIOD,  p.  62. 

4  86.  a.  Alexander's  successors,  b.  Greece's  last  struggle;  the  Achaian  league,  p.  63. 
4  87.  Athens ;  Phocion ;  Demosthenes ;  Demetrius.  §  88.  Sparta  and  the  Achaian  league. 
4  89.  c.  The  Ptolemies  and  the  Seleucidae,  p.  64.  ^  90.  d.  The  Jews  under  the  Maccabees, 
p.  65.  e.  State  of  civiUzation  during  the  Alexandrian  period,  p.  66.  §  91.  Theocritus; 
Stoics  and  Epicureans. 

C.  THE  HISTORY  OF  ROME,  p.  68, 

§  92.  The  races  and  institutions  of  ancient  Italy. 

L  ROME  UNDER  THE  GOVERNIMENT  OF  KINGS  AND 
PATRICIANS,  p.  69. 
1.  Rome  under  the  kings  (b.  c.  753  —  509).  §  93.  Rome  built.  §  94.  Rome  under  Ro- 
mulus. §  95.  Xuma  Pompilius.  §  96.  Tullus  Hostilius  and  Ancus  Marcius;  origin  of  the 
plebeians.  ^  97.  Tarquinius  Priscus  and  Servius  Tullius.  §  98.  Tarquinius  Superbus.  2. 
Rome  as  a  republic  under  the  patricians,  p.  72.  a.  Horatius  Codes ;  the  tribunes ;  Corio- 
lanus.  ^  99.  Contest  between  the  republicans  and  Porsenna  and  Tarquin.  §  100.  Emi- 
gration to  the  sacred  hill;  Coriolanus.  b.  The  Fabii;  Cincinnatus;  the  decemvirs,  p.  74. 
4  101.  War  with  the  Veians  and  ^Equi.  ^  102.  Agrarian  law;  Sp.  Cassius.  §  103.  The 
decemvirs.  §  104.  Slilitaiy  tribunes  and  censors,  c.  Sack  of  Rome  by  the  Gauls  (b.  c. 
889),  and  the  laws  of  Lincinius  Stolo  (b.  c.  366),  p.  76.  §  105.  Taking  of  Veil  by  Camil- 
lus.     §  106.  Brennus  in  Rome.     §  107.  M.  Manlius  and  the  laws  of  L.  Stolo. 

IL  ROME'S  HEROIC  PERIOD,  p.  78. 

1.  The  time  of  the  war  with  the  Samnites,  and  the  battles  with  Pyrrhus.     §  108.  First 


Vm  CONTENTS. 

Samnite  war.  §  109.  War  with  the  Latins.  §  110.  Second  Samnite  war;  Caudinian 
passes  ;  Sentinum.  §  111.  War  with  Tarentum  and  Pyrrhiis.  2.  The  time  of  the  Punic 
wars,  p.  80.  a.  The  first  Punic  war  (b.  c.  263  —  241).  §  112.  Carthage;  Agathocles;  the 
Mamertines.  §  113.  Regulus.  §  114.  Hamiicar  Barcas;  termination  of  the  first  Punic 
war.  h.  The  second  Punic  war  (b.  c.  218  —  202),  p.  82.  §  115.  Sicily  and  Galha  Cisal- 
pina  Roman  Provinces.  §  116.  Saguntum.  §  117.  Hannibal's  passage  over  the  Alps  and 
thi-ough  Italy.  §118.  Fabius  Maximus  and  the  battle  of  Cannse.  §  119.  Capua;  Syra- 
cuse; Tarentum.  §  120.  Hasdrubal's  defeat  on  the  Metaurus.  §  121.  Zama.  c.  Mace- 
donia conquered ;  Corinth  and  Carthage  destroyed,  p.  86.  §  122.  Philip  II,  and  Antiochus 
III.  subdued  by  the  Romans.  §  123.  Battle  of  Pydna  and  destruction  of  Corinth.  §  124. 
Destruction  of  Carthage  in  the  third  Punic  war.  d.  The  manners  and  culture  of  the 
Romans,  p.  89.  §  125.  Contest  between  Conservatism  and  progress ;  Plautus ;  Terence ; 
Cato. 

in..  ROME'S  DEGENERACY,  p.  90. 

1.  Numantia;  Tiberius;  Caius  Gracchus.  §  126.  Rome's  government  of  her  provinces; 
Numantia's  insurrection  and  fall.  §  127.  Tiberius  Gracchus.  §  128.  Caius  Gracchus. 
2.  The  times  of  Marius  and  Sylla,  p.  92.  §  129.  The  Jugurthine  war.  §  130.  Cimbri  and 
Teutones.  §  131.  The  Social  war.  §  132.  The  first  Mithridatic  war.  §  133.  The  first 
civil  war;  death  of  Marius.  §  134.  The  Coi*nelian  law  and  Sylla's  death.  3.  The  times 
of  Cneius  Pompey  and  M.  Tullius  Cicero,  p.  96.  §  135.  Sertorius.  §  136.  The  Servile 
war.  §  137.  War  against  the  pirates.  §  138.  The  second  Mithridatic  war.  §  139.  Cata- 
line's  conspiracy.  4.  The  times  of  Caius  Julius  Caesar,  p.  98.  §  140.  The  triumvirate. 
§  141.  Caesar's  wars  in  Gaul.  §  142.  The  second  civil  war.  §  143.  Caesar's  victories. 
§  144.  Cassar's  death.  5.  The  last  years  of  the  republic,  p.  101.  §  145.  The  second  tri- 
umvirate; Cicero's  death.     §  146.  Philippi.     §  147.  Actium. 

lY.  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE,  p.  102. 

1.  The  times  of  Caesar  Octavianus  Augustus,  p.  102.  §  148.  Rome's  golden  age.  §  149. 
Roman  literature.  2.  The  struggles  of  the  Germans  for  liberty,  p.  103.  §  150.  Hermann's 
victory  in  the  Teutoburger  forest.  §  151.  Germanicus.  §  152.  Tacitus  on  the  manners 
and  institutions  of  the  Germans.  3.  The  Caesars  of  the  Augustine  race,  p.  105.  §  153. 
Tiberius.  §  154.  Caligula;  Claudius.  §  155.  Nero.  §  156.  Galba;  Otho;  Vitellius.  4. 
The  riavii  and  Antonines,  p.  107.  §  157.  Vespasian.  §  158.  The  destruction  of  Jenisa- 
I?m  ;  destruction  of  the  Jewish  state.  §  159.  Britain  conquered  by  Agricola.  §  160. 
Titus.  §  161.  Domitian;  Nerva;  Trajan.  §  162.  Adrian;  Plutarch.  §  163.  Antoninus 
Pius ;  Marcus  Aurelius.  §  164.  Cultivation  and  morals.  5.  Rome  under  military  govern 
ment,  p.  111.  §  165.  Commodus;  Pertinax;  Septimius  Severus.  §  166.  Caracalla;  Helio- 
gabalus;  Alexander  Severus.  §  167.  Philip  the  Arab ;  Decius;  Gallienus.  §  168.  Aure 
Kan.  §  169.  Tacitus;  Probus;  Carus.  §  170.  Time  of  Diocletian.  §  171.  Constantine's 
victory  at  the  Milvian  bridge  and  sole  empire. 


SECOND     BOOK. 

MIGRATION  OF  NATIONS  AND  THE  MIDDLE  AGE. 

A.   MIGRATION  OF  NATIONS  AND  ESTABLISHMENT  OF 
MONOTHEISM. 

1.  THE  TRIUMPH   OF   CHRISTIANITY  OVER  PAGANISM,  p.  114. 

1.  The  Christian  Church  of  the  first  century.     §  172.  Persecutions  of  the  Christians. 

2.  Constantino  the  Great  and  Julian  the  Apostate.  §  173.  Constantine's  proceedings  iij 
Church  and  state.  §  174.  Arianism;  Augustine;  the  fathers  of  the  Church.  §  176 
Julian  the  Apostate. 


CONTENTS.  ix 

n.   THE  mGRATION  OF  NATIONS,  pp.  117  —  125. 

1.  Tlieodosius  the  Great.  §  176.  Huns  and  "West  Goths.  2.  West  Goths;  Burgundiana 
and  Vandals,  p.  118.  §  177.  Alaric;  Stilicho;  Radagais.  §  178.  Alaric  in  Italy.  §  179. 
The  Vandals  in  Africa.  3.  Attila  king  of  the  Huns  (a.  d.  450),  p.  120.  §  180.  Battle 
vath  the  Huns ;  Aquileja.  4.  §  181.  Destruction  of  the  Western  Roman  Empire  (a.  d. 
476),  p.  120.  5.  ^  182.  Theodoric  the  Ostrogoth  (a.  d.  500),  p.  121.  6.  Clovis,  king  of  the 
Franks  and  the  Merovingians,  p.  121.  §  183.  Battle  of  Ziilpich.  §  184.  The  Merovingians 
and  their  Mayor  of  the  palace.  7.  ^  185.  The  Anglo-Saxons,  p.  122.  8.  The  Byzantine 
empire  and  the  Longobards,  p.  123.  §  186.  The  court;  Justinian.  §  187.  Subjection  of 
the  Vandals  and  the  Ostrogoths.     ^  188.  Alboin.    §  189.  The  Iconoclasts  and  the  Iconoduli. 

m.  MOHA^SBIED  AND  THE  ARABIANS,  pp.  125  —  128. 

§  190.  Arabia.  ^  191.  Mohammed  the  prophet.  §  192.  The  Mohammedans  in  Persia 
Rnd  Egypt.  §  193.  All  and  the  Ommiades.  §  194.  The  Arabs  in  Spain  and  France. 
^  195.  The  Abbassides  in  Bagdad ;  the  battles  between  Christians  and  Mohammedans  in 
Spain.    §  196.  Arab  cultivation  and  literature. 

B.   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

I.   THE  PERIOD  OF  THE  CARLOVINGI,  pp.  129—133. 

I.  P«pin  the  Little  (a.  d.  752  —  768);  Charlemagne  (768  —  814).  §  197.  Pepin  the 
Little  and  Bonifacius.  ^  198.  Saxons  and  Longobards.  ^  199.  War  with  the  Saxons,  and 
defeat  at  Roncesvalles.  ^  200.  Charlemagne,  Roman  emperor.  §  201.  His  internal 
government.  2.  Dissolution  of  the  Frank  empire,  pp.  132,  133.  §  202.  Louis  the  Debon- 
naire ;  Treaty  of  Verdun.  §  203.  Charles  the  Fat  and  Aniulf.  §  204.  Charles  the  Simple 
and  Hugh  Capet. 

n.   NORMANS  AND  DANES,  p.  133. 

^205.  Scandinavia;  Iceland,  Russia.  §  206.  England;  Alfred;  Canute;  William  the 
Conqueror.    ^207.  Lower  Italy;  Robert  Guise ard. 

IH.    THE   SUPREMACY   OF  THE   GERJVIANO-ROMAN 
EMPIRE,  p.  135. 

1.  The  House  of  Saxony  (919 —1024.)  §208.  Henry  the  Fowler,  fj  209.  Otho  the 
Great.*  §  210.  Otho  U.  and  III.  §  211.  Henry  II.;  German  cultivation  under  the  Othos. 
2.  The  House  of  Franconia,  pp.  137  —  140.  \  212.  Conrad  II.  and  Henry  IIL  §213. 
Henry  IV.  and  the  Saxons.  §  214.  Henry  IV.  and  pope  Gregory  VH.  §  215.  Henry 
IV.'s  death.    §  216.  Henry  V.  and  Lothaire  of  Saxony. 

IV.  THE  ASCENDANCY  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  TBIE  OF 
THE  CRUSADES,  p.  140. 

1.  The  Crusades.  §  217.  The  assembly  of  the  Church  at  Clermont.  §  218.  Peter  of 
Amiens  and  Walter  the  Penniless.  §  219.  The  first  crasade  under  Godfrey  of  Bouillon. 
§  220.  Conquest  of  Jerusalem.  §  221.  The  first  king  of  Jerusalem.  §  222.  The  second 
crusade.  §  223.  The  third  crusade.  §  224.  The  fourth  crusade;  the  Latin  empire  in  Con- 
stantinople. §  225.  The  fifth  crusade ;  the  emperor  Frederick  IL  §  226.  The  sixth  cru- 
sade, under  Louis  IX.  §  227.  The  consequences  of  the  crusades  ;  orders  of  knights. 
§  228.  War  against  the 'Albigenses.  2.  The  Hohenstaufens  (a.  d.  1138—1154),  pp.  149  — 
156.  §  229.  Welfs  and  Waiblings.  §  230.  Frederick  Barbarossa  in  Italy;  Arnold  of 
Brescia.  §  231.  Milan  destroyed;  Alexandria  founded.  §  232.  Battle  of  Legnano;  Peaca 
of  Constance.  §  233.  Frederick  Barbarossa  and  Henry  the  Lion.  §  234.  Henry  VI.  and 
Philip  of  Swabia.  §  235.  Pope  Innocent  III.  and  the  Emperor  Otho  IV.  §  236.  Frede- 
rick U.'s  contest  with  the  papacy.     §  237.   Rival  emperor  in  Germany.     §  238.  Frederick 


X  CONTENTS. 

IT.'s  death.  §  239.  Death  of  Manfred  at  Beneventum.  ^  240.  Conradine's  death;  the 
Sicilian  vespers.  3.  General  view  of  the  Middle  Ages,  p.  156.  §  241.  The  feudal  system. 
4  242.  Chivaliy.  §  243.  Hierarchy.  §  244.  Monachism.  §  245.  Mendicant  orders ;  Fran 
ciscans  and  Dominicans.  §  246.  State  of  the  towns.  §  247.  Literature  (1),  Scholastics 
and  Mystics.    §  248.  (2)  Science  and  the  writing  of  history.     ^  249.  (8)  Poetry. 

V    DECAY   OF   CHIVALRY  AND    CORRUPTION   OF   THE 
CHURCH,  p.  163. 

1.  The  Interregnum  (a.  D.  1250  —  1273).  §  250.  Club  law;  confederations  of  towns. 
?.  Origin  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg  and  the  Helvetic  confederation,  pp.  164  — 166.  §  251. 
Rudolf  of  Hapsburg.  §  252.  Rudolf's  proceedings  in  the  empire.  §  253.  Adolf  of  Nassau 
and  Albert  of  Austria.  §  254.  The  confederation  of  the  Rutli;  William  Tell;  Morgarten. 
3.  Philip  the  Fair  of  France  and  the  emperor  Louis  the  Bavarian,  pp.  166  — 169.  §  255. 
Philip  IV.  and  pope  Bonifacius  VIH. ;  the  popes  at  Avignon.  ^  256.  Dissolution  of  the 
order  of  the  Temple.  §  257.  Henry  of  Luxemburg.  §  258.  Louis  the  Bavarian  and  Frede 
rick  the  Fair.  §  259.  Diet  at  Reuse;  Louis's  death.  4.  The  emperors  of  the  House  of  Lux- 
emburg, pp.  169  —  171.  §  260.  Charles  IV.  §  261.  Wenceslaus;  the  German  town  war. 
§  262.  Rupert  of  the  Palatinate  and  Sigismund.  5.  The  division  in  the  Church  and  the 
great  councils,  p.  171.  §  263.  The  division  in  the  Church;  Wickliffand  Huss.  §  264.  The 
council  of  Constance.  \  265.  The  Hussite  war.  ^  266.  The  council  of  Basle.  6.  Ger- 
many under  Frederick  Tit.  and  Maximilian  I.,  p.  175.  §  267.  Albert  II.  and  Frederic  HI. 
§  268.  Maximilian  I. ;  change  in  the  German  constitution.    §  269.  End  of  the  middle  age. 

VI.    HISTORY   OF   THE  REMAINING   EUROPEAN   STATES 
DURING    THE  MIDDLE  AGE,  p.  176. 

1.  France.  §  270.  a.  France  under  the  House  of  Capet  (A.  D.  987—1328).  b.  France 
under  the  House  of  Valois  (A.  D.  1328  —  1529),  p.  177.  ^  271.  Philip  VL  and  John  the 
Good ;  Crecy  and  Poictiers.  ^  272.  Charles  V.  and  VL ;  civil  war.  §  273.  Battle  of 
Agincourt.  §  274.  Maid  of  Orleans;  Louis  XL  2.  England,  pp.  180—183.  ^  275.  Henry 
Plantagenet  and  Thomas  k  Becket.  §  276.  Richard  Lion-heart  and  John  Lackland.  §  277. 
Edward  I.  and  the  war  of  hberty  in  Scotland.  §  278.  Edward  HI. ;  the  House  of  Lan 
caster.  §  279.  The  wars  of  the  red  and  white  roses.  3.  Spain,  pp.  183  — 186.  ^  280.  State 
of  Spain  in  the  middle  age.  ^  281.  Aragon  and  Castile.  §  282.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella; 
the  Inquisition.  §  283.  Expulsion  of  the  Moors.  4.  Italy,  pp.186. — 188.  a.  Upper 
Italy.  §  284.  Venice.  §  285.  Genoa.  §  286.  Milan.  §  287.  Savoy  and  Piedmont. 
b.  Middle  and  Lower  Italy,  p.  188.  §288.  Florence;  Cosmo  de  Medici.  §  289.  Lorenzo 
the  Magnificent;  Savonarola;  fine  arts.  §  290.  State  of  the  Church  ;  Ferrara.  §  291. 
Naples  and  Sicily.  5.  The  new  Burgundian  territory,  p.  190.  §  292.  Condition  of  the 
kingdom  under  the  first  dukes.  §  293.  Charles  the  Bold.  §  294.  The  new  Burgundian 
territory  after  the  death  of  Charles.  6.  Scandinavia,  p.  192.  §  295.  Establishment 
of  Christianty  in  the  three  Scandinavian  kingdoms.  §  296.  Denmark  before  the 
union  of  Calmar.  §  297.  Sweden  before  and  after  the  union  of  Calmar.  7.  Hungary,  p. 
194.  §298.  Stephen  the  Pious;  the  Saxons  in  Transylvania;  the  "  Golden  Privilege." 
§  299.  Louis  the  Great  and  Matthias  Corvinus.  8.  Poland,  p.  196.  §  300.  State  of 
Poland;  Casimir  the  Great.     §  301.  The  Jagellons;  fonnation  of  the  power  of  the  nobles. 

9.  The  Russian  Empire,  p.  197.    §  302.  The  imperial  House  of  Ruric ;  Ivan  Vasilyevitsch. 

10.  Mog-uls  and  Turks,  pp.  198  —  201.  §  303.  Zengis-Khan  and  his  sons.  §  304.  The 
Ottoman  Turks  in  Asia  Minor.  §  305.  Bajazet  and  Timur.  §  306.  Murad  11. ;  the  Chris- 
tian army  defeated  at  Wania.  §  307.  Taking  of  Constantinople ;  greatness  and  decaj^ 
of  the  Ottoman  empire 


CONTENTS.  Xt 

THIRD    BOOK. 

THE   MODERN  EPOCH. 

I.  THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  THE  MODERN  EPOCH,  p.  202. 

1.  The  sea  passage  to  the  East  Indies,  and  the  discovery  of  America,  p.  202.  ^  308.  In 
mention  of  the  compass;  gmipowder;  printing.  §  309.  The  Portuguese  in  the  East  Indies, 
f  810.  Christopher  Columbus.  §311.  Balboa;  Cortez;  Pizarro.  §  312.  Consequences  of 
the  discovery  of  Arryjrica.  2.  The  revival  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  p.  206.  §  813. 
Italy;  Germany  (Reuchlin,  Erasmus,  Hutten);  Humanists  and  Obscurantists. 

n.    THE  TIME  OF  THE  REFORMATION,  p.  208. 

1.  The  German  Reformation,  pp.  208  —  212.  a.  Dr.  Martin  Luther.  §  314.  The  sale  of 
indulgences  and  the  ninety-five  theses.  §315.  Luther.  §  316.  Cajetan;  Frederick  the 
Wise  ;  Miltit*.  §  817.  His  disputation  at  Leipsic ;  burning  of  the  pope's  bull.  §  318. 
Diet  of  Worms.  §  319.  Dr.  Carlstadt  and  the  Anabaptists;  PhUip  Melancthon.  §  320. 
Extension  of  the  Reformation,  b.  The  peasant  war,  p.  212.  §  321.  Thomas  Munzer. 
§  322.  Subjection  of  the  peasants,  c.  The  Augsburg  confession,  p.  214.  §  323.  Activity 
of  Luther  and  Melancthon;  Diet  of  Spire.  §  324.  Diet  of  Augsburg,  d.  IJlric  Zwingle, 
p.  215.  §  325.  Reformation  in  Switzerland.  §  826.  Religious  war;  battle  of  Kappel. 
2.  Wars  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg  against  France,  p.  217.  §  327.  Charles  V.  and  Francis 
I. ;  wars  respecting  Milan.  §  328.  Battle  of  Pavia  ;  taking  of  Rome ;  Ladies'  Peace  of 
Cambray.  §329.  Campaign  against  Tunis;  second  and  third  war  between  Charles  and 
Francis.  3.  The  war  of  religion  in  Germany,  p.  220.  §  330.  The  league  of  Smalcald; 
the  gospel  in  Wirtemberg.  §  331.  The  Anabaptists  in  Munster.  §  332.  Extension  of  the 
Refonnation  in  Saxony,  Brandenburg,  the  Palatinate,  &c.  §  333.  The  war  of  Smalcald; 
campaign  on  tli«  Danube.  §  334.  Charles  V.'s  triumphant  expedition  into  Southern  Ger- 
many, §  835.  Battle  near  MUhlberg;  the  elector  of  Saxony  and  the  landgrave  of  Hesso 
taken  prisoners.  §  336.  The  Augsburg  interim[.  §  337.  Maurice  of  Saxony;  the  treaty 
of  Passau.  §  338.  The  religious  war  of  Augsburg.  §  839.  Charles  V.  dies>  4.  Progress  of 
the  Refonnation  through  Europe,  p.  229.  o.  Lutheranism  and  Calvinism,  §  840.  Ger- 
many; the  Lutheran  and  Reformed  Churches.  §  841.  Switzerland;  Calvinism.  §  342. 
Calvinism  in  France,  in  the  Netherlands,  in  Scotland,  b.  Establishment  of  the  Anglican 
Church,  p.  232,  §  348.  England ;  Henry  VIH.'s  ecclesiastical  innovations.  §  344.  Henry 
VHI.  and  his  wives.  §  345".  Establishment  of  the  Episcopal  Church  under  Edward  VI. 
f  346.  The  English  Church  uKier  Maria  and  Elizabeth,  c.  The  Reformation  in  the  three 
Scandinavian  kingdoms,  p.  235.  §  347.  Scandinavia;  Sweden  under  Gusta\Tis  Vasa. 
§  348.  The  Reformation  in  Denmark.  §  349.  Sweden  under  the  sons  of  Gustavus  Vasa. 
§  350,  Poland.  cL  Tlie  Catholic  Church,  p.  238.  §  351.  Inquisition;  papacy;  Council  of 
Trent,  §  852,  Order  of  the  Jesuits,  5,  The  times  of  Philip  II.  <a.  d.  1556  —  1598)  and 
Ehzabeth  (A.  D.  1558  — 1603),  p.  240.  §  353.  Philip  H.;  character  and  mode  of  govern- 
ment, a.  Portugal  united  with  Spain,  p.  241.  §  354.  King  Sebastian,  b.  Struggle  for 
liberty  in  the  Netherlands,  p.  242.  §  355.  Philip's  attacks  on  the  privileges  of  the  Nether- 
landers,  §  356.  Compromise;  the  Gueses;  sacrilege.  §  357.  Alba  in  the  Netherlands. 
§358.  Don  Juan;  Alexander  Farnese;  William  of  Orange.  §  359.  The  Armada;  termi- 
nation of  the  war.  §  360.  Trade;  government  synod  of  Dort.  c.  France  during  the  war 
of  religion,  p.  246.  §  3<31.  Position  of  parties.  §  362,  The  first  three  wars  of  religion. 
§  363.  The  Bartholomew  night.  §  364,  Henry  HI.  and  the  holy  league,  §  365,  Henry 
IV.  d.  Elizabeth  and  Mary  Stuart,  p.  251.  §  366.  Difierence  in  the  characters  of  the 
the  two  queens;  Knox.  §  367.  Marj-  Stuart  in  Scotland.  §  368.  Mary  Stuart  in  England. 
§  369.  Rise  of  England,  and  death  of  Elizabeth ;  Essex,  e.  Culture  and  literature  in  the 
century  of  the  Reformation.  §  370,  1,  Germany;  2,  Italy  ;  3,  Spain  and  Portugal^ 
1.  England,  p,  254. 


XU  CONTENTS. 


m.  THE   SEVENTEENTH   CENTURY,  p.   256. 

1.  The  thirty  years'  war  (a.  d.  1618  — 1648).  a.  Bohemia;  Palatinate;  Lower  Germany; 
Tilly;  appearance  of  Wallenstein.  ^371.  Union  and  league.  §  372.  The  letters  patent, 
B.nd  the  proceedings  in  Prague.  §  373.  Frederick  V.  and  the  battle  of  the  White  Hill. 
§  374.  Tilly  in  the  Palatinate.  §  375.  Wallenstein  in  the  North  of  Germany.  §  376.  Edict 
of  restitution;  Diet  of  Eegensburg;  Wallenstein's  deposition,  b.  Interference  of  Sweden 
Gustavus  Adolphus  and  Wallenstein,  p.  262.  §  377.  Gustavus  Adolphus  in  Pomerania 
destruction  of  Magdeburg.  §  378.  Battle  of  Breitenfield  and  Leipsic ;  triumphant  courso 
of  GustaA-us  Adolphus.  §  379.  Nuremberg;  Lutzen.  §  380.  Alliance  of  Heilbron;  Wal- 
lenstein's death,  c.  Termination  of  the  war;  peace  of  Westphalia,  p.  264.  §  381.  Ber- 
nard of  Weimar;  Ban^r.  §  382.  Torstenson;  Wrangel;  termination  of  the  war.  §383. 
Peace  of  Westphalia,  d.  Sweden  under  Christina  and  Charles  X. ;  change  in  the  Consti- 
tution of  Denmark,  p.  266.  §  354.  Sweden  under  Christina.  §  385.  Charles  X.,  and  the 
change  in  the  constitution  of  Denmark.  2.  The  revolution  in  England,  and  the  expulsion 
of  the  Stuarts,  p.  268.  a.  The  first  two  Stuarts  (James  I.  1603  —  1625,  Charies  I.  1625  — 
1649).  §  386.  James's  character  and  principles.  §  387.  The  gunpowder-plot;  nuptial  expe- 
dition of  the  prince  of  Wales ;  position  in  relation  to  parliament.  §  388.  Petition  of  right ; 
Strafford;  Laud.  §  389.  Hampden  and  the  Scottish  covenant.  §390.  The  long  parlia- 
ment; Strafford's  fall.  §391.  Civil  war;  Cromwell's  appearance.  §392.  Victoiy  of  the. 
Independents ;  Charles  with  the  Scots.  §  393.  Death  of  Charles,  b.  Oliver  Cromwell  p. 
275.  §  394.  Cromwell's  victories  at  Dunbar  and  Worcester.  §  395.  Cromwell  as  Lord- 
Protector;  the  parliament.  §  396.  Restoration,  c.  The  last  two  Stuarts  (Charles  II.  1660 
— 1685,  and  James  U.  1685  — 1688),  p.  275.  §  397.  Government  of  Charles  H. ;  Test  Act; 
Habeas  Corpus  Act ;  Whigs  and  Tories.  §  398.  Government  and  fall  of  James  II.  §  399. 
William  and  Mary;  Bill  of  Rights;  union  with  Scotland.  3.  The  age  of  Louis  XIV.,  p. 
281.  a.  Richelieu  and  Mazarin.  §  400.  Louis  XIH. ;  government  and  activity  of  Riche- 
lieu. §401.  Anne  of  Austria  and  Mazarin ;  war  of  the  Fronde,  b.  Government  and  con- 
quests of  Louis  XIV.,  p.  283.  §  402.  Louis  XIV.  and  his  ministers  and  generals.  §  403. 
The  Spanish  and  Dutch  war;  peace  of  Aix.  §  404.  Sasbach;  Fehrbellin;  peace  of  Nime- 
guen.  §  405.  Reuiiions ;  Strasburg  wrested  from  the  empire,  c.  Austria's  distress  an^ 
triumph,  p.  286.  §  406.  The  Turks  before  Vienna;  peace  of  Carlowitz.  d.  The  war  o| 
Orleans,  p.  287.  §  407.  Desolation  of  the  Palatinate;  peace  of  Ryswick.  e.  Life  at  thv 
court;  literature;  Church,  p.  288.  §  408.. Industry;  court  of  Versailles ;  art  and  literature 
§  409.  Jansenists ;  persecution  of  the  Huguenots. 

lY.   THE   COLONIZATION   OF  NORTH  AJVIERICA,  p.  291. 

[A.  D.  1606  —  1732.] 

§  410.  Early  explorations  of  North  America,  and  attempt  to  colonize  it.  §  411.  Settle 
ment  of  Virginia,  p.  292.  §  412.  Wars  with  the  Indians  ;  loyalty  of  the  settlers.  §  413. 
Bacon's  rebellion.  §  414.  Colony  of  Plymouth,  p.  296.  §  415.  Settlement  of  MassachitsetiSf 
p.  298.  §  416.  Form  of  government;  religious  faith  and  practice.  §  417.  Manners  and 
laws;  republicanism  of  the  people.  §  418.  Care  for  education.  §  419.  Wars  with  the 
Indians.  §  420.  Dissension  with  the  mother  country;  Andros  governor;  new  charter. 
§  421.  Salem  Witchcraft.  §  422.  OUier  New  England  Colonies,  p.  305.  §  423.  New  York, 
p.  306.  §  424.  Maryland.  §  425.  The  Carolinas.  §  426.  New  Jersey.  §  427.  Pennsyl 
vania.    §  428.  Georgia.    §  429.  Character  of  the  American  Colonists. 

V.  THE  EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY,  p.  314. 

1.  The  Spanish  war  of  succession  (1702  — 1714).  §  430.  Origin  of  the  war;  position  of 
parties.  §  431.  Hochstadt;  Prince  Eugene  and  Marlborough.  §  432.  Ramilies;  Turin; 
Spain.  §  433.  Humiliation  of  France ;  Malplaquet.  §  434.  Change  in  affairs ;  peace  of 
Utrecht.  §  435.  France;  Orleans;  duke-regent.  §  436.  Spain;  Philip  V.;  Ferdinand 
VI.      §  437.  England  under  the  House  of  Hanover;  attempts  of  the  Stuarts  frustrated. 


CONTENTS.  Xiii 

t.  Charles  XTT.  of  Sweden  and  Peter  the  Great  of  Russia  in  the  Northern  war  (1700  — 1718). 
4  438.  Sweden  and  Russia  under  the  House  of  Romanoff.  §  439.  Peter's  reforms.  §  440. 
Poland  under  Frederick  Augustus  the  Strong.  §  441.  Charles  XII.  in  Denmark  and 
Poland;  Stanislaus  Leczinski.  4  442.  Charles  XII.  in  Saxony;  his  character.  §  443. 
Peter  on  the  Baltic;  battle  of  Pultowa.  ^  444.  Charles  XII.  in  Turkey.  ^  445.  Death  of 
Charles  XII.  ^  446.  Reformation  in  Russia.  §  447.  Alexis ;  Menzikoff ;  Elizabeth. 
4  448.  The  Polish  wjir  of  succession.  3.  The  rise  of  Prussia,  p.  327.  §  449.  Frederick  L 
4  450.  Frederick  William  I.  §  451.  Youth  oT  Frederick  U.  4 .  The  times  of  Frederick 
II.  and  Maria  Theresa,  p.  329.  a.  The  Austrian  war  of  succession  (a.  d.  1740  — 1748). 
§452.  Cause  of  the  war;  Pragmatic  sanction;  Charles  Albert.  §453.  The  first  Silesian 
war;  Charles's  coronation.  §  454.  The  Hungarians;  difiicultiea  of  Bavaria.  §  455. 
Prague;  Dettingen.  §  456.  The  second  Silesian  war.  §  457.  Close  of  the  war;  peace  of 
Aix.  b.  The  seven  years'  war  (a.  d.  1756  — 1763),  p.  332.  §  458.  Austria's  alliance 
with  Russia,  France,  and  Saxony.  §459.  Dresden  and  Pirna.  §  460.  Prague;  Collin; 
Rosbach;  Leuthen.  §  461.  Zorndorf;  Hochkirch.  §  462.  Kunersdorf;  Bergen;  Minden. 
§  463.  Leignitz;  Torgau.  §  464.  Peter  III.  and  Catharine  U.  of  Russia.  §  465.  Close  of 
war;  Peace  of  Hubertsburg.  c.  The  Gennan  empire  and  the  age  of  Frederick,  p.  337. 
§  466.  Condition  of  the  Gentian  empire.  §  467.  Frederick's  internal  government.  §  468. 
The  Bavarian  war  of  succession  and  the  alliance  of  princes,  d.  The  intellectual  popular 
life  in  Germany,  p.  340.  §  469.  Poetry.  §  470.  Religion;  historical  writing;  philosophy; 
education- 

VI.  THE  PROGRESS   OF  THE  NEW   WORLD. 


1.  CONTEST   OF   THE   EKGLISII   WITH   THE   FRENCH   FOR   THE   POSSESSION 
OF   NORTH   AMERICA,    [A.  D.  1700  — 1763,]    p.    342. 

§  471.  Character  of  the  French  in  America;  their  explorations  of  the  country.  §  472. 
Settlement  of  Louisiana.  §  473.  Rival  claims  of  the  French  and  English.  474.  First 
colonial  war  between  tliem.  §  475,  Second  colonial  war.  ^  476.  Third  colonial  war; 
capture  of  Louisburg.  §  477.  Fourth  colonial  war;  George  Washington.  §  478.  Brad' 
dock's  defeat;  expatriation  of  the  Acadians;  Johnson  and  Dieskau.  ^  479.  Abortive 
attempt  to  form  a  union  of  the  Colonies.  §  480.  Capture  of  Oswego  and  Fort  William 
Henry.  4  481.  Campaign  of  1758;  repulse  at  Ticonderoga.  §  462.  Battle  of  Quebec 
and  death  of  Wolfe;  cession  of  all  French  America  to  England.  §  483.  Indian  war; 
Pontiac.     ^  454.  Prosperity  of  the  American  Colonies. 

2.    THE  WAR  OF  AMERICAN   INDEPENDENCE,  AND  THE   ESTABLISHMENT  OF 
THE  AMERICAN    CONSTITUTION,   p.   354. 

4  485.  Question  of  taxation  between  England  and  the  Colonies.  ^  486.  Attempt  to  enforce 
the  revenue  laws;  Writs  of  Assistance.  §  487.  Passage  of  the  Stamp  Act;  great  agitation 
in  America;  Colonial  Congress.  §488.  English  advocates  of  American  rights;  repeal  of  the 
Stamp  Act.  §  489.  Duties  on  tea,  &c. ;  renewal  of  the  agitation.  §  490.  Tumults  at  Boston ; 
affray  with  the  soldiers.  4  491.  The  tea  sent  back  or  destroyed ;  Boston  Port  Bill ;  Quebec 
Act;  Dr.  Franklin.  §  492.  Congress  at  Philadelphia.  §  493.  Preparations  for  war  m  Mas- 
Bachusetts.  §  494.  Unanimity  of  feeling;  quiet  but  resolute  conduct  of  the  patriots.  §  495. 
Battle  of  Lexington.  i496.  Punctilious  regard  for  law;  siege  of  Boston.  §  497.  Capture 
of  Ticonderoga;  battle* f  Bunker  Hill.  §  498.  Action  of  Congress;  the  Colonies  form 
new  constitutions  of  government.  §  499.  Washington,  commander-in-chief.  §  500.  Expe- 
dition to  Canada;  repulse  at  Quebec.  §  501.  Evacuation  of  Boston.  502.  Declaration 
of  Independence.  §  503.  European  sympathy  with  America ;  mission  to  France ;  Dr. 
Franklin.  ^  504.  Campaign  of  '76;  defeats  and  losses  of  the  Americans.  §  505.  Battles 
of  Trenton  and  Princeton.  §  506.  Brandywine  ;  Germantown  ;  Red  Bank  and  Fort 
Mifflin.  §  507.  Progress  of  Burgoyne  ;  surrender  of  his  armv.  §  508.  Alliance  with 
b 


XlY  CONTENTS. 

France;  difficulties  of  the  Americans.  §  509.  Monmouth  ;  the  Freiich  at  Newport', 
Wyoming.  §  510.  War  at  the  south;  punishment  of  the  Indians.  §  511.  The  Armed 
Neutrality.  §  512.  Surrender  of  Lincoln  ;  Camden  and  King's  Mountain  ;  treason  of 
Arnold.  §  513.  The  war  in  Virginia;  Greene's  campaign.  §  514.  Surrender  of  Comwallis. 
§  515.  Conclusion  of  the  war.  §  516.  Exhaustion  of  the  country;  patriotism  of  Wash- 
ington. §  517.  Evils  from  the  want  of  union  and  a  central  government.  §  518.  Insubor- 
dination, anxiety,  and  gloom.  §  519.  A  rebellion  in  Massachusetts.  §  520.  Formation 
of  the  Federal  Constitution.  §  521.  Its  ratification  by  the  States;  the  government 
organized. 


FOURTH    BOOK. 

THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

A.   THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION,  p.  388. 

1.  The  literature  of  illumination.  §  522.  Character  of  French  literature.  §  523.  Vol- 
taire; Montesquieu;  Rousseau.  §  524.  Effects  of  the  literature  of  illumination;  dissolution 
of  the  Jesuits ;  society  of  illuminati.  ^  525.  Disorder  and  contests  in  Holland.  2.  Inno- 
vations of  princes  and  ministers,  p.  392.  §  526.  Character  of  political  and  ecclesiastical 
reforms.  \  527.  Portugal  under  Pombal ;  Spain  under  Charles  in.  and  Aranda ;  France ; 
Choiseul;  Turgot  and  Malasherbes.  §528.  Struensee  in  Denmark.  §529.  Gustavuslll. 
of  Sweden.  §  530.  Reforms  of  Joseph  II.  in  Austria.  §  531.  Latemal  government  of  Catha- 
rine II.  in  Russia.  3.  The  partition  of  Poland,  p.  397.  §  532.  State  of  Poland ;  king 
Stanislaus  Poniatowski.  §  533.  The  contest  with  the  Dissidents  ;  Confederation  of  Ra- 
dom  and  Bar.  §  534.  First  Turkish  war;  first  partition  of  Poland.  §  535.  Tauris; 
second  Turkish  war;  Poland's  new  constitution.  §  536.  Confederation  of  Targowicz; 
second  partition  of  Poland.      §  537.  Poland's  end. 

B.   THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION,  p.  403. 

1.  The  last  days  of  absolute  monarchy,  pp.  403  —  433.  §  538.  Louis  XV.  and  the 
empire  of  the  passions.  §  539.  Taxation;  parliament.  §  540.  Louis  XVI.  and  his 
court ;  increasing  financial  difficulties ;  Necker ;  Calonne.  §  541.  Contest  with  the  parlia- 
ment; summoning  of  the  estates-general.  2.  The  period  of  the  national  assembly,  p.  406. 
§  542.  The  third  estate  declares  itself  a  national  assembly.  §  543.  Storm  of  the  Bastille. 
§  544.  The  new  system.  §  545.  The  king  and  the  national  assembly  at  Paris.  §  546. 
Ceremony  of  the  federation ;  death  of  Mirabeau ;  flight  of  the  king.  3.  The  legislative 
assembly  and  the  fall  of  the  monarchy,  p.  410.  §  547.  Position  of  parties ;  Girondist 
minister.  §  548.  The  tenth  of  August.  §  549.  The  days  of  September.  4.  Republican 
France  under  the  government  of  the  National  Convention,  p.  414.  §  550.  Execution  of 
the  king.  §  551.  The  war;  Dumourier.  §  552.  Fall  of  the  Girondists.  §  553.  Rula 
of  the  Jacobins.  §  554.  1.  Persecutions  of  the  aristocrats.  §  565.  2.  Horrors  in  the 
south.,  §  556.  Bloody  scenes  in  La  Vendue.  §  557.  Fall  of  the  Dantonists.  ^  558.  3. 
Wars  of  the  republic ;  first  coalition.  ^  559.  Peace  of  Basle.  §  560.  Robespierre's  fall. 
§  561.  The  last  days  of  the  convention.  5.  France  under  the  Directory,  p.  425.  §  562, 
Bonaparte  in  Italy.  ^  563.  Internal  state  of  France;  Babeuf;  royalists.  §  564.  The 
republicans  in  Italy  ;  revolution  in  Switzerland.  §  565.  War  W  the  second  coalitioai 
§  566.  Bonaparte  in  Egypt  and  Syria.      ^  567.  The  eighteenth  of  Braraaire. 

C.  GOVERNMENT  OF  NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE,  p.  434. 

I.  The  consulate  (1800  —  1804).  ^  568.  The  consular  constitution.  §569.  Mareng* 
and  Hohenlinden.      §  570.  Egypt ;  the  peace  of  Amiens ;  murder  of  the  emperor  Paul. 


CONTENTS.  XV 

)  571.  The  new  court  and  the  concordat.  ^  572.  Conspiracies,  n.  Napoleon  emperof 
(1804  —  1814),  p.  439.  1.  ^  573.  The  empire.  2.  Austerlitz;  Presburg;  Confederation 
of  the  Rhine,  p.  440.  4^74.  Hanover;  Italy;  Prussia.  §  575.  Ulra;  Trafalgar.  §  576. 
Austerlitz;  peace  of  Presburg.  §  577.  Establishment  of  the  Rhenish  Confederation. 
8.  Jena;  Tilsit;  Erfurt,  p.  444.  §  578.  Occasions  of  the  Prussian  war.  ^579.  Battle 
of  Jena,  and  its  immediate  consequences.  §  580.  Preuss  Eylau ;  Friedland ;  peace  of 
Tilsit.  ^  581.  Proceedings  in  Sweden  and  Denmark;  Napoleon  and  Alexander  in  Erfui-t. 
4.  The  events  in  the  Pyreneau  peninsula,  p.  448.  ^  682.  Jiuiot  in  Lisbon ;  intrigues  in 
Bayonne;  Joseph  Bonaparte  king  of  Spaui.  ^  583.  Insurgent  war  in  Spain;  Dupont's 
capitulation.  §584.  Guerilla  war;  La  Bomana;  constitution  of  the  year '12.  j  585.  End 
of  the  Peninsular  war.  §  586.  Imprisonment  of  the  pope.  5.  The  second  Austrian  war; 
Hofer;  Schill  (1809),  p.  452.  §  587.  Aspem  and  Wagrara.  §  588.  Popular  war  in 
the  Tyrol;  the  peace  of  Vienna.  §  589.  Schill;  William  of  Brunswick;  Stein;  Scham- 
horst.  §  590.  The  French  Empire  at  its  height.  6.  The  war  against  Russia  (1812), 
p.  456.  §  591.  Origin  of  the  war.  \  592.  Napoleon  in  Poland.  §  593.  March  to  Moscow. 
\  694.  Retreat  of  the  grand  army. 

D.  DISSOLUTION  OF  THE  FRENCH  EMPIRE,  AND  ESTA- 
BLISHMENT OF  A   FRESH  SYSTEM,  p.  459. 

1.  The  German  war  of  liberation,  and  the  fall  of  Napoleon,  p.  459.  §  595.  Rise  of 
Germany.  §  596.  German  war  of  liberty  from  the  year  1813.  §  597.  Battle  of  Lelpsic, 
and  its  results.  §  598.  Napoleon's  last  struggle.  2.  The  restoration  and  the  Hundred 
Days,  p.  463.  §  599.  Napoleon's  abdication ;  the  first  peace  of  Paris.  §  600.  Congress 
of  Vienna,  and  the  first  period  of  the  restoration.  §  601.  Napoleon's  return,  and  the 
government  of  the  hundred  days.  \  602.  Triumph  of  legitimacy,  and  Murat's  death. 
§  603.  Waterloo.      §  604.  St.  Helena.      §  606.  Second  peace  of  Paris ;  second  restoration. 

E.  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA,  p.  468. 

Washington's  administration,  p.  468.  §  606.  Character  and  policy  of  Washington 
§607.  The  finances ;  funding  the  public  debt;  growing  prosperity  of  the  people.  §  608. 
Indian  war  at  the  northwest.  §  609.  Insurrection  in  Pennsylvania.  §  610.  Jay's  treaty. 
§  611.  Effect  of  tlie  French  Revolution  in  America;  state  of  parties.  §  612.  Washington's 
retirement  and  Farewell  Address.  Adams's  administration,  p.  474.  §  613.  State  of 
parties;  quarrel  with  France.  §  614.  Naval  actions;  convention  with  Bonaparte.  §  615. 
Defeat  of  the  Federalists;  choice  of  a  President.  Jefferson's  Administration,  p.  477. 
§  616.  Prosperity  of  the  country ;  purchase  of  Louisiana.  §  617.  War  with  the  Barbary 
powers;  the  navj'.  618.  Peace  and  war  parties.  §  619.  Aggressions  on  neutral  trade; 
the  embargo.  Madison's  administration,  p.  480.  §  620.  Negotiation  with  England ;  affair 
of  the  Chesapeake.  §  621.  Progress  of  the  quarrel  with  France  and  England;  affair  of 
the  Little  Belt.  §  622.  Battle  of  Tippecanoe  with  the  Indians.  §  623.  War  with  England. 
§  624.  Want  of  preparation ;  character  of  the  contest.  §  626.  Surrender  of  General  Hull; 
disasters  on  the  Niagara  frontier.  §  626.  Triumphs  at  sea ;  the  finances.  §  627.  Win- 
chester's defeat;  operations  on  the  northern  frontier;  Perry's  victory;  battle  of  the  Thames. 
§  628.  Naval  actions.  §  629.  War  with  the  Creeks  and  Cherokees.  §  630.  Campaign 
of  1814.  §  631.  Battles  of  Chippewa  and  Bridgewater;  siege  of  fort  Erie.  §  632.  Pro- 
vost's defeat;  McDonough's  victory.  §  633.  Attack  on  Wasliington  and  Baltimore. 
§  634.  Battle  of  New  Orleans.      §  635.  Conclusion  of  the  war. 

F.  THE  PEOPLE  AND  STATES  OF  EUROPE  FROM  THE 
HOLY  ALLIANCE  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME,  p.  491. 

1.  The  Holy  Alliance  and  the  position  of  parties,  p.  491.  §  636.  The  Holy  Alliance. 
\  637.  Liberals  and  conservatives.  2.  France,  p.  492.  ^  638.  Louis  XVIH.  §  639. 
Keign  of  Charles  X.  3.  The  constitutional  struggles  in  the  Pyrenean  peninsula  and  in 
Italy,  p.  494.    §  640.  Ferdinand  VU.  and  the  Camarilla.      §  641..  Victory  of  the  constitu- 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

tionalists.  §  642.  Intervention  of  the  Holy  Alliance  in  Italy.  ^  643.  Destruction  of  the 
Cortes'  government  in  Spain.  §  644.  Constitutional  struggles  in  Portugal.  4.  Great 
Britain,  p.  497.  §  645.  State  of  England;  increasing  poverty.  §  646.  Court  and  gf^vem- 
ment.  §  64T.  Ireland.  5.  Germany,  p.  500.  §  648.  Struggle  of  opi^iions  and  position  of 
parties.  §  649.  Feast  of  the  Wartburg;  Sand;  decrees  of  Carlsbad.  6.  Greece's  struggle 
for  liberty,  p.  503.  §  650.  Ypsilanti  and  the  sacred  band.  §  651.  Greece's  struggle  till  the 
fall  of  Missolonghi ;  the  PhilheLlenists.  §  652.  Navarino ;  Adrianople ;  conclusion.  ^  653.  7. 
The  new  romantic  literature,  p.  505.  §  654.  8.  The  July  revolution  of  Paris  and  its  ccHise- 
quences,  p.  507.  §  654.  The  July  revglution.  §  655.  General  consequences.  §  656.  The  revo- 
lution in  Belgium.  §  657.  Rise  and  fall  of  Poland.  §  658.  Liberal  movements  in  Germany. 
§  659.  Insurrections  in  Italy;  struggles  between  throne  and  constitution  in  Spain.  9.  Over- 
throw of  the  throne  of  July,  and  the  latest  revolutionary  tempests,  p.  514.  a.  The  years 
of  political  and  social  agitation.  §  660.  Internal  state  of  France.  §  661.  Italy ;  Germany ; 
Switzerland,  h.  The  Paris  revolution  of  February  and  its  consequences,  p.  518.  §  662.  The 
revolution  of  February  and  the  French  republic.  §  663.  The  March  days  in  Vienna  and 
Berlin,  and  commotions  in  Gei-many.  §  664.  Preliminary  parliament;  committee  of  fifty; 
national  assembly.  §  665.  Italy's  rise  and  fall.  §  666.  The  truce  of  Malmo,  and  the 
Frankfui-t  September  horrors.  §  667.  The  Vienna  October  days.  §  668.  Programme  of 
Gagern;  dissolution  of  the  Berlin  National  Assembly.  §  669.  Kremsier;  Hungary's  rise  and 
fall.  §  670.  The  imperial  constitution,  and  deputation  to  the  emperor.  §  671.  Eevolu- 
tionaiy  movements  in  Saxony,  Palatinate,  and  Baden,  and  the  rump  parliament.  §  672. 
Schleswic-Holstein ;  conclusion. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE,  p.  631. 


BOOK    FIRST 


HISTORY    OF   THE   ANCIENT   WORLD, 


INTRODUCTION. 

I.    THE   FIRST    RACE    OF   MEN. 

§  1.  After  God  in  the  be";innin"j  had  created  the  heavens  and  the 
earth,  had  adorned  the  heavens  ^vith  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  had 
clothed  the  earth  with  plants,  and  animated  it  with  living  animals ;  he 
made  man  in  his  own  image,  the  crown  of  creation,  and  designed  him  by 
the  gifts  of  speech  and  reason  for  the  ruler  of  the  world.  The  first  pair 
came  forth  pure  and  spotless  from  the  hands  of  their  Creator,  and  lived 
in  childlike  innocence  in  their  native  dwelling-place.  Paradise,  until 
seduced  by  the  tempter,  the  serpent,  they  ate  of  the  forbidden  tree  of 
knowledge,  and,  by  this  violation  of  the  commands  of  God,  lost  their  un- 
conscious innocence  and  the  possession  of  their  first  dwelling-place. 

After  this,  they  and  their  posterity  were  obliged  to  spend  their  lives 
in  labor  and  trouble,  and  to  eat  their  bread  in  the  sweat  of  their  face. 
Evil  passions  and  desires  were  awakened,  and  disturbed  the  peace  of 
society  ;  the  violent  impulses  of  a  savage  and  unrestrained  nature  plunged 
the  later  genemtions  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  disorders  of  vice  and 
crime,  till  at  length  a  great  flood,  called  the  deluge,  destroyed  the  whole 
race,  with  the  exception  of  Noah  and  his  descendants,  from  the  flice  of 
the  earth.  Noah's  posterity,  however,  increased  again  so  rapidly,  that 
the  later  generations,  descended  from  his  three  sons,  Shem,  Ham,  and 
Japheth,  were  compelled  to  spread  themselves  abroad  over  the  neighbor- 
ing countries,  on  account  of  their  home  being  no  longer  large  enough  to 
contain  them.  It  then  entered  into  their  minds  to  erect  the  Tower  of 
Babel,  "  whose  top  was  to  reach  unto  heaven,"  *  and  to  be  a  p^petual 
memorial  to  them.  God  frustrated  this  presumptuous  attempt  by  con- 
fusing their  language,  and  by  this  diversity  of  speech  brought  about  their 

♦  Gen.  xi.  4. 


(T 


a  THE    ANCIENT   WORLD. 

Beparation.  They  dispersed  themselves  to  all  the  four  quarters  of  the 
earth,  and  colonized  the  three  oldest  divisions  of  the  globe,  Asia,  Africa, 
and  Europe,  forming  themselves  into  different  peoples  and  nations, 
according  to  the  varieties  of  their  language. 

II.     THE    MANNER    OF   LIVING   AMONG   THE    EARLIEST   RACES. 

§  2.  Men  chose  different  occupations  and  manners  of  living,  according 
to  the  diversities  in  their  places  of  residence.  The  inhabitants  of  steppes 
and  deserts,  interspersed  only  here  and  there  with  fruitful  pasture  grounds, 
chose  the  life  of  shepherds,  and  roved  as  wandering  tribes  from  place  to 
place,  with  their  tents  and  herds.  These  are  called  nomads  (wanderers), 
and  their  principal  occupation  is  the  breeding  of  cattle.  Those  who  settled 
upon  favorably  situated  parts  of  the  sea-coast  soon  discovered,  with 
increasing  population  and  development,  the  advantages  of  their  position. 
They  practised  navigation  and  commerce,  and  sought  after  wealth  and 
comfort,  and,  in  furtherance  of  these  objects,  were  incited  to  lay  out  towns 
and  erect  elegant  dwelling-houses ;  whilst  the  inhabitants  of  inhospitable 
shores  supported  a  joyless  existence  by  means  of  fisheries.  Those  who 
lived  on  plains  devoted  themselves  to  agriculture  and  the  arts  of  peace ; 
whilst  the  rude  and  hardy  mountaineer  gave  himself  up  to  the  chase, 
and,  urged  on  by  a  violent  impulse  for  freedom,  sought  his  delight  in  wars 
and  battles. 

By  the  taming  of  wild  cattle,  man  procured  for  himself  at  an  early 
period  those  indispensable  assistants  of  labor,  domesticated  animals. 

A  mighty  instrument  in  the  civilization  of  the  human  race  was  com- 
merce, and  the  intercourse  among  different  nations  that  sprang  out  of  it. 
Those  who  lived  on  fruitful  plains,  or  on  the  banks  of  suitable  rivers, 
carried  on  an  inland  trade ;  the  dwellers  on  the  shores,  on  the  contrary, 
a  coasting  trade.  At  first,  men  exchanged  one  article  for  another  (bar- 
ter), and  it  was  not  till  a  later  period  Ahat  it  occurred  to  them  to  fix  a 
certain  value  upon  the  precious  metals,  and  to  employ  coined  money  as 
an  artificial  and  more  convenient  means  of  exchange.  The  inhabitants 
of  towns  addicted  themselves  to  trade  and  inventions,  and  cultivated  arts 
and  sciences  for  the  enriching  and  embellishment  of  life  and  the  develop- 
ment of  the  human  understanding. 

III.    FORMS    OF    GOVERNMENT.      DISTINCTION    OF    CASTES. 

§  3.  "With  the  process  of  time,  nations  were  divided  into  the  civilized 
and  uncivilized,  according  as  the  development  of  their  intellectual  powers 
was  furthered  by  talents  and  commerce,  or  cramped  by  dulness  and  isola- 
tion. Uncivilized  nations  are  either  wild  hordes,  under  the  command  of 
a  chief  who  possesses  uncontrolled  power  over  life  and  death,  or  wander- 
ing nomadic  tribes,  guided  by  a  leader,  who,  as  father  of  the  family, 
exercises  the  functions  of  prince,  judge,  and  high  priest.     Neither  these 


INTRODUCTION?.  3 

nomadic  races  with  their  patriarchal  government,  nor  the  wild  hordes  that 
dwell  in  the  unknown  deserts  of  Africa  (Negroes),  in  the  steppes  and  lofty 
mountain  rang|s  of  Asia,  or  in  the  primeval  forests  of  America,  find  any- 
place in  history.  This  concerns  itself  only  with  those  civilized  nations, 
who,  from  similarity  of  manners  and  for  mutual  convenience,  have  united 
themselves  in  peaceful  intercourse  and  fellowship. 

States  are  divided  into  republican  and  monarchical,  according  to  the 
form  of  their  government  or  constitution.  A  state  is  called  a  monarchy, 
when  a  single  person  stands  at  the  head  and  manages  its  affairs.  This 
single  person  is  called  Emperor,  or  King,  Duke,  or  Prince,  according  to 
the  extent  of  his  dominions.  The  term.  Free  State,  or  Republic,  is  given 
to  that  form  of  government  in  which  the  supreme  power  is  placed  in  the 
hands  of  an  elective  body,  composed  of  numerous  members.  The  repub- 
lican form  of  government  is  sometimes  aristocratic,  that  is,  when  only  a 
few  families,  distinguished  by  birth  or  wealth,  govern  the  community ; 
sometimes  democratic,  when  the  whole  body  of  the  people  make  the  laws 
and  select  the  responsible  officers  of  government. 

The  most  ancient  states  were  simple  and  uniform  in  their  forms  of 
government,  and  possessed  for  the  most  part  that  great  hinderance  to  free- 
dom, the  system  of  castes.  By  this  is  to  be  understood,  a  strict  separation 
of  men  according  to  their  states  and  callings,  which  descended  in  unalter- 
able succession  from  father  to  son ;  by  which  means,  all  interchange  of 
conditions,  or  passing  from  one  state  to  another,  was  rendered  impracti- 
cable. The  priests,  who  alone  possessed  a  knowledge  of  the  religious 
customs  and  institutions,  and  who  bequeathed  their  knowledge  to  their 
descendants,  constituted  the  first  caste.  The  second  caste  comprehended 
the  soldiers,  who  were  afterwards  successful  in  raising  themselves  to  an 
equality  with  the  priestly  condition.  These  two  castes  divided  the  govern- 
ment between  them.  The  third  caste  were  the  cultivators  of  the  soil. 
The  fourth,  the  artisans.  If  shepherds  constituted  a  distinct  caste,  they 
were  the  lowest  and  most  despised.  The  institution  of  castes  was  pre- 
lerved  for  the  longest  time,  and  in  the  greatest  purity,  in  India  and  Egypt. 

9  lY.     THE    RELIOION    OF   THE   HEATHEN   "WORLD. 

§  4.  As  men  dispersed  themselves  over  the  earth,  the  original  belief  in 
the  one  true  God  (Monotheism)  was  lost,  and  people  fell  into  the  worship 
of  many  deities  (Polytheism),  adoring  the  visible  works  of  creation,  more 
particularly  the  sun  and  the  stars  of  heaven,  instead  of  their  Creator,  or 
else  reverencing  the  operative  powers  of  nature  as  divine  beings.  The 
faith  in  a  single  divinity  was  preserved  among  the  Jewish  people  alone, 
in  the  worship  of  their  hereditary  God,  Jehovah.  The  religions  of  all 
other  nations,  diversified  as  they  may  be,  are  included  under  the  term 
Paganism.  Instead  of  regarding  the  Supreme  Being,  the  Creator  and 
Preserver  of  the  universe,  as  a  Spirit,  and  worshipping  him  in  spirit  and 


4  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

in  truth,  the  ancient  nations  gave  him  the  figure  of  a  man,  deified  his  dif- 
ferent powers  and  attributes,  and  then  represented  them  under  the  greatest 
variety  of  forms.  Idols  were  fashioned  from  stone  and  ntetal,  wood  and 
clay;  temples  and  altars  were  erected,  and  sacrifices  offered  to  them; 
partly  to  appease  their  wrath,  and  partly  to  obtain  their  favor.  The  sacri- 
fices varied  in  character  with  the  civilization  of  the  people  who  offered 
them.  The  Greeks  and  Romans  instituted  joyous  festivals  to  their  gods, 
in  which  the  fruits  that  were  presented,  and  the  animals  that  were  slain, 
from  the  modest  gift  of  a  firstling  of  the  flock  to  the  solemn  sacrifice  ot 
a  hundred  oxen,  (hecatomb),  were  socially  consumed ;  whilst  savage 
tribes  slaughtered  human  beings  upon  their  altars,  fbr  the  purpose  of  ap- 
peasing by  blood  the  wrath  of  hostile  powers,  for  such  they  considered 
their  divinities  to  be.  The  Phosnician  and  Syrian  tribes  actually  placed 
their  own  children  in  the  arms  of  a  red-hot  idol,  Moloch.  If,  at  first,  the 
image  of  the  idol  was  only  a  visible  symbol  of  a  spiritual  conception,  or 
of  an  invisible  power,  this  higher  meaning  was  lost  in  the  progress  of  time, 
in  the  minds  of  most  nations,  and  they  came  at  length  to  pay  worship  to  the 
lifeless  image  itself.  The  priests  alone  were  acquainted  with  any  deeper 
meaning,  but  refused  to  share  it  with  the  people  ;  they  reserved  it  under 
the  veil  of  esoteric  (secret)  doctrine,  as  the  peculiar  appanage  of  their 
own  class.  With  the  same  object,  they  invented  legends,  stories,  and  fa- 
bles about  the  gods  whom  they  worshipped,  clothed  these  in  poetical 
forms,  and  thus  gave  origin  to  mythology,  or  the  science  of  the  gods.  In 
these  stories,  the  actions  and  histories  of  the  different  deities,  and  the  re- 
lations of  men  in  regard  to  them,  are  described,  not  in  clear  and  intelli- 
gible language,  but  veiled  in  enigmatical  allusions,  allegorical  histories, 
and  figurative  forms  of  expression.  The  greater  the  amount  of  creative 
imagination  and  religious  impulse  possessed  by  a  nation,  the  richer  is  its 
mythology.  If  these  legends  of  the  gods  served  to  excite  the  people  to 
superstition,  the  solemn  worship  in  the  sacred  spaces  of  the  temple,  with 
its  mysterious  ceremonies  and  symbolical  usages,  was  no  less  calculated 
to  maintain  in  them  a  feeling  of  veneration  and  religious  awe ;  and,  for 
the  purpose  of  establishing  a  belief  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  hii^n- 
terference  in  human  affairs,  more  firmly,  sacred  places  and  temples  of 
note  were  provided  with  oracles,  from  which  the  credulous  multitude 
might  gain  information  of  the  future,  in  obscure,  and  oftentimes  am- 
biguous, language.  In  this  v/ay,  the  mind  of  man  was  led  away  from 
Divine  Truth,  and  ensnared  in  lifeless  ceremonies  ;  the  simple  relations 
and  Inward  tendency  of  the  creature  to  the  Creator  were  disturbed  and 
torn  asunder ;  the  priesthood  ruled  the  people  by  the  might  of  supersti- 
tion, and  acquired  wealth,  honor,  and  power  for  themselves. 


INTRODUCTION. 


A..  THE   EASTERN  RACES. 


I.    THE   ASIATICS. 

§  5.  Asia,  called  from  its  situation  the  Eastern  land,  was  the  cradle 
of  the  human  race.  The  situation  of  Paradise  must  be  sought  for  in  the 
attractive  neighborhood  of  the  Himahija  mountains,  the  tops  of  which 
lose  themselves  in  the  clouds.  In  the  East  arose  those  great  nations  and 
cities  whence  other  lands  have  derived  a  part  of  their  civil  institutions, 
their  religion,  and  their  culture,  and  which  have  consequently  received 
the  name  of  centres  of  civiHzation.  In  the  East,  the  land  of  the  camel, 
"  the  ship  of  the  desert,"  first  originated  the  splendid  inland  traffic  called 
the  caravan  trade,  which  exercised  so  important  an  influence  on  the  pro-  /j/ 
gress  of  human  culture.  For  the  purpose  of  more  easily  undergoing  the 
difficulties  and  perils  of  lengthened  journeys  through  regions  but  little 
known,  and  thickly  inhabited  by  predatory  tribes,  the  Eastern  merchants 
assembled  themselves  in  companies,  and  escorted  their  wares,  packed 
upon  camels,  from  one  place  to  another,  in  large,  and  frequently  armed, 
bands.  These  commercial  journeys  were  the  occasion  for  building  towns 
and  places  for  traffic,  and  for  the  erection  of  storehouses  and  caravan- 
saries. They  brought  about  intercourse  between  the  inhabitants  of  dis- 
tant places,  and  were  the  means  of  communicating  not  only  the  produc- 
tions, but  also  the  religious  institutions  and  the  social  policy,  of  one  land 
to  another.  Temples  and  oracles  of  celebrity  frequently  served  for  mar- 
kets and  warehouses.  It  was  in  the  East  that  nearly  all  the  varieties  of 
religion  took  their  origin,  and  gained  their  perfect  development ;  not  only 
the  belief  in  one  God,  which  prevailed  among  the  Jews,  and  which  after- 
wards reappeared  with  renewed  strength  and  purity  in  Christianity, 
but  the  pagan  worship  of  idols,  in  all  its  multiplied  varieties,  with  its 
priestly  power,  its  sacrifices,  and  its  ceremonial  worship.  For  upon 
evqry  thing  that  concerns  the  relation  of  the  creature  to  its  Maker,  the 
people  of  the  East  have  thought  most  deeply  and  zealously,  and  have 
attained  results  at  which  no  other  nations  have  arrived. 

The  forms  of  Eastern  governments  and  constitutions  were  less  nume- 
rous than  the  religions.  Among  the  nomadic  races,  the  heads  of  the 
tribes  ruled  with  jmtriarchal  authority ;  in  countries  where  the  distinc- 
tion of  castes  prevailed,  the  privileged  classes  were  priests  and  soldiers ; 
from  both  arose,  in  the  course  of  time,  the  unlimited  kingly  power,  (des- 
potism), which  gave  to  the  ruler  the  uncontrolled  sovereignty  of  the 
nomadic  chief,  and  the  religious  sanctity  of  the  priestly  king.  In  this 
manner,  the  kingly  authority  gradually  grew  to  such  a  height  in  the  East, 
that  the  possessor  shared  a  respect  almost  equal  to  that  which  was  paid 


6  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 

the  Divinity.  In  relation  to  the  ruler,  all  the  officers  of  state  were  re» 
garded  as  slaves  and  menials,  without  either  personal  rights  or  property 
The  king  disposed  at  will  of  the  lives  and  possessions  of  his  subjects  ;  he 
gave  or  took  away  at  his  pleasure ;  and  no  one  dared  to  appear  in  his 
presence,  except  with  his  body  prostrated  on  the  ground.  He  lived  like  a 
god,  in  the  midst  of  pleasure  and  enjoyment,  surrounded  by  slaves,  who 
complied  with  his  wishes,  executed  his  commands,  and  submitted  them- 
selves to  his  pleasures ;  and  he  was  encircled  by  all  the  riches  and  pos- 
sessions, by  all  the  pomp  and  magnificence,  of  the  earth.  Such  govern- 
ments as  these,  in  which  law  and  human  rights  go  for  nothing,  where 
despotism  and  slavery  are  alone  to  be  met  with,  possess  no  vital  energy 
and  no  capability  of  permanent  civilization ;  and  for  this  reason,  all  ori- 
ental states  have  become  the  prey  of  foreign  conquerors,  and  their  early 
civilization  has  either  been  destroyed,  or  prevented  from  making  farther 
advances. 

By  original  disposition,  the  Orientals  are  more  inclined  to  contempla- 
tive ease  and  enjoyment  than  to  active  exertion ;  hence  it  has  come  to 
pass,  that  the  Eastern  nations  have  never  attained  to  freedom  or  sponta- 
neous activity,  but  have  either  silently  submitted  themselves  to  their  na- 
tive rulers,  or  groaned  under  the  yoke  of  foreign  oppressors. 

By  dint  of  their  intellectual  capacity,  they  quickly  attained  to  a  certain 
grade  of  civilization,  but  afterwards  gave  themselves  up  to  an  unenter- 
prising pursuit  of  pleasure,  until  they  gradually  sunk  into  sloth  and 
effeminacy.  This  effeminacy  was  further  promoted  by  the  practice  of 
polygamy,  a  custom  peculiar  to  the  East,  which  is  subversive  of  the 
family  affections,  and  of  the  domestic  purity  and  morality  which  are  their 
attendants. 

As  regards  the  art  of  the  Orientals,  the  gigantic  designs  of  their  build- 
ings, and  their  incredible  patience  and  perseverance  in  erecting  and 
completing  them,  are  most  worthy  of  admiration  ;  but  their  architecture 
never  displays  the  symmetry,  the  harmonious  beauty,  or  the  adaptation 
of  means  to  ends,  which  characterize  the  architecture  of  a  free  people. 
The  productions  of  their  arts  and  industry  afford  evidence  rather  of  man- 
ual dexterity,  attained  by  long  practice,  and  rendered  inalienable  by  the 
tyranny  of  castes  and  guilds,  than  of  inventive  genius  or  active  handi- 
craft. Slavery  hupg  like  a  leaden  weight  on  every  outward  manifesta- 
tion of  life  in  the  East. 

II.   THE    CHINESE, 

§  6.  As  the  progress  of  the  human  race  has  in  general  followed  the 
course  of  the  sun,  it  will  be  most  advisable  to  commence  its  history  with 
the  tribes  of  the  extreme  East.  In  the  vast  empire  of  China  has  lived, 
since  the  earliest  period,  a  race  of  Mongolian  origin,  which  has  preserved 
unchanged  for  ages  the  same  culture  and  the  same  institutions.     Every 


IXIRODUCTION.  7 

thing  is  there  regulated  by  hereditary  laws  and  customs,  and  freedom  ig 
entirely  banished.  This  want  of  progressive  development  is  occasioned 
partly  by  the  tenacious  character  of  the  people,  which  induces  them  to 
cling  fast  to  Ihe  customary  and  traditionary  modes  of  living ;  partly  by 
the  empire  being  cut  off,  by  mountains,  seas,  and  the  lofty  and  extensive 
wall  of  China,  from  all  intercourse  with  foreign  nations,  and  from  all 
strangers  being  strictly  prohibited  from  entering  the  kingdom ;  and  is 
partly  produced  by  political  institutions.  The  emperor,  who  is  possessed 
of  absolute  power,  and  regarded  with  almost  religious  veneration,  and  the 
numerous  and  privileged  aristocratic  class  (mandarins),  alike  compel  the 
slavish  and  despised  people  to  a  strict  observance  of  their  traditionary 
customs  and  usages,  and  deprive  them  of  every  thing  new.  As  the  Chi- 
nese are  thus  prevented  from  profiting  by  the  experience  of  foreign  na- 
tions, they  remain  inferior  to  other  people  in  civilization ;  though  they 
have  been  acquainted  from  the  earliest  ages  with  gunpowder,  the  art  of 
printing,  and  the  mariner's  compass.  Notwithstanding  they  have  long 
been  celebrated  for  their  skill  in  the  manufacture  of  silk,  and  in  the  pre- 
paration of  porcelain,  writing  materials,  carved  work,  and  similar  produc- 
tions, their  industry  cannot  be  compared  with  the  commercial  activity  and 
diligence  in  the  arts  of  the  cultivated  states  of  the  West.  The  object  of 
their  education  is  not  such  a  development  of  the  intellectual  powers  as 
would  lead  to  the  cultivation  of  the  whole  of  the  human  faculties,  but 
rather  the  teaching  of  that  which  their  predecessors  have  known  and 
practised  before  them.  This  education,  this  mode  of  life,  and  form  of 
government,  render  the  Chinese  weak  and  cowardly  ;  they  entertain,  nev- 
ertheless, the  highest  opinion  of  their  own  excellence,  and  regard  all 
other  nations  with  lofty  contempt.  Their  language  is  so  clumsy  and  difli- 
cult,  that  it  requires  several  years  to  learn  even  to  read  it.     The  Chinese 

P'^^y  S^^i^t  respect  to  Confucius  (Ilonf'-fu-tse)  as  the  founder 
a  c.  550.  ,.,.,.!  ^9  ^ 

01  their  religion. 

III.    THE    INDIANS. 

§  7.  To  the  south  of  the  snow-covered  heights  of  the  lofty  Himaldya, 
extends  a  fertile  and  prosperous  region,  blessed  with  a  healthy  and  vary- 
ing climate,  and  rich  in  productions  of  the  most  diversified  character.  In 
this  land,  watered  by  the  Indus,  the  Ganges,  and  other  large  rivers,  lived, 
ages  ago,  a  remarkable  people,  called  Hindoos,  or  Indians,  whose  former 
greatness  is  still  attested  by  numerous  buildings,  ruins  of  towns  and 
temples,  surprising  memorials  in  inscriptions  on  stone,  and  innumerable 
historical  recollections. 

The  Indians  are  descended  from  the  Aryans,  who  at  one  time  under- 
took an  expedition  from  their  native  highlands,  and  subjected  the  less 
powerful  aborigines  of  India.  They  soon  changed  their  native  nomadia 
customs  for  the  system  of  castes,  which  they  adopted  in  its  severest  form. 


8  THE   ANCIENT   \TORLD. 

The  most  important  caste  were  the  priests,  a  wealthy,  honorable,  and  pri- 
vileged class,  who  were  called  Brahmans,  or  Brahmins.  This  caste  wa3 
considered  sacred  and  inviolable  ;  they  could  not  be  subjected  to  corporal 
punishment  for  any  crime,  they  were  exempt  from  taxati^^,  formed  the 
chief  council  of  the  king,  and  filled  all  offices.  Next  to  the  Brahmins 
came  the  warriors,  who,  in  return  for  their  pay  and  certain  privileges, 
were  responsible  for  the  security  and  defence  of  the  kingdom.  As,  how* 
ever,  the  frequent  necessity  for  waging  war  or  encountering  enemies  was 
precluded  by  the  remote  situation  of  the  country  and  the  peaceful  charac- 
ter of  its  inhabitants,  these  soldiers  soon  became  slothful  and  degenerate, 
and  thus  rendered  it  easy  for  the  priests  to  retain  their  political  ascend- 
ancy. The  kings  belonged  to  the  caste  of  soldiers.  The  farmers  and 
artisans  were  heavily  impressed  with  imposts,  and  held  their  land  only 
in  fee.*  The  Pariahs,  from  whom  the  Gipsies  are  said  to  be  descended, 
ai*e  the  dark-colored  descendants  of  the  wild  aborigines,  and  are  regarded 
by  the  other  Indians  as  the  refuse  of  mankind,  and  treated  with  the  deepest 
contempt.  "  They  do  not  venture  to  dwell  in  the  towns,  cities,  or  villages, 
or  even  in  their  neighborhood  ;  every  thing  they  touch  is  looked  upon 
as  unclean,  and  it  is  pollution  even  to  have  seen  them."  Any  intermix 
ture  of  castes,  by  means  of  marriage,  was  severely  prohibited.  Persons 
who  were  guilty  of  an  infringement  of  this  law,  were  cast  out  of  society, 
and  exposed  to  contempt.  This  rigorous  division  into  castes,  which  the 
priests  laid  down  as  a  divine  ordinance,  checked  the  progress  of  civil- 
ization, and  was  the  occasion  that  it  never  passed  beyond  a  certain  point, 
and  then  lapsed  into  a  state  of  repose  and  stagnation. 

RELIGION,    LITERATURE,    ART. 

§  8.  The  Indians  reverenced  in  Brahma  a  divine  first  principle,  which 
appears  under  three  forms,  as  Creator,  Preserver,  and  Destroyer ;  and 
besides  him,  a  crowd  of  spirits  and  inferior  divinities.  The  central  point 
of  their  religion  is  the  doctrine  of  the  transmigration  of  the  soul  (me- 
tempsychosis). According  to  this  doctrine,  the  human  soul  is  only  joined 
to  earthly  bodies  for  the  purposes  of  punishment,  and  its  aim  and  elibrt  are 
to  again  unite  itself  with  the  Divine  Spirit  of  the  universe.  The  Indian, 
therefore,  regards  existence  in  this  world  as  a  time  of  trial  aiid  punish- 
ment, which  can  only  be  abridged  by  a  holy  life,  by  prayer  and  sacrifice, 
by  penance  and  purification.  If  man  neglects  tiiis,  and  sinks  liimself 
still  deeper  into  vice  by  departure  fi-om  God,  his  soul  after  death  will  be 
joined  to  the  body  of  a  different  and  inferior  animal,  and  will  have  to 
commence  its  wanderings  afresh.  On  the  other  hand,  the  souls  of  the 
wise,  of  heroes  and  penitents,  enter  upon  their  upward  path  through  shin- 

*  The  phraseology  here  is  ambiguous  and  not  strictly  correct.    The  actual  cultiTUtors 
of  the  soil  had  only  a  right  of  occupancy,  not  of  ownership.    A7n.  FA. 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

ing  stars,  and  are  finally  united  with  the  spiritual  first  princip  le  whence 
they  proceeded.  This  doctrine  was  interpreted  by  the  Brahmins  to  sig- 
nifytthat  man  could  attain  the  end  of  his  being  only  by  the  uninterrupted 
contemplation  of  divine  things,  and  by  abstraction  from  earthly  concerns. 
They  placed,  therefore,  a  higher  value  upon  silent  meditation  and  ab- 
straction, than  upon  an  active  life ;  withdrew  from  the  inferior  castes,  and 
believed,  that,  by  acts  of  penance  and  self-inflicted  tortures,  by  alms-giv- 
ing and  acts  of  outward  holiness,  and  by  the  strict  observance  of  innu- 
merable laws,  rules,  and  precepts,  they  brought  themselves  into  closer 
union  with  the  Deity.  Since  it  followed  from  the  doctrine  of  transmi- 
gration, that  the  souls  of  men  might  inhabit  the  bodies  of  animals,  the 
Brahmins  dared  not  kill  or  injure  anything  endowed  with  hfe,  or  eat  any 
flesh  unless  it  had  been  offered  in  sacrifice. 

The  Indians  possessed  sensibility  and  a  creative  imagination.  This  is 
particularly  apparent  in  their  copious  literature.  Many  of  their  works 
and  poems,  the  whole  of  which  are  composed  in  the  sacred  and  now  ob- 
solete Sanscrit  language,  and  are  intimately  related  to  their  religion  and 
theology,  are  already  three  thousand  years  old.  The  most  important 
works  are  the  four  books  of  the  Vedas,  which  are  held  in  the  most  pro- 
found respect,  as  the  sources  of  the  Brahminical  religion.  They  contain 
religious  hymns  and  prayers,  directions  respecting  sacrificial  offerings, 
and  moral  precepts  and  proverbs.  Next  to  the  Vedas,  the  code  of  Menu 
is  held  in  the  greatest  estimation.  Besides  these,  the  Indians  possess  a 
great  multitude  of  poetical  works  of  all  descriptions,  distinguished  by, 
highly  figurative  language,  as  well  as  deep  sensibility  and  religious  feel- 
ing. Many  of  these  works  were  brought  to  Europe  by  the  English  who 
conquered  the  country,  and  were  afterwards  translated  by  learned  men 
into  German  and  other  European  languages.  Indian  art,  as  well  as  lite- 
rature, is  intimately  connected  with  religion.  More  particularly  worthy 
of  remark  are  the  rock-hewn  temples  and  grottos,  of  which  the  most  cele- 
brated are  to  be  found  at  Ellora  in  the  middle  of  Lower  India,  at  Salsette 
near  Bombay,  and  at  the  island  of  Elephanta  in  the  bay  of  Bombay.  In 
these  places,  we  meet  with  temples,  grottos,  dwelling-houses,  and  passages, 
covered  with  images  and  inscriptions  hewn  one  above  another  in  the  rock, 
and  extending  for  miles.  These  grottos  contain  an  incredible  quantity 
of  works  artistically  and  elaborately  executed,  which  must  hajre  required 
the  labor  of  many  thousand  hands  for  numberless  ages,  and  the  greatest 
patience  and  perseverance  for  their  completion. 

The  abundance  of  the  productions  of  nature  and  art,  pearls,  precious 
stones,  ivory,  spice,  frankincense,  and  silks,  made  India,  from  an  early 
period,  the  great  centre  and  emporium  of  the  maritime  and  caravan  trade ; 
but  it  also  proved  a  lure  to  foreign  invaders.  Disunited  and  dismembered, 
as  well  by  the  system  of  castes  as  by  their  political  institutions,  and  ener- 
vated and  stupefied  by  their  want  of  freedom,  the  Indians  fell  an  easy 
prey  to  their  warlike  enemies. 


10  THE  ANCIE:JfT  WORLD. 


IV.    BABYLONIANS    AND    ASSYRIANS. 

§  9.  The  fertile  regions  watered  by  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  an€  th« 

grassy  uplands   of  Mesopotamia,  were  formerly  inhabited   by    Semitic 

Niorod,  tribes,  including  the  Babylonians  and  Assyrians.     Nimrod, 

B.  c.  2100.        «  a  mighty  hunter  before  the  Lord,"  is  named  as  the  founder 

of  the  Babylonian  empire,  and  its   chief  city  Babylon.     This  city  was 

built  in  form  of  a  square,  and  washed  by  the  waters  of  the  Euphrates, 

Kinus,  which  flowed  through  it.    A  hundred  years  later,  Ninus  is  said 

B.  c.  2000.       to  have  built  the  great  city  of  Nineveh,  on  the  banks  of  the 

Tigris,  and  to  have  subjected  the  Babylonians  to  his  rule.     The  wife  and 

successor  of  Ninus,  the  legendary  Semiramis,  is  described  as 
Semiramis.  i        •  i      •  .     •  i  -it 

an  heroic  and  victorious  woman,  who  carried  her  conquests 

as  far  as  India,  embellished  Babylon  with  magnificent  works,  (the  hang- 
ing gardens,  raised  upon  terraces,)  and  provided  her  land  with  skilfully 
constructed  roads,  canals,  and  buildings  of  every  description.  Beneath 
the  rule  of  her  incapable  and  effeminate  successors,  the  Assyrian  empire 
fell  gradually  into  decay,  till  at  length  the  warlike  governor  of  the  Medes 
rose  against  the  unworthy  sovereign,  took  possession  of  Nineveh,  and 
Sardanapalus.  reduced  the  last  king,  Sardanapalus,  who  was  notorious  for 
B.  c.  888.  his  luxury,  intemperance,  and  voluptuousness,  to  such  straits, 
that  he  burnt  himself  in  his  palace,  together  with  his  wives  and  trea- 
sures. Nevertheless,  in  the  following  century,  a  few  warlike  sovereigns, 
S'llmanasser  (^"f^ong  whom  were  Salmanasser  and  Sanherib,  who  were  dis- 
B.  c.  730.  tinguished  by  their  deeds  and  fortunes  in  Palestine,)  were  suc- 
Sanherib,  cessful  in  again  restoring  the  Assyrian  empire,  and  increasing 
B.  c.  720.  it  |3y  fi-esh  conquests.  But  the  new  Assyrian  monarchy  was, 
like  the  old,  but  of  short  duration.  A  hundred  and  twenty-five  years 
Nineveh  ^^^^^  *^^®   reign  of   Salmanasser,  Nineveh  was  taken  and 

destroyed,  destroyed  by  the  Medes  and  Chaldeans,  and  the  victors 
B.  c.  605.  divided  the  land  among  themselves.  Babylon  fell  to  the  lot 
of  the  Chaldeans.  Antiquities  and  works  of  art  are  still  dug  from  the 
ground  where  Nineveh  once  stood. 

§  10.  From  this  period,  the  Chaldeans  or  Babylonians  possessed  the 
ascendancy,  particularly  during  the  reign  of  the  warlike  and  powerful 
Nebudiad-  *  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  laid  Judah  under  tribute.  But  the 
nezzar,  splendor  of  Babylon  soon  passed  away.     A  generation  later, 

B.  c.  600.  ij^g  Medes  were  the  dominant  race,  and  after  them  came  the 
Persians.  Babylon  was  provided  with  wonderful  architectural  works  by 
the  Chaldees.  A  broad  and  lofty  wall  surrounded  the  whole  city,  which  is 
said  to  have  had  a  circumference  of  nearly  sixty  miles.  The  two  impe- 
rial palaces  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  the  square  and  lofty  temple 
of  Baal,  the  god  of  the  sun,  which  was  magnificently  adorned  with  sta- 
tues and  ornaments  of  gold,  and  served  the  purposes  of  an  observatory, 
were,  together  with  the  hanging  gardens,  the  most  remarkable  objects 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

Ii:  building,  the  Chaldeans  made  use  of  burnt  bricks.  Their  watei 
buildings,  bridges,  canals,  dams,  dikes,  and  so  forth,  were  the  most  re- 
markable of  their  works.  The  worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies  led  tha 
Babylonian  priests  (who  were  more  especially  called  Chaldeans)  to  make 
astronomical  observations ;  they  reckoned  the  course  of  the  sun,  and  di- 
vided the  year :  but  as  they  mingled  astrological  speculations  with  their 
science,  they  fell  into  errors,  and  wandered  about  the  world  at  a  later 
period  as  diviners,  interpreters  of  dreams,  and  magicians.  We  are  also 
indebted  to  the  Chaldeans  for  the  divisions  of  weights  and  measures,  and 
for  the  elements  of  geometry  and  medicine.  The  fertility  of  the  land, 
and  their  extensive  commerce,  brought  wealth  and  its  necessary  attend- 
ants, splendor  and  luxury.  The  Babylonians  were,  in  consequence,  not 
less  celebrated  for  their  luxurious  productions,  their  fine  linen,  their 
sumptuous  carpets,  &c.,  than  they  were  renowned  and  infamous  for  their 
sensuality,  their  luxury,  and  their  voluptuousness.  Masses  of  ruins,*  and 
heaps  of  rubbish,  and  a  few  monuments  with  inscriptions,  mark  the  spot 
where  once  stood  the  world-renowned  Babylon. 

V.   THE   EGYPTIANS. 

§  11.  The  Greeks  called  Egypt  a  gift  of  the  Nile ;  for  it  is  from  the 
regular  annual  overflow  of  the  river,  occasioned  by  rains  in  the  high  lands 
of  Abyssinia,  the  waters  of  which  are  drawn  off  by  all  sorts  of  means, 
canals,  dams,  and  cisterns,  that  the  land  preserves  its  remarkable  fertility. 
The  valley  of  the  Nile  was  divided,  even  at  a  remote  period,  into  three 
parts.  First,  Upper  Egypt,  where  the  vast  and  striking  ruins  of  Thebes, 
witli  their  gigantic  fragments  of  statues  and  columns,  their  colossal 
sphinxes,  (lions  with  women's  heads),  the  tombs  of  kings  hewn  in  the 
bare  rock,  the  subterranean  catacombs,  and  the  colossal  statue  of  Memnon, 
which  is  reported  to  have  uttered  musical  sounds  at  the  rising  of  the 
sun,  yet  testify  to  the  former  splendor  and  magnificence  of  the  priestly 
oity.  Secondly,  Middle  Egypt,  with  its  capital,  Memphis,  the  vicin- 
ity of  which  is  also  distinguished  by  the  magnificent  remains  of  an 
historical  antiquity.  Among  these  are  the  ruins  of  the  Labyrinth,  a 
building  consisting  of  a  number  of  intricate  passages  communicating  with 
each  other,  and  the  group  of  pyramids,  which  to  this  day  are  gazed  upoa 
with  amazement,  as  the  miracles  of  architectural  science.  These  pyra- 
mids are  built  of  hard  freestone,  rise  from  a  square  base,  and  terminate 
at  an  immense  height,  in  a  point,  or  small  flat  surface ;  they  appear  to 
have  served  as  the  sepulchral  memorials  of  kings.  Thirdly,  Lower 
Egypt,  with  its  ancient  metropolis,  Heliopolis,  which  was,  however,  after- 
wards eclipsed  by  Alexandria,  and  the  historically  remarkable  places, 
Sais,  Naiicratis,  &c.  Two  branches  of  the  Nile  inclose  Lower  Egypt, 
and,  together  with  the  sea,  give  it  the  triangular  form  whence  it  derives 
its  name.  Delta. 


12  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 

§  12.  Egypt  possessed,  at  an  inconceivably  early  period,  numberless 
towns  and  villages,  and  a  liigli  amount  of  civilization.  Arts,  sciences, 
and  civil  professions  were  cherished  there,  so  that  the  Nile-land  has  always 
been  regarded  as  the  mysterious  cradle  of  human  culture  ;  but  the  system 
of  castes  checked  free  development  and  continuous  improvement.  Every 
thing  subserved  a  gloomy  religion  and.  a  powerful  priesthood,  who  held 
the  people  in  terror  and  superstition.  The  doctrine,  that,  after  the  death 
of  man,  the  soul  could  not  enter  into  her  everlasting  repose  unless  the 
body  were  preserved,  occasioned  the  singular  custom  of  embalming  the 
cor})ses  of  the  departed  to  preserve  them  from  decay,  and  of  treasuring 
them  up,  in  the  shape  of  mummies,  in  shaft-like  passages  and  mortuary 
chambers.  Through  this  belief,  the  priests,  who,  as  judges  of  the  dead, 
possessed  the  power  of  giving  up  the  bodies  of  the  sinful  to  corruption, 
and  by  this  means  occasioning  the  transmigration  of  their  souls  into  the 
bodies  of  animals,  obtained  immense  authority.  The  religion  of  the 
Egyptians  consisted  partly  in  the  worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  but 
also  bore  relation  to  the  Nile  and  the  natural  qualities  of  the  country. 
Their  principal  deities  were  Osiris,  Serapis,  and  Isis;  but  as,  besides 
these  gods,  the  animals  sacred  to  them  were  objects  of  veneration,  the 
Egyptian  religion  gradually  degenerated  into  the  most  monstrous  animal 
worship.  This  degeneracy  became  apparent  in  their  art.  At  first,  the 
statues  of  their  gods  were  represented  with  the  human  figure,  although 
in  stiff  attitudes  and  in  stern  and  solemn  repose ;  but  they  appeared,  at  a 
later  period,  with  the  heads  of  beasts,  and  soon  after,  under  an  exclusively 
animal  form.  Notwithstanding  the  magnificence  of  their  architectural 
productions,  and  the  vast  technical  skill  and  dexterity  in  sculpture  and 
mechanical  appliances  which  they  display,  the  Egyptians  have  produced 
but  little  in  literature  or  the  sciences  ;  and  even  this  little  was  locked  up 
from  the  people  in  the  mysterious  hieroglyphical  writing,  which  w^as 
understood  by  the  priests  alone.  There  were  three  kinds  of  these  hiero- 
glyphics, which  are  met  with  on  the  writing-rolls  which  the  Egyptians 
prepared  out  of  an  aquatic  plant  called  papyrus,  and  on  the  obelisks, — 
pointed,  four-cornered  columns,  hewn  from  a  single  block  of  granite,  and 
erected  before  the  porticos  of  the  temples. 

Egypt  was  already  an  object  of  wonder  and  curiosity,  in  the  time  of 
the  Romans  ;  and  such  she  remains,  even  to  the  present  day.  The  fact 
is  attested  by  the  eleven  obelisks  and  the  innumerable  Egyptian  carvings 
in  the  hardest  stone,  at  present  in  Rome,  and  by  the  multitude  of  mum- 
mies, ancient  utensils,  trinkets  and  ornaments,  rolls  of  papyrus,  and  so 
forth,  that  are  to  be  met  with  in  all  the  museums  and  cabinets  of  natural 
history  in  Europe.  But  much  as  we  may  admire  the  patience  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  their  skill  and  dexterity  in  the  practice  of  their  arts,  we 
are  '^veryArhere  struck  with  a  want  of  free  development,  creative  industry, 
smJ  r^'t-sonal  freedom.     The  curse  of  the  caste-system  lay  upon  every 


INTRODUCTION^.  13 

« 
external  manifestation  of  life,  whilst  superstition  and  religious  oppression 

gave  a  gloomj  coloring  to  existence,  and  disturbed  every  cheerful  and 
pleasurable  feeling. 

§  13.  So  long  as  the  priestly  class  possessed  the  government  and 
elected  the  king,  the  "  hundred-gated "  Thebes  may  have  remained  the 
principal  city ;  but  when  the  Egyptians  were  subjected  to  hostile  attacks 
from  neigliboring  nations,  and  the  military  caste  attained  in  consequence 
to  greater  importance,  Memphis  appears  to  have  been  chosen  as  the  me- 
tropolis of  Middle  Egypt.  Warlike  sovereigns  were  about  this  time  suc- 
cessful in  raising  the  military  caste  to  an  equality  with  the  priestly,  so 
that  they  divided  their  privileges  between  them,  and  were  both  subjected 
Sesostris,  to  the  kingly  power.  Sesdstris,  who  reduced  the  Ethiopians 
B.  c.  1500.  to  tribute,  and  who  is  said  to  have  reigned  over  a  consider- 
able portion  of  Asia  and  Africa,  is  particularly  mentioned  as  one  of  these 
lloeris  and  victorious  monarchs.  After  him,  Mceris  and  Cheops  are  thp 
CWops,  1080.  most  renowned  kingly  names.  The  first,  on  account  of  the  lake 
which  he  constructed,  and  which  was  named  after  him,  and  which  appears 
to  have  served  the  purpose  of  regulating  the  inundations  of  the  Nile  ;  the 
second,  as  the  builder  of  the  largest  of  the  pyramids,  which  is  450  French 
feet  in  height,  and  on  which  100,000  men  are  said  to  have  been  employed 
for  40  years.  The  lives  and  actions  of  these  ancient  kings  are  shrouded  in 
darkness.  The  gfoom  begins  to  disappear  about  the  middle  of  the  seventh 
century,  when  the  royal  house  of  Sais,  in  Lower  Egypt,  assumed  the 
sovereignty,  in  the  person  of  Psammeticus.  For  the  purpose  of  weakening 
the  power  of  the  priests,  Psamm(5ticus  entered  into  alliance  with  the 
Greeks,  and  received  Greek  soldiers  and  colonists  into  Egypt.  Disgusted 
at  this  proceeding,  240,000  Egyptians  migrated  into  Nubia,  and  there 
founded  a  state  of  their  own.  Among  the  successors  of  Psammeticus, 
Necho,  Necho,  the  founder  of  the  Egyptian  naval  and  maritime 

^B.  c.  coo.  power,  and  the  warlike  Amasis,  are  particularly  to  be  men- 
tioned. The  son  of  the  latter,  Psammenitus,  lost  both  kingdom  and  vic- 
tory to  the  Persians,  in  the  bloody  battle  of  Pelusium  (Suez).  The 
Persians  afterwaixls  reigned  over  Egypt  for  a  period  of  200  years.  But 
the  Egyptians  did  not  unite  themselves  with  their  conquerors ;  they  re- 
tained  their  own  manners,  institutions,  and  religious  customs,  together 
with  their  aversion  to  every  thing  foreign. 

yi.    THE   PnCEXICIANS 

§  14.  On  the  narrow  strip  of  coast  between  the  Mediterranean  and 
Lebanon,  dwelt  the  maritime  and  commercial  people  of  Phoenicia,  in 
many  populous  towns,  among  which  Tyre  and  Sidon  were  the  most 
remarkable.  The  Phoenicians,  an  active  and  energetic  race,  would  not 
subject  themselves  to  the  restraints  imposed  by  the  caste-system.  On  the 
contrary,  every  city,  with  the  territory  adjacent  to  it,  constituted  an  inde 
2 


14  THE   ANCIEXT   WORLD. 

pendent  commonwealth,  at  the  head  of  which  stood  an  hereditary  sove- 
reign, whose  power,  however,  was  greatly  restricted  by  the  priests  and 
nobles.  Collectively  they  formed  a  league  of  towns,  of  which,  at  first 
Sidon,  and  afterwards  Tyre,  was  the  chief.  Intellectual  activity  and  dili- 
gence in  business  led  this  people  to  many  discoveries ;  among  them  were 
glass,  the  art  of  dyeing  purple,  and  of  writing  by  means  of  letters.  They 
were  also  distinguished  by  their  skill  in  casting  metals,  weaving,  archi- 
tecture, and  various  other  matters.  Sidonian  garments,  Tyrian  purple, 
Phoenician  glass,  and  articles  of  ivory,  gold,  and  other  metals,  were  pre- 
cious and  coveted  wares  in  all  antiquity.  The  favorable  situation  of  their 
country  made  them  sailors,  and  the  cedars  of  Lebanon  supplied  the  mate- 
rials for  ship-building.  Not  only  did  the  Phoenicians  navigate  the  coasts 
and  islands  of  the  Mediterranean  in  their  splendid  ships,  for  the  purpose 
of  trafficking  both  in  their  own  productions  and  in  those  of  the  distant  East, 
spices,  frankincense,  oil,  wine,  corn,  and  slaves,  but  they  even  ventured 
beyond  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  (Straits  of  Gibraltar),  purchased  tin  from 
ihe  inhabitants  of  the  British  Isles,  and  amber  from  the  people  of  the 
Baltic,  and  undertook  venturous  expeditions  to  India  (Ophir)  and  the 
southern  parts  of  Arabia.  They  are  even  said  to  have  doubled  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  in  a  voyage  of  three  years'  duration,  undertaken  at  the 
instigation  of  Necho,  King  of  Egypt.  They  established  colonies  on  Crete 
and  Cyprus,  at  Sicily  and  Sardinia,  in  the  south  of  Spain  (Tartessus  and 
Gades,  now  called  Cadiz),  and  in  northern  Africa.  The  commercial 
city,  Carthage,  founded  there  by  the  Tyrians,  under  the  con- 
duct of  Queen  Dido,  soon  eclipsed  the  renown  of  the  mother 
country.  The  Phoenicians  paid  less  attention  than  the  other  Oriental 
nations  to  the  cultivation  of  religion.  Their  worship  of  Moloch  was 
accompanied  with  frightful  human  sacrifices,  that  of  Baal  with  obscene 
rites. 

§  15.  In  their  contests  with  the  warlike  nations  of  Asia,  the  Phoeni- 
cians displayed  both  courage  and  patriotism.     When  the  Assyrian  Sal- 
manasser  subjected  Phoenicia  to  his  sceptre,  and  compelled 
the  inhabitants  to  pay  tribute,  the  Tyrians  built  New  Tyre 
upon  a  neighboring  island,  and  defended  it  with  success,  for  five  years, 
against  the  superior  power  of  the  enemy.     The  merchant  fleet  of  Tyre 
soon  again  ruled  the  sea.     Even  the  Babylonian  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, who  had  subdued  the  mainland  of  Phoenicia,  and  had 
transplanted  the  inhabitants  of  Old  Tyre,  along  with  the  Jews,  into  the 
interior  of  his  kingdom,  was  unable  to  shake  the  courage  of  the  New 
Tyrians.     But  these  repeated  attacks  seem  to  have  broken  their  power ; 
for  when,  shortly  after,  the  Persians  subjected  the  countries  of  western 
Asia,  Tyre  also  lost  its  freedom  and  independence.     Phoenicia  became  a 
Persian  province.     In  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century,  the 
oppression  of  the  foreign  governor  produced  a  rebellion,  a 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

the  head  of  which  stood  Sidon.  It  was  unsuccessful.  Sidon  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Persian  king ;  and  when  this  prince  gave  orders  for  the 
execution  of  the  principal  citizens,  the  inhabitants  themselves  set  fire  to 
the  town,  and  consumed  themselves  and  their  treasures.  Tyre  existed 
eome  time  longer ;  but  when  Alexander  the  Macedonian  overthrew  the 
Persian  empire,  and  Tyre,  proud  of  its  former  glory,  ventured  to  oppose 
the  conqueror,  it  was  taken  and  destroyed  after  a  seven 
months'  siege.  It  never  recovered  from  this  stroke ;  and  its 
trade  and  maritime  power  were  transferred  to  Alexandria. 

•  VII.     THE    PEOPLE    OF   ISRAEL. 

§  16.  "Whilst  the  whole  world  was  sunk  into  idolatry,  a  people  of  shep- 
herds, of  Semitic  origin,  dwelling  in  Mesopotamia,  preserved  the  ori- 
Abraham  ginal  belief  in  a  single  God.  Abram  (Abraham),  one  of  the 
B.  c.  2000.  ancestors  of  this  nomadic  race,  left  his  native  pastures  at  the 
command  of  Jehovah,  and  settled  himself,  with  his  cattle,  his  men-ser- 
vants and  maidens,  and  his  brother's  son.  Lot,  in  "  the  promised  land  '* 
Canaan  (Palestine),  where  they  continued  their  pastoral  life,  and  received 
from  the  inhabitants  the  name  of  the  "Strangers  from  the  other  side" 
(Hebrews).  Isaac,  who  was  born  to  Abraham  by  Sarah  at  an  advanced 
period  of  life,  continued  tlie  race ;  whilst  Ishmael,  Abraham's  son  by  his 
coi\cubine  Hagar,  is  regarded  as  the  progenitor  of  the  Arabs.  Isaac  took 
to  wife  Rebekah,  one  of  his  own  relatives  acknowledging  the  true  faith, 
who  brought  him  two  sons,  Esau  and  Jacob.  By  the  cunning  of  his 
mother,  Jacob,  the  younger  son,  contrary  to  the  usage  that  had  hitherto 
obtained,  was  declared  to  be  the  chief  of  his  race,  but  could  only  gain  pos- 
Jacob.  session  of  his  inheritance  after  a  long  period  of  probation. 

-  B.  c.  1836.  Jacob  had  twelve  sons  ;  but  as  he  distinguished  Joseph,  the 
gift  of  his  beloved  Rachel,  by  his  peculiar  affection,  the  others,  moved 
Joseph,  hy  envy,  entertained  the  purpose  of  getting  rid  of  their 

B.  c.  1750.  brother,  and  sold  him  to  some  travelling  merchants,  who 
took  him  with  them  into  Egypt.  As  Joseph  held  fast  his  integrity,  God 
rewarded  him  with  prosperity  and  wisdom.  By  his  skill  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  dreams,  he  obtained  the  favor  of  the  Egyptian  king,  and 
arrived  at  high  dignity  and  honors.  He  saved  the  land  from  famine,  and 
by  this  means  attained  such  credit,  that  he  was  permitted  to  invite  his 
father  and  brethren  into  Egypt,  and  to  bestow  upon  them  the  fertile  pas- 
ture-lands of  Goshen.  The  Hebrews  were  generally  called  Israelites, 
from  Jacob's  surname  of  Israel. 

§  17.  At  first,  the  Israelites  were  prosperous  in  the  rich  meadows 
of  Goshen.  But  when  Joseph  was  dead,  and  fresh  rulers,  who  knew 
nothing  of  his  services,  assumed  the  governmer"^,  dislike  to  strangers,  and 
contempt  for  the  pastoral  state,  incited  the  Kgyptians  to  cruelty  and 
Beverity  against  the  foreigners.     They  commenced  by  imposing  sever© 


16  THE   AXCIENT   WOULD. 

socage  duties  upon  them  ;  and  when  it  was  found  that,  despite  this  op- 
pression, they  increased  so  rapidly  that  the  Egyptians  at  length  became 
alarmed  at  their  superior  numbers,  Pharaoh  gave  commandment  to  drown 
all  their  newly-born  male  children  in  the  Nile. 

Moses,  Moses  would  have  experienced   this  fate,  had  not  the 

B.  c.  1500.  daughter  of  Pharaoh,  who  chanced  to  be  walking  on  the 
banks  of  the  river  just  as  he  was  about  to  be  drowned,  taken  pity  on  the 
infant,  and  saved  him.  Moses  came  to  the  Egyptian  court,  where  he  was 
carefully  brought  up,  and  instructed  in  all  wisdom.  The  slaughter  of  an 
Egyptian,  w^hom  he  saw  misusing  one  of  the  Israelites,  compelled  him, 
when  he  was  forty  years  old,  to  fly  to  the  deserts  of  Arabia.  It  was  here 
that  he  w^as  inspired  with  the  lofty  purpose  of  becoming  the  deliverer  of 
his  people  from  their  Egyptian  bondage.  At^first,  Pharaoh  refused  to 
let  the  Israelites  depart;  but  after  terror  and  distress  had  been  spread 
over  the  land  by  the  ten  plagues  which  were  sent  upon  it,  he  at  length 
consented  to  the  retreat  required  by  Moses  and  his  brother  Aaron.  The 
attempt  to  bring  them  back  again  by  force,  after  their  passage  over  the 
Red  Sea,  was  attended  with  the  destruction  of  the  j^ursuers. 

§  18.  For  a  period  of  forty  years,  Moses  led  a  discontented  people, 
who  were  often  pining  for  the  fleshpots  of  Egypt,  wandering  in  the  desert, 
for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  their  bodies,  restoring  virtue  and  a  love 
of  freedom  to  their  minds,  and  of  rearing  up  a  young  and  hardy  race, 
who  should  possess  strength  and  courage  for  the  conquest  of  the  pi-omised 
land.  It  was  during  this  period  that  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  other 
laws  relative  to  the  religion  and  policy  of  the  Israelites,  v/ere  delivered 
to  Moses  on  Mount  Sinai.  These  laws  were  preserved  in  the  ark  of  the 
covenant,  the  most  sacred  of  tabernacles.  Their  interpreters  wei-e  the 
high  priests,  to  whose  office  Aaron  and  his  posterity  were  appointed.  By  • 
their  side  stood  the  Levites,  as  sacrificing  priests,  teachers,  lawyers,  and 
physicians.  According  to  the  system  of  Moses,  Jehovah  himself  was  king 
and  ruler  ;  it  was  in  his  name  that  the  elders  of  the  tribes  conducted  tlie 
temporal  government,  whilst  the  chief  priest  and  Levites  superintended 
the  affairs  of  religion.  Sacrifices  and  feasts  (those  of  the  Passover,  Pen- 
tecost, and  Tabernacles)  formed  the  pleasant  bond  between  Jehovah  and 
the  "  chosen"  people.  In  the  sabbath-year,  the  lands  were  left  unfilled, 
*  and  that  which  grew  spontaneously  was  given  up  to  the  poor.  In  (nxry 
fiftieth  year  (year  of  Jubilee),  lands  that  had  been  alienated  were  retni-ned 
to  their  original  possessors,  tjiat  property  might  not  be  too  uneqnally 
divided.  Moses  determined  upon  agriculture  in  preference  to  the  pastoral 
life,  as  the  principal  occupation  of  his  people. 

§  19.  It  was  not  permitted  to  the  great  lawgiver  to  lead  his  people 
into  the  promised  land.  He  gazed  from  the  top  of  Mount  Nebo  on  the 
Joshua  beautiful  plains  of  the  Jordan,  and  then  departed  from  among 

B.  c.  1450.       the   living,   after   having  chosen  Joshua  as  his   successor, 


THE  EASTERN  RACES.  17 

and  exhorted  the  assembled  people  to  hold  fast  upon  the  God  of  their 
fathers,  and  to  root  out  the  Canaanites.  Scarcely,  however,  had  the  peo- 
ple, under  the  command  of  the  vahant  Joshua,  conquered  the  Amoritea 
and  the  other  tribes,  than  they  gave  up  war,  and  demanded  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  vanquished  lands.  This  distribution  took  place  by  lot  (in 
accordance  with  the  regulation  of  Moses)  among  the  twelve  sons  of  Jacob, 
in  such  a  way  that  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  succeeded  to  equal  shares; 
"while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  descendants  of  Levi  had  no  distinct  inherit- 
ance, and  received  only  a  few  towns  and  a  tenth  part  of  the  productions 
of  the  earth.  Reuben,  Gad,  and  half  Manasseh,  chose  the  pasture- 
land  on  the  east  of  Jordan ;  the  others  settled  on  the  western  side  of 
the  river. 

§  20.  Buf  many  powerful  tribes,  as  the  Ammonites  and  Philistines, 
were  still  left  unsubdued,  and  disturbed  the  Israelites  in  the  enjoyment 
of  their  possessions.  Bloody  and  destructive  wars  induced  a  rude  and 
barbarous  condition  of  society  ;  and  the  Israelites  not  unfrequently  forgot 
the  living  God,  who  had  brought  them  out  of  bondage,  and  fell  into  the 
practice  of  idolatry,  until  misfortunes  and  defeats  again  brought  them 
back  to  a  better  understanding.  At  these  times,  men  of  heroic  courage 
would  arise,  defeat  the  enemy  in  victorious  fields,  and  restore  the  ancient 
manners  and  the  faith  of  their  ancestors.  These  men  are  called  Judges, 
in  the  sacred  writings.  .  .  .  The  most  renowned  among  them  are  Gideon, 
Samuel,  Jcidithah,  Samson  the  strong,  and  the  heroic  Deborah.     But 

B.  c.  1150.  the  .high  priest  Samuel,  a  pious  and  patriotically  disposed 
man,  was  the  first  Who  was  successful  in  reuniting  the  aycient  ties  which 
bound  the  people  of  Israel  to  their  God,  and  in  restoring  to  the  laws  of 
Moses  tlieir  former  ascendancy.  lie  overthrew  the  Philistines,  and 
■'founded  the  schools  whence  proceeded  those  inspired  oracles  of  the  peo 
pie,  distinguished  in  the  Bible  by  the  name  of  Prophets. 

§  21.  The  sons  of  Samuel  did  not  walk  in  the  steps  of  their  father,  but 
perverted  the  right.  At  this  period,  the  Israelites,  in  imitation  of  the 
surrounding  natfons,  desired  a  king,  who,  as  perpetual  cliief,  might  lead 
them  forth  to  battle  and  victory.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  gray-headed 
high  priest  sought  to  dissuade  them  from  this  request,  whilst  he  portrayed 
in  the  strongest  colors  the  misery  and  oppression  that  awaited  them  under 
a  kingly  rule.  The  Israelites  persisted  in  their  intention,  and  Samuel 
Suul,  anointed  Saul,  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  to  be  king.     Saul 

B.  c.  1095.  was  a  man  of  majestic  person,  brave,  experienced  in  military 
affairs,  and  successful  in  the  field ;  but  as  he  placed  his  trust  in  his  army, 
and  did  not  hold  fast  the  commandments  of  Jehovah,  he  was  rejected,  and 
Samuel  anointed  the  shepherd  lad,  David,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah.  Saul  at 
this  time  was  attacked  with  a  spirit  of  melancholy,  which  nothing  but  the 
harp  of  David  could  alleviate.  But  envy  of  the  renown  acquired  by 
David  in  the  wars  against  the  Philistines,  and  a  secret  presentiment  of 
2* 


IH  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 

the  destiny  that  awaited  him,  urged  Saul  to  hate  and  persecute  the  young 
shepherd ;  Saul's  son,  Jonathan,  on  the  other  hand,  was  devoted  to  him 
with  true  affection.  David,  nevertheless,  in  the  midst  of  dangers  and 
distresses,  escaped  the  attempts  of  his  enemy ;  and  at  length,  when  Saul, 
after  having  sustained  a  defeat,  threw  himself  in  despair  upon  his  sword. 
David  was  gradually  recognized  as  king  by  the  whole  of  the  tribes. 
David,  §  -2.  The  reign  of  David  is  the  glorious  period  of  Jewish 

B.  c.  1060.  history.  By  means  of  successful  wars,  he  enlarged  his  king- 
dom to  the  South  and  East;  he  made  the  Syrian  town,  Damascus,  his 
footstool,  and  broke  forever  the  power  of  the  Philistines ;  he  conquered 
Jerusalem,  the  chief  city  of  the  Jebusites,  together  with  the  strong  for- 
tress Zion,  and  selected  it  for  a  residence,  and  the  central  point  of  a 
solemn  religious  worship ;  and  with  this  view,  commanded  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  to  be  brought  thither.  David  was  also  a  great  poet,  as  is  abun- 
dantly shown  by  his  admirable  religious  hymns  (Psalms);  and  despite 
many  grievous  transgressions,  he  still  remained  the  "man  after  God's 
own  heart,"  since  by  sorrow  and  repentance  he  always  regained  the  for- 
giveness of  Jehovah.  The  end  of  his  reign  was  disturbed  by  the  rebel- 
Solomon,  lion  of  his  beloved  son,  Absalom,  who  was  led  astray  by  evil 
B.  c.  1000.  counsellors.  The  wise  Solomon  completed  the  work  of  his 
father.  As  David  had  been  great  in  war,  so  his  son  was  illustrious  in 
the  arts  of  peace.  lie  adorned  his  capital  with  splendid  buildings,  and 
erected  on  the  hill  of  Mori'ah,  by  the  aid  of  Tyrian  artists  and  masons, 
the  magnificent  temple  which  bore  his  own  name,  and  .which,  on  account 
of  the  richness  of  its  gilding  and  ornaments,  was  the  object  of  universal 
admiration.  But  Solomon  departed  in  many  things  from  the  laws  of 
Moses.  He  traded  with  the  neighboring  nations,  and  thereby  acquired 
incalculable  v/ealth,  which  stimulated  his  love  of  luxury,  pleasure,  and 
magnificence ;  he  took  to  himself  wives  from  a  foreign  people,  permitted 
them  the  exercise  of  their  idolatrous  worship,  and  even  took  part  in  it 
himself.  His  lofty  mind  and  admired  wisdom  did  not  secure  hini  from 
folly.     His  love  of  magnificence  and  extravagance  was  the  occasion  of 

^     ,  oppressive  taxes  ;  and  even  durinj^j  his  own  life,  an  insurrec- 

Jeroboam.  .       ,      ,  -,  ^  t 

tion  broke  out  under  the  guidance  of  Jeroboam.     This  was 

indeed  suppressed,  and  the  originator,  compelled  to  take  flight ;  but  when 
Kelioboam,  Solomon's  son,  Rehoboam,  pursued  the  same  course  his  father 
B.  c.  975.  had  taken,  and  repelled  with  threats  the  prayers  of  the  peo- 
ple for  relief,  many  of  the  tribes  fell  from  him,  and  chose  Jeroboam  for 
king.  Judah  and  Benjamin  alone  remained  faithful  to  the  legitimate 
royal  race. 

§  23.  From  this  division  there  arose  two  states  of  uneqvial  magnitude, 
the  kingdom  of  Israel,  or  Ephraim,  formed  of  ten  of  the  tribes,  with  its 
capitals,  Shechem  and  Samaria,  and  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  consisting  of 
tiro  tribes,  with  its  chief  city,  Jerusalem.     As  Jerusalem  preserved  the 


THE  EASTERN  EACES.  19 

ark  of  the  covenant,  and  was  in  consequence  regarded  by  the  Levitea 
and  many  pious  Israelites  as  the  true  chief  city,  Jeroboam  set  up  the 
worship  of  idols  in  the  southern  and  northern  parts  of  his  kingdom,  a  sin 
"which  was  shared  by  the  whole  of  his  successors.  One  of  the  most  im- 
pious among  these  was  Ahab,  whose  wife,  Jezebel,  a  Tyrian,  introduced 
the  blasphemous  Phoenician  worship  of  Baal,  and  raged  violently  against 
those  who  would  not  do  him  homage.  By  means  of  her  daughter,  Atha- 
li'ah,  who  was  married  to  a  king  of  Judah,  the  same  worship  was  intro- 
duced into  Judah,  and  favored  ]fy  the  court.  The  consequences  were, 
intense  hatred  and  contention,  and  at  length,  civil  wars  between  the  two 
kingdoms,  by  which  they  were  mutually  weakened ;  they  then  entered 
into  alliances  with  other  nations.  The  voices  of  the  prophets,  who  boldly 
foretold  the  destruction  of  the  state  if  the  worship  of  Jehovah  were  thrust 
aside  for  the  worship  of  idols,  died  away  unheeded.  When  the  land  was 
threatened  by  the  Babylonians  and  Assyrians,  Isaiah  referred  to  the 
coming  Messiah  as  the  only  Savior;  and  •Jeremiah  lived  to  see  that 
destruction  of  the  state,  concerning  which  he  had  in  vain  warned  the 
blinded  people. 

§  24.  The  Ephraimitic  kingdom  of  Israel  was  first  subjected  to  tribute 
by  the  Assyrians.  But  when  the  king,  Iloshea,  entered  into  an  alliance 
with  the  Egyptians  for  the  purpose  of  escaping  from  this  impost,  the 
Assyrian  king  marched  an  army  into  the  land,  subdued  Samaria,  and  led 
away  the  king,  with  the  greater  portion  of  his  subjects,  into 
the  Assyrian  captivity.  Foreigners  entered  into  the  land, 
and  the  intermixture  of  these  with  the  remaining  Israelites  gave  rise  to 
the  Samaritans.  Judah  survived  130  years  longer.  After  the  fall  of 
Israel,  it  became  tributary  to  Assyria.  But  when  this  nation  went  to 
war  with  Egypt,  the  king  of  Judah  sided  with  the  latter,  and  refused  the 
tribute  to  the  Assyrians.  .The  Assyrian  king,  Sanherib,  (Sennacherib,) 
came  up  against  Jerusalem  and  laid  siege  to  it.  But  Judah's  hour  was 
not  yet  come,  whilst  the  "pious  Hezekiah  sat  upon  the  throne.  The  host 
of  the  Assyrians  was  almost  entirely  destroyed  in  a  single  night,  and  San- 
herib (Sennacherib)  retreated  from  the  land  in  horror.  It  was  to  the 
victorious  Nebuchadnezzar  of  Babylon,  that  it  was  first  allotted  to  make 

an  end  of  the  nation  polluted  with  new  idolatries.  He  took 
B.  c.  600.  ^ 

Jerusalem,  plundered  the  temple,  carried  away  the  king  and 

the  chief  inhabitants  into  the  interior  of  his  dominions,  and  oppressed  with 

a  heavy  hand  those  whom  he  suffered  to  remain.     This  induced  the  last 

king,  Zedekiah,  to  try  once  more  the  chances  of  war;  but  he 

B.  C.  588.  ,         , 

met  with  little  success.  Nebuchadnezzar  burnt  the  city  and 
temple,  slaughtered  the  citizens,  and  at  length  carried  away  the  deluded 
king  and  the  greater  part  of  his  people  into  the  seventy  years'  Babylonian 
captivity.  In  their  necessit}-,  the  Jews  again  sought  the  God  of  their 
fathers,  and  found  grace  in  hi  sight.     One  of  the  prisoners,  the  prophet 


20  THE   ANCIENT  WOKLD. 

Daniel,  arrived  at  high  honors,  and  alleviated  the  fate  of  his  brethren. 
After  some  years,  Babylon  was  conquered  by  the  Persians, 
upon  which  Cyrus  suffered  the  Jews  to  return  to  their 
homes.  Only  a  small  portion  returned  at  first,  under  the  conduct  of 
Zerubbabel ;  these  commenced  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple.  But  as 
they  avoided  all  intercourse  with  the  Samaritans,  this  people,  moved  by 
hatred,  endeavored  in  every  possible  way  to  disturb  their  purpose.  They 
procured  a  prohibition  of  the  building,  which  was  already  commenced, 
B  c  515  ^"^  which,  in  consequence;  was  not  completed  till  the. reign 

of  Darius.  During  the  reign  of  Artaxerxes  in  Persia,  fresh 
B.  c.  460.  troops,  led  by  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  returned  to  their  homes, 
rebuilt  the  city,  and  reestablished  the  laws  of  Moses.  They  had  been 
taught  by  suffering,  that  salvation  and  deliverance  were  only  to  be  found 
in  a  steadfast  adherence  to  the  faith  of  their  ancestors ;  and  from  this 
time  forth,  they  were  more  careful  in  shunning  idolatry,  and  all  contact 
with  idolatrous  nations.       • 

VIII.    MEDES    AND    PERSIANS. 

§  25.  Media  and  Persia,  two  countries  where  savage  and  occasionally 
attractive  mountainous  regions  alternate  with  rich  pasture  grounds  and 
fertile  arable  lands,  were  formerly  inhabited  by  tribes  who  drew  their 
origin  from  the  ancient  Zend  races  dwelling  farther  to  the  eastward. 
They  possessed  a  remarkable  religion,  which  was  founded  by  the  ancient 
.sage,  Zoroaster,  and  had  been  delineated  by  him  in  the  sacred  books  of 
the  Zend-Avesta.  According  to  this  system,  there  are  two  first  princi- 
ples ;  a  spirit  of  light,  Ormuzd,  and  an  evil  spirit  of  darkness,  Ahriman. 
Both  of  these  have  armies  of  similar  spirits  under  them,  and  are  to  wage 
perpetual  war  with  each  other  till  the  end  of  the  world,  when  the  spirit 
of  light  will  become  victorious;  upon  this,  the  evil  spirit  is  to  disappear, 
and  the  human  race  to  be  rendered  happy.  This  doctrine  was  repre- 
sented by  a  powerful  hierarchy  of  priests,  the  Magi,  in  a  solemn  religious 
ceremonial.  The  god  of  light  was  worshipped  under  the  form  of  the 
sun  and  of  fire,  the  spirit  of  darkness  was  propitiated  by  sacrifices  and 
prayers. 

§  26.  The  Medes  remained  for  a  long  time  under  the  dominion  of  foreign 
nations  ;  at  length,  they  roused  their  courage  and  fought  valiantly  for 
their  freedom.  But  a  few  warlike  kings  soon  after  succeeded  in  suppress- 
ing the  newly-acquired  liberties  of  the  people,  and  in  establishing  a  mili- 
tary despotism.  They  at  the  same  time  subdued  some  of  the  neighboring 
people,  and  among  others,  the  cognate  tribe  of  the  Persians.  But  their 
Astyages,  rule  was  but  of  short  duration ;  Astyages,  the  last  of  the  Me- 
B.  c.  575.  dian  kings,  had  a  vision,  which  the  diviners  interpreted  to 
signify,  that  the  son  of  his  daughter  should,  at  some  time,  rule  over 
Media  and  western  Asia.     Alarmed  at  this,  he  gave  his  daughter  in  mar 


THE   EASTERN  RACES.  2% 

riage  to  a  petty  prince  of  the  subjected  tribe  of  Persians,  and  when  she 
brought  forth,  a  son  named  Cyrus,  he  commanded  him  to  be  put  to  death 
in  the  obscurity  of  a  remote  forest.  Cyrus  only  escaped  the  fate  designed 
for  him,  through  the  compassion  of  the  shepherd  to  whom  the  execution 
of  the  murder  was  intrusted.  He  was  brought  up  as  the  son  of  the  shep- 
herd, but  whilst  yet  a  youth,  gave  such  evidence  in  his  pastimes  of  an  in- 
nate spirit  of  command,  as  led  to  his  being  brought  before  the  king  and 
recognized.  Astyages,  pacified  by  the  diviners,  now  allowed  Cyrus  to  be 
brought  up  in  a  manner  suitable  to  his  rank,  and  sent  him  back,  when  he 
had  arrived  at  maturity,  to  his  parents  in  Persia.  It  was  here  that  the 
project  of  freeing  his  brave  but  subjected  countrymen  from  the  yoke  of 
the  Medes,  and  leading  them  forth  to  victory  and  conquest,  first  arose  in 
his  mind.  His  mighty  spirit  and  commanding  person  compelled  the  Per- 
sians to  admiration  and  obedience.  He  marched  against  the  Medes ; 
Astyages,  betrayed  and  overcome,  relinquished  the  throne  to  his  success- 
Cyrus,  ful  grandson,  who  now  became  the  founder  of  an  empire  that 
B.  c.  660.        embraced  almost  all  the  civilized  nations  of  Asia. 

§  27.  At  this  time.  King  Croesus,  who  possessed  such  enor- 
mous wealth  tliat  his  name  is  become  proverbial,  reigned  in 
Sardis,  the  principal  city  of  Lydia.  Cyrus  declared  war  against  him. 
Croesus,  deceived  by  an  ambiguous  oracle,  passed  over  the  boundary  stream 
of  the  Halys  to  attack  the  Persians,  but  suffered  a  defeat,  and  was  obliged 
to  fly  in  haste  to  his  capital.  Cyrus  pursued  him,  took  Sardis,  and  com- 
manded the  captured  king  to  be  cast  into  the  flames.  Croesus  already 
sat  bound  upon  the  funeral  pile,  when  his  recollection  of  Solon,  the  wise 
man  of  Athens,  saved  him  from  destruction.  Solon  had  once  visited  Sar- 
dis, and  been  hospitably  entertained  by  the  king.  Proud  of  his  prosperity, 
Croesus  had  the  sage  led  through  his  treasure-chambers,  and  displayed 
before  him  the  whole  of  his  riches.  ^  He  then  asked  him  who  it  was  that 
be  considered  to  be  the  liappiest  of  mortals,  nothing  doubting  that  Solon 
would  name  Croesus.  The  sage,  however,  mentioned  a  few  persons, 
who,  after  leading  a  virtuous  life,  had  met  with  a  becoming  death:  when 
Croesus  again  asked  him  whether  he  did  not  look  upon  himself  as  a 
happy  man,  Solon  made  the  significant  reply, "  that  no  man  could  be  con- 
sidered happy  before  death."  These  words  occurred  at  this  moment  to 
the  captive  king,  and  he  exclaimed  bitterly,  "  Oh !  Solon,  Solon ! "  The 
exclamation  awakened  the  curiosity  of  Cyrus  ;  he  had  the  story  related 
to  him,  and  struck  by  the  truth  of  the  words  of  Solon,  set  Crcesus  at 
liberty,  held  him  in  high  estimation,  and  consulted  him  in  all  his  under- 
takings. 

§  28.  With  the  same  good  fortune  did  Cyrus  overthrow  the  empire  of 
Babylon.  As  the  Babylonians,  in  fi'ill  security  of  the  impregnability  of 
their  city,  were  celebrating  a  festival,  and  th§ir  luxurious  king,  Nabon* 
nddus,  (Belshazzar),  was  contemptud  :sly  defiling  the  sacred  vessels  of 


22  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 

the  Jews,  the  Persians  penetrated  into  the  town  by  an  arm  of  the 

Euphrates,  the  waters  of  which  they  had  drained  off,  killed  the  king,  and 

subdued  the  country.     By  this  conquest,  Syria,  Palestine, 

and  Phoenicia  also  fell  under  the  dominion  of  the  Persians, 

and  the  captive  Jews  received  permission  to  return  to  their  country. 

Soon  after  this,  Cyrus  undertook  an  expedition  against  the  Massaget^e, 
a  wild  nomadic  race,  living  near  the  borders  of  the  Caspian  Sea.  He 
was  succcssfiil  at  first,  by  means  of  a  military  stratagem,  ^nd  destroyed 
many  of  the  enemy,  among  them  a  son  of  their  queen,  Thomyris.  But 
shortly  after  this,  he  and  a  great  part  of  his  army  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Massdgetse ;  and  the  queen,  thirsting  for  revenge,  cast  the  severed 
head  of  the  mighty  Persian  king,  with  an  expression  of  contempt,  into  a 
vessel  filled  with  blood. 

Cambyses,  §  29.  Cambyses,  the  victorious  and  tyrannical  son  of  Cyrus, 

B.  c.  629.  enlarged  the  Persian  empire  by  the  conquest  of  Egypt.  The 
fate  of  the  dwellers  on  the  Nile  was  frightful.  The  unfortunate  king, 
Psammem'tus,  after  witnessing  the  oppression  of  his  subjects, 
and  the  dishonor  of  his  family,  was  put  to  a  violent  death ; 
the  Egyptian  temples  and  sanctuaries  were  profaned,  the  treasures  plun- 
dered, and  the  inhabitants  abused.  But  the  Persians  also  encountered  a 
heavy  doom.  Two  armies,  that  Cambyses  despatched  for  the  conquest  of 
the  priestly  state  of  Ammdnium,  found  their  graves  in  the  sandy  deserts 
of  Libya..  This  state  had  its  central  point  in  the  temple  and  oracle  of  the 
ram-horned  Jupiter- Ammon,  in  the  oasis  of  Siwah,  and  was,  like  Thebes, 
a  colony  of  the  original  pontifical  state,  Meroe,  which  had  once  subsisted 
in  Nubia,  in  the  midst  of  a  savage  negro  population.  Cambyses  died 
after  a  violent  reign  of  seven  years,  in  consequence  of  an  injury  he  acci- 
dentally inflicted  on  himself  with  his  own  sword.  The  Egyptians  ascribed 
his  sudden  death  to  the  vengeance  of  the  gods  for  the  slaughter  of  the 
sacred  ox,  Api5. 

Darius  §  ^^*  S^"^®  ^i"^6   ^^^^^  *^^^j  seven   illustrious   Persians 

Hystaspes,  agreed  together,  that  they  would  ride  in  the  direction  of  the 
B.  c.  521.  rising  sun,  and  that  the  man  whose  horse  neighed  first  should 
be  made  king.  In  this  manner,  Darius,  the  son  of  Hystaspes,  and  the  son- 
in-law  of  Cyrus,  gained  the  throne,  which  he  occupied,  not  without  re- 
nown, for  the  space  of  thirty-six  years.  He  divided  the  kingdom  into 
satrapies,  regulated  the  imposts,  and  conducted  great  wars.  But  his  arms 
were  not  always  successful.  When  he  invaded  the  nomadic  tribes,  called 
Scythians,  dwelling  on  the  steppes  of  the  lower  Danube,  this  people 
retreated  with  their  tents  and  herds,  and  surrendered  their  naked  fields 
to  the  enemy,  who  were  soon  reduced  by  want  to  the  brink  of  destruction ; 
and  when  at  length  attacked  by  the  Scythians,  were  compelled  to  make  a 
most  disastrous  retreat  over  the  Danube. 

§  31.  The  simple  manners  and  military  virtue  of  the  Persians  soon 


HISTORY   OF   GREECE.  23 

degenerated.  The  magnificence  of  the  court,  where  crowds  of  officials 
and  priestly  counsellors,  of  servants  and  guards,  battened  on  the  pros- 
perity of  the  country,  destroyed  the  well-being  of  the  provinces.  The 
royal  table  was  furnished  with  dishes  and  liquors  of  the  rarest  quality, 
brought  from  the  most  distant  regions.  A  harem  of  ostentatious  and 
intriguing  women,  who  frequently  had  the  revenues  of  whole  towns  and 
provinces  allotted  to  them  to  defray  the  expenses  of  their  trinkets  and 
wardrobes,  increased  this  luxury  and  profuseness.  The  court  moved 
with  the  seasons.  The  winter  was  passed  in  the  genial  climate  of  Baby- 
lon ;  the  spring  in  Susa  ;  the  summer  in  the  cool  Ecbatana.  Numerous 
gardens  arranged  for  the  production  of  fruit,  and  inclosures  where  wild 
animals  were  preserved,  contributed  to  the  more  refined  pleasures  of  the 
Persian  monarchs  when  on  their  travels.  The  governors  of  the  pro- 
vinces imitated  the  luxury  and  extravagance  of  the  royal  court,  to  the 
detriment  of  their  lands,  which  were  protected  neither  by  laws  nor  the 
regular  administration  of  justice  from  arbitrary  and  despotic  authority. 
For  the  rest,  the  vast  empire  of  Persia  was  but  a  conglomeration  of 
heterogeneous  elements,  where  the  most  diversified  manners,  institutions, 
and  nationalities  wera  approximated  to  each  other  without  internal  union, 
without  strength,  and  without  support. 


»  B.    HISTORY  OF   GREECE. 

I.     GEOGRAPniCAL    SURVEY. a,   THE    GREEK    CONTINENT. 

§  32.  Greece  is  the  southern  portion  of  a  large  half-insular  piece  of 
land,  which  appears  broad  and  unbroken  in  its  northern  part,  narrow, 
irregular,  and  perforated  by  bays  and  inlets  on  its  southern  coast.  It  is 
traversed  by  numerous  ranges  of  mountains,  and  consists  of  rocky  and 
hilly  tracts,  which  divide  the  country  into  a  multitude  of  small,  secluded, 
and  isolated  regions,  and  favor  the  production  of  numerous  and  separate 
etates.  Greece  is  divided  into — Northern  Greece,  Central  Greece,  and 
Peloponnesus.  Northern  Greece  consists  of  the  rude  mountain  region 
of  Epi'rus  and  Thessaly.  Between  these .  two  lands  extends,  from  north 
to  south,  the  wild  afid  ruo-fred  mountain  ranrire  of  Pindus,  the  summit  of 
which  hi  almost  always  covered  with  snow.  Thessaly,  with  its  fruitful 
plains  and  luxuriant  pasture  grounds,  admirably  fitted  for  the  breeding  of 
horses,  is  inclosed  by  another  branch  of  the  same  range.  The  vale  of 
Tempe,  near  Olympus,  the  hill  of  the  gods,  was  celebrated  in  antiquity 
for  its  natural  beauties.  Among  the  cities  may  bo  mentioned  Larissa, 
on  the  Peneus,  and  Pharsalus,  with  its  battle-field.  The  southern  range 
of  hills  is  called  CEta.    Between  the  foot  of  these  mountains  and  the  bay, 


24  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 

Is  a  narrow  defile,  that  forms  the  only  natural  communication  between 
Thessaly  and  central  Greece.  This  is  the  celebrated  pass  of  Ther- 
mopylaj.  Central  Greece,  or  Hellas,  traversed  by  branches  of  the  CEtian 
range,  is  divided  into  eight  small  and  independent  states.  The  most  im- 
portant among  them  are,  Attica,  a  hilly  country,  rich  in  olives,  figs,  and 
honey,  with  its  chief  city,  Athens,  its  seaport,  Piree^us,  and  the  battle-field 
of  Marathon.  Opposite  Athens  lie  the  two  islands,  ^gina  and  Salamis  ; 
the  first  renowned  for  its  early  cultivation,  its  trade  and  navigation  ;  the 
latter,  for  the  naval  engagement  during  the  Persian  war.  Boeotia,  a  fer- 
tile corn-producing  country,  with  its  seven-gated  capital,  Thebes;  the  - 
heroic  Platoe'a,  and  the  renowned  battle-fields  of  Leuctra  and  Chaeronea. 
Phocis,  with  the  hills  of  Helicon  and:  Parnassus,  renowned  as  the  seats 
of  the  Muses.  At  the  foot  of  the  latter,  in  a  spot  that  was  looked  upon 
as  the  centre  of  the  earth,  lay  the  sacred  temple  city  of  Delphi,  with  its 
celebrated  oracle,  and  numerous  magnificent  buildings. 

Peloponnesus  (at  present  jNIorea)  is  connected  with  Central  Greece 
by  the  isthmus  of  Corinth.  This  peninsula  is  surrounded  on  four  of  its 
sides  by  the  sea,  and  is  an  entirely  mountainous  country.  In  its  centre 
is  situated  the  rude  region  of  Arcadia,  with  its  beautiful  valleys  and  fer- 
tile pastures  inhabited  by  a  hardy  race  of  shepherds.  Mantinea,  and  the 
Megalopolis  founded  by  Epaminondas,  are  among  the  most  celebrated 
of  its  towns.  In  the  north  of  the  peninsula,  on  the  shores  of  the  Cor- 
inthian gulf,  lies  Achaia,  with  its  twelve  cities,  which  were  united  together 
in  the  third  century  by  the  celebrated  Achaian  league.  Sicyon,  and  the 
rich  and  art-loving  Corinth,  were  also  joined  in  this  confederation.  To 
the  East  was  Argolis,  a  rocky  region  abounding  in  bays  and  creeks,  with 
its  chief  city,  Argos  ;  '}ilyc6n£e,  the  ancient  royal  seat  of  Agamemnon  and 
Tirynthus,  in  tlie  neighborhood  of  which  were  to  be  found  the  remains 
of  gigantic  buildings  (Cyclopean  walls).  To  the  south  lay  the  rugged 
Laconia,  or  Laceda^monia,  with  the  mountain  of  Taygetus,  and  a  few  fer- 
tile plains  in  the  valley  of  the  Eurotas  ;  near  this  was  the  renowned  city 
of  Sparta,  with  about  60,000  inhabitants.  Westward  from  Lacedas'mon 
extended  to  the  sea-coast  the  fruitful  region  of  Messenia,  with  the  for- 
tress Ithome,  and  the  maritime  city  Pylos :  northward  from  this  lay  Elis, 
the  territory  of  which  was  regarded  as  sacred,  and,  in  consequence,  was 
never  visited  with  war,  together  with  the  city  and  plain  of  Olympia,  ren^ 
dered  famous  by  the  Olympian  games.  • 

h.   the"  greek  islands. 

§  33.  To  the  east  and  west  of  Greece  lay  a  multitude  of  large  and 
small  islands,  which  are  of  the  greatest  importance  in  Greek  history. 
They  were  almost  all  remarkable  for  their  fertility  in  wine,  oil,  fruits, 
and  similar  productions;  carried  on  an  extensive  trade,  and  possessed 
even  at  an  early  period  a  high  amount  of  civilization.    The  most  remark 


HISTORY   OF   GREECE.  25 

able  among  them  are,  on  the  west,  Corey ra,  (at  present  Corfu),  renowned 
even'  in  the  earliest  ages  for  its  wealth  and  culture,  and  where,  at  a  later 
period,  the  Corinthians  founded  a  colony ;  and  the  stony  Ithaca,  the' 
dwelling-place  of  Ulysses.  In  the  southern  sea,  the  large  island  of  Crete, 
which  in  the,  time  of  Homer,  numbered  a  hundred  cities,  but  which  was 
dreaded  and  infamous  on  account  of  its  piracy ;  Cyprus  and  Cythera, 
celebrated  for  the  worship  of  Venus  ;  and  Rhodes,  renowned  lor  the 
casting  of  metals,  and  for  its  statue  of  the  god  of  the  sun  (Colpssus), 
seventy  cubits  in  height.  But  the  sea  the  most  rich  in  large  and  small 
islands  is  the  iEgean  on  the  east,  which  for  this  reason  has  given  its 
name  —  Archipelago — »to  every  sea  abounding  in  islands.  Oil'  the  east- 
ern coast  of  Greece,  and  only  divided  from  it  by  the  narrow  channel 
Euripus,  lies  the  long  and  fertile  island  Eubce'a  (xSegropont),  with  the 
maritime  and  commercial  cities  Eretria  and  Chalcis.  Farther  eastward, 
we  meet  with  Lemnos,  Thasos,  Imbros,  and  Samothiace,  the  anciently 
renowned  localities  of  mysterious  religious  customs.  The  group  of  islands 
lying  nearest  th6  east  coast  of  Peloponnesus,  are  called  Cyclades,  because 
they  lie  in  a  circle  (Cyclos).  Among  them  are  Delos,  the  sacred  birth- 
place of  Apollo  and  Diana;  Paros,  celebrated' for  its  marble;,  and  Naxos, 
for  its  wine.  Eastward  from  these  we  encounter  a  number  of  scattered 
islands,  the  Sp(5rades.  The  most  important",  both  on  account  of  their  size 
and  fertihty,  and  the  wealth  and  civilization  of  their  inhabitants,  are  the 
islands  lying  off  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  —  Lesbos,  with  its  Nourishing 
town  MityMne,  Chios,  Samos,  Cos,  and  otliers.  Lastly,  the  rocky  island 
of  Patmos,  celebrated  as  the  residence  of  the  Evangelist,  St.  John. 

II.    RELIGIOX    OF    THE    GREEKS. 

§  34.  ]N'owhere  did  the  heathen  worship  of  idols  assume  a  more  cheer- 
ful aspect  than  among  the  Greeks,  a  great  part  of  whose  mythology  was 
afterwards  adopted  by  the  Romans  and  incorporated  with  their  own 
religious  system.  According  to  the  religious  views  taken  by  the  Greeks, 
the  world  was  originally  a  rude  and  formless  mass  (chaos),  from  which 
the  heaven  and  earth  separated  themselves  as  independent-  divinities. 
The  earth,  after  this,  produced  beings  of  superhuman  stature  and  strength, 
the  Titans,  who  were  possessed  of  the  supreme  authority,  until  a  more  spirit- 
ual race  arose,  who  gathered  themselves  around  the  king  of  heaven,  Zeus^ 
or  Jupiter,  deprived  them  of  their  power,  overcame  the  giants  and  Titans 
who  attempted  to  storm  the  skies,  and  buried  them  in  the  abysses  of  the 
earth.  After  the  unruly  forces  of  nature  and  the  power  of  the  elements 
had  been  thus  subdued,  Zeus  erected  his  throne  upon  Olympus,  whilst 
Pluto  governed  the  gloomy  regions  of  the  subterranean  world,  (Hades,  . 
Tartarus,  Orcus),  and  Poseidon  (Neptune),  with  his  trident,  ruled  the 
Bea.  Hera  or  Juno,  the  queen  of  heaven,  the  virgin  Pallas  Athene 
(Minerva),  armed  with  helm  and  shield,  the  protectress  of  the  hberal  arts, 
3 


26  THE   ANCIENT  WORLD. 

and  of  all  intellectual  employment,  Apollo,  the  glorious  god  cf  liglitj 
and  some  others,  were  the  objects  of  similar  veneration.  Besides  these, 
woods  and  mountains,  fields  and  meadows,  rivers  and  lakes,  were  inha- 
bited by  an  innumerable  multitude  of  divine  beings,  —  nymphs,  nereids, 
tritons,  sirens  who  with  their  magic  songs  allured  men  to  destruction,  and 
many  others  that  frequently  interfered  in  human  affairs.  An  heroic  race, 
that  derived  its  origin  from  Zeus,  was  the  connecting  link  between  gods 
and  men ;  whilst  the  interval  between  men  and  the  animal  tribes  was 
filled  up  by  an  inferior  race  of  fauns  and  satyrs,  who  united  together 
human  and  bestial  qualities.  Pluman  life  and  this  world  of  divinities 
were  supposed  to  be  most  intimately  related  with  each  other.  From  the 
moment  of  his  birth,  a  guardian  spirit  (genius,  demon)  stood  by  the  side 
of  every  man  for  his  whole  life,  and  exercised  an  influence  upon  his 
resolutions  and  actions,  without  however  interfering  with  the  freedom  of 
his  will.  The  household  hearth  was  the  residence  of  sacred  domestic  and 
family  deities  (Lares,  Penates),  who  preserved  the  dwelling  from  evil; 
and  every  important  event  of  life  was  under  the  guardianship  of  a  sepa- 
rate divinity.  In  opposition  to  the  Christian  view,  which  looks  upon  the 
life  of  this  world  as  a  state  of  probation,  and  of  transition  to  a  higher 
form  of  existence,  the  joyous  Greeks  referred  all  their  pleasures  to  the 
earthly  life,  and  looked  upon  the  shadowy  existence  of  the  subterranean 
world  as  but  its  melancholy  continuation.  They  nevertheless  believed  in 
rewards  and  punishments,  and  in  a  state  of  immortal  existence.  The 
departed  were  brought  by  Hermes  (Mercury),  the  conductor  of  the  dead, 
before  the  three  judges  of  the  lower  world,  and,  according  to  their  deci 
sion,  they  were  either  sent  to  the  residence  of  the  righteous  (Elysium,  the 
happy  islands),  or  to  the  place  of  condemnation  (Tartarus).  Many 
sacrifices  were  offered  on  the  graves  by  the  survivors  to  the  souls  or 
shadows  (manes)  of  the  departed.  This  free  and  beautiful  system  of 
mythology  is  displayed  in  the  most  perfect  productions  of  Greek  art  and 
poetry. 


I.  GREECE  BEFORE  THE  PERSIAN  WAR. 

I.    THE    TIME    OF   THE    TROJAN   WAR. 

§  35.  The  Pelasgi  are  believed  to  have  been  the  most  ancient  inhabit- 
ants of  Greece.  They  were  an  agricultural  and  peaceful  people,  with  a 
religion  that  was  founded  upon  the  veneration  of  nature,  and  in  which 
the  earth -mother  Demeter  (Ceres),  the  wine-producer  Dionysus  (Bac- 
chus), and  the  oracle-giving  nature-god,  Zeus  of  Dodonain  Epirus,  were 
the  divinities  that  enjoyed  the  greatest  reverence.     This  religion  of 


HISTORY   OF  GREECE.  27 

nature,  together  with  the  remains  of  a  primeval  arphitecture,  towns  and 
royal  cities,  and  especially  the  imperishable'  Cyclopean  walls  in  Pelo- 
ponnesus, which  are  built  of  huge  stones  fitted  together  without  cement, 
leads  to  the  opinion  that  the  Pelasgi  bore  a  resemblance,  in  their  culture 
and  religious  institutions,  to  the  people  of  the  East ;  and  that,  conse- 
quently, intercourse  must  have  existed  at  an  early  period  between 
Greece,  Asia,  and  Egypt.  This  view  receives  corroboration  from  the 
legends  respecting  oriental  colonists,  who  settled  in  Greece  and  diffused 
the  seeds  of  civilization  at  an  inconceivably  remote  period.  In  the  same 
way,  Cecrops  the  Egyptian  came  to  Attica,  the  Phoenician  Cadmus  to 
Boeotia,  the  Phrygian  Pelops  to  the  peninsula,  named  after  him,  Pelo- 
ponnesus. 

.  §  36.  The  Pelasgi  were  either  driven  out  or  subjugated  by  the  war- 
like Hellenes,  who  gradually  subjected  the  whole  of  Greece  to  their 
power.  These  Hellenes  are  divided  into  three  tribes:  the  Dorians,  in 
Peloponnesus  ;  the  lonians,  in  Attica  and  the  islanfls ;  and  the  ^dlians, 
in  Boeotia  and  the  other  states.  They  distinguished  themselves  at  an 
early  period  by  great  warlike  achievements,  and  by  founding  cities  and 
foreign  colonies.  It  is  in  the  poetical  legends  of  the  twelve  labors  of 
Hercules,  <#  the  voyage  of  the  Athenian  hero  Theseus  to  the  sea-ruling 
Crete,  and  of  the  daring  Argonautic  expedition,  that  the  first  traces  of 
historical  facts  are  preserved,  distorted  and  obscured,  as  they  may  be,  by 
a  mass  of  fables.  The  Thessalian  Jason,  with  the  most  renowned  Ijeroes 
of  his  time,  (Hercules,  Theseus^  Castor  and  Pollux  from  Lacedai'mon 
and  the  Thracian  musician  Orpheus),  undertook  the  Argonautic  expedi- 
tion, in  the  ship  Argo,  to  the  distant  land  of  Colchis,  on  the  east  coast  of 
the  Black  Sea,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  golden  fleece,  which,  as 
the  legend  reported,  Phryxus,  the  son  of  the  Thessalian  king,  had  yearg 
before  suspended  there,  and  which  was  watched  over  by  a  sleepless 
dragon.  This  Phryxus  and  his  sister  Helle  had  a  wicked  step-mother, 
who  entertained  designs  against  the  lives  of  the  two  children.  Their 
departed  mother,  Nephele,  the  goddess  of  clouds,  appeared  to  her  two 
children,  and  presented  them  with  a  wonderful  ram,  which  conveyed 
them  across  the  sea ;  Helle,  however,  fell  off,  and  was  drowned  at  the  spot 
which  has  received  from  her  the  name  of  the  Hellespont.  Phryxus 
reached  the  land  and  sacrificed  the  ram.  Jason  and  his  ccmpanicns 
reached  Colchis  after  a  difficult  voyage,  completed  their  undertaking  by 
the  aid  of  the  sorceress  Medea,  daughter  of  the  king  of  the  country,  and 
returned  home  with  their  spoil.  But  the  Argonauts  had  many  wonder- 
ful adventures  and  perils  to  encounter  on  their  return  through  the  ocean 
and  the  mysterious  river  Eridanus,  which  formed  the  materials  of  many 
a  poetical  legend.  The  early  commercial  intercourse  between  the  Edlic 
race  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  distant  Asiatic  coast,  appes  rs  to  be  sym- 
bolized by  this  history  of  the  Argonautic  expedition. 


28  THE   ANCIEXT   WORLD. 

§  37.  The  greatest  event  of  the  Greek  heroic  age  is  the  celebrated 
Troian  war.     In  Ilium,  or  Troy,  on  the  north-west  coast  of 

B.C.  1184.  4     .       Tir-  .  1    Tr'  -o    /  -7  1         1.        .     1 

Asia  Mnior,  reigned  King  i'namus  over  a  rich  and  cultivated 
'people.  His  youngest  son,  Paris,  carried  off  Helen,  wife  of  the  Lacedae- 
monian king,  Menelaus,  who  had  hospitably  received  him.  The  injured 
husband  summoned  the  princes  of  Greece  to  undertake  an  expedition  to 
revenge  the  affront.  This  expedition  shortly  after  took  place  under  the 
command  of  Agamemnon  of  Mycena3,  brother  of  Menelaus,  and  with  the 
assistance  of  the  most  renowned  warriors  of  Greece.  Acliilles  and  his 
friend  Patroclus  from  Thessaly,  the  subtle  Ulysses  from  Ithaoa,  Dio- 
medes  from  Argos,  the  sage  Nestor  from  Pylos,  Ajax,  and  many  others 
were  among  the  number.  The  army,  having  embarked  in  a  vast  fleet, 
sailed  for  the  Asiatic  coast  from  the  seaport  town  of  Aulis,  where, 
Agamemnon  had  devoted  his  daughter  as  a  sacrifice  to  Diana.  They 
found,  however,  the  Trojans,  especially  Hector,  son  of  Priam,  and  iEneas, 
such  valiant  opponen-ts,  that  it  was  only  after  a  ten  years'  struggle  that 
the  city  was  at  length  taken  and  destroyed,  by  an  artifice  of  Ulysses  (a 
wooden  horse  filled  wfth  armed  men).  Priam  and  most  of  his  subjects 
fell  either  in  battle  or  at  the  destruction  of  the  city ;  the  rest  were  car- 
ried away  as  slaves.  But  the  victors  also  suffered  many  misfortunes. 
Achilles,  Patroclus,  and  many  others  found  an  early  grave  in  Ilium. 
Agamemnon,  after  a  troublesome  voyage  home,  was  murdered  at  the 
instigation  of  his  faithless  wife  Clytemnestra;  and  Ulysses,  tossed  by 
tempests,  wandered  for  ten  years  to  inhospitable  shores,  over  islands  and 
seas,  before  it  was  permitted  him  again  to  see  his  faithful  wife  Penelope 
and  his  son  Telemachus,  and  to  purge  his  house  of  the  audacious  suitors 
who  were  contending  for  the  hand  of  his  spouse,  and  v/ho  in  the  mean 
while  were  feasting  themselves  upon  his  property. 

§  38.  Hosier.  —  The  Trojan  war  is  of  more  importance  to  poetry  and 
art  than  to  history,  since  the  combats  of  the  heroes,  and  their  adventures 
and  wanderings  oh  their  return  home,  formed  two  legendary  cycles, 
from  which  the  materials  of  heroic  or  epic  poetry  have  usually  been 
selected.  The  first  and  greatest  poet,-  who  has  employed  these  legends 
in  the  construction  of  an  immortal  work,  was  Homer,  who,  according  to 
tradition,  was  a  blind  singer,  whose  life  was  so  obscure  that,  even  in 
ancient  times,  seven  cities  contended  for  the  honor  of  having  given  him 
birth.  The  two  great  heroic  poenis,  that  pass  under  his  name,  are 
the  Iliad,  in  which  the  battles  that  took  place  before'  Troy  in  the 
last  year  of  the  siege  are  described,  and  the  Odyssea,  in  which  are 
sung  the  fate  and  adventures  of  Ulysses  and  his  companions,  on  and 
around  Sicily  in  the  western  sea.  Even  a  mock  heroic  poem,  Batra- 
chomyomtichia,  in  which  the  combats  of  frogs  and  mice  are  described  in 
the  same  manner  as  those  of  the  Grecian  and  Trojan  heroes,  has  been 
attributed  X^.  him.    But  as,  at  that  time,  the  art  of  writing  was  unknown 


HISTORY   OF    GREECE.  29 

in  Greece,*  tliese  poems  were  at  first  circulated  from  moutli  to  movitli. 
and  portions  of  them  were  committed  to  memory  and  recited  by  wander- 
ing singers  (Rhapsodists).  Even  at  a  later  period,  when  they  had  been 
collected  and  reduced  to  writing,  they  were  still  impressed  upon  the 
memory  of  young  people,  and  employed  as  a  means  of  exciting  patriot- 
ism, religion,  and  a  feeling  for  the  beautiful.  As  Homer  was  the  chief 
of  a  school  of  poets  in  Asia  Minor,  who,  under  the  name  of  Home  rides, 
continued  for  some  centuries  to  compost  poetry  in  a  similar  spirit  to  their 
master,  so  Ilesiod,  about  a  hundred  years  later,  became  the  founder  of 
an  JEoViG  school  of  poetry,  that  flourished  more  especially  in  Bceotia. 
AVe  still  possess  an  epic  poem  of  Hesiod  on  the  origin  and  fate  of  the 
Grecian  deities  (Theogony),  and  a  didactic  poem,  the  "Works  and 
Days."  The  hexameter  measure  derived  from  Homer  was,  iVam  this 
time,  made  use  of  in  epic  poetry. 

§  39.  Shortly  after  the  Trojan  war,  great  disturbances  and  political 
revolutions  took  place  in  Greece.  New  races  of  men  drove  the  old  ones 
from  the  possessions  tii' y  hiid  hitherto  occupied;  these,  in  their  turn, 
attacked  other  tribes,  till  at  length  the  weaker  resolved  to  ex})atriato 
themselves,  and  to  found  transmarine  colonies.  The  most  impoiiant  in 
its  consequences  of  these  emigrations,  was  that  undertaken 
'by  the  Ddrians  to  Peloponnesus,  under  the  conduct  of  the 
descendants  of  Hercules  (hence  called  the  return  of  the  Ileraclidro). 
This  event  entirely  changed  the  fate  of  Peloponnesus,  by  giving  the  com- 
mand of  the  peninsula  to  the  hardy  nwuntaineers  of  Doris,  instead  of  the 
Ionic  population  that  had  liitlierto  possessed  it.     The  Doriai:  'y 

subdued  Argolis,  Laconia,  ]Messenia,  Sicyon,  Corinth,  and  Meguii>  (m    o.id 

the  isthmus.     The}'  even  made  an  irruption  into  Attica,  and 
B.  c.  10G8.  ,  T    »   ,  ,  „    -,  ,       r> 

threatened  xithens,  but  were  compelled  to  a  retreat  by  Co- 

drus,  the  Atlienian  king,  offerinL'  his  life  in  sacrifice  for  his  country.  An 
oracle  had  dc/larcd  that  victory  v.oiild  incline  to  the  side  of  those  whoso 
king  fihould  fall.  When  the  Dorians  heard  this,  they  gave  the  siric'to.-;t 
commands  that  no  injury  should  be  done  to  Codrus.  But  this  kin.::,  dis- 
guising himself  as  a  i)easant,  commenced  a  quarrel  before  the  gates  with 
the  outposts,  and  was  killed  witliout  being  recognized.  The  Dorians, 
despairing  of  victory,  immediately  retreated  from  Athens. 

The  old  inhabitants  of  Peloponnesus  experienced  a  triple  fate.  The 
boldest  and  strongest  quitted  their  country,  and  established  tlie  Ionian 
colonies  on  the  western  shores  of  Asia  Minor,  and  the  islands  of  Chios, 
Lesbos,  Samos,  &c.  These  colonies,  by  the  fruitfulness  of  their  soil,  their 
navigation,  their  trade,  and  their  diligence  -in  business,  soon  attained  a 

*  This  is  too  sweeping  an  assertion.     The  art  of  writing  \^as  certainl;' practisecHn 
Egypt  long  before  Homer's  day;   and  the  Greeks  could  hardly  have  been  rjjnorant  of  it, 
though  the  Homeric  poems  may  not  have  been  reduced  to  writing  for  a  c  {utuvy  or  tv/o 
after  they  were  composed.    Am.  Ed. 
3* 


30  THE   AXCIEXT   WORLD. 

degree  of  prosperity  and  civilization  that  far  surpassed  that  of  the  mother 
country.  Those  that  remained  behind  either  submitted  freely  to  the 
Dorians,  in  which  case  they  were  compelled  to  pay  tribute,  and  were 
excluded  from  all  participation  in  the  government,  but  were  permitted  to 
retain  their  possessions,  or  they  were  subdued  with  weapons  in  their 
hands,  by  force  of  arms  ;  in  the  latter  case,'  they  were  reduced  to  the  con- 
dition of  serfs  or  slaves.  The  first  class  were  called  Peria^'ci,  or  Lacedge- 
monians,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  Doric  Spartans ;  the  second  class 
were  styled  Helots. 

§  40.  Colonies.  —  In  process  of  time,  the  Ionian  colonies  united 
tlicmselves  into  a  confederacy,  con'sisting  of  twelve  commonwealths, 
among  which  Miletus,  Ephesus  with  the  celebrated  temple  of  Diana,  and 
Smyriia,  were  the  most  powerful.  The  affairs  of  the  union  were  debated 
in  a  temple  on  the  promontory  of  Mycale.  The  twelve  colonial  towns  of 
the  JEolians  to  the  north  of  Ionia,  and  the  six  Dorian  towns  on  the  south, 
possessed  similar  arrangements.*  Among  the  latter,  the  town  of  Ilalicar- 
nassus,  the  birthplace  of  the  historian  Herodotus,  is  the  most  remarkable. 
The  island  of  Rhodes  also  belonged  to  the  latter  union.  The  shores  of 
the  Hellespont  (Dardanelles),  of  the  Propontis  (sea  of  Marmora),  of  the 
Pontus  Euxinus  (Black  Sea),  were  covered  in  a  similar  manner  with 
Greek  colonies.  The  most  important  were  Byzantium  (Constantinople), 
Sinope,  Cerasus  (the  native  land  of  cherries),  and  Trapezus.  Flourishing 
colonies  were  also  to  be  found  on  the  coasts  of  Thrace  and  Macedonia ; 
viz.  Abdera,  Amphipolis,  Olynthus,  &c.  In  Lower  Italy,  the  number  of 
Greek  colonial  towns  was  so  great,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  interior 
spoke  Greek,  and  the  whole  country  was  known  by  the  name  of  Great 
Greece.  The  most  celebrated  of  these  towns  were  Tarentum,  the  wealthy 
and  luxurious  Sybaris,  and  the  ancient  Cuma3,  the  parent  city  of  Naples. 
The  greater  part  of  the  beautiful  island  of  Sicily  was  in  possession  of 
the  Greeks,  who  founded  numerous  opulent  cities  there,  but  none  of 
which,  in  point  of  size,  power,  and  civilization,  could  compare  witli  Syra- 
cuse. On  the  north  coast  of  Africa,  Cyrene  rivalled  Carthage  in  wealth 
and  commerce ;  and  in  South  Gaul,  Massilia  was  a  model  of  civil  order, 
and  a  seminary  of  cultivation  to  the  rude  population  in  its  neighborhood. 
All  these  towns  carried  on  a  flourishing  trade  in  the  productions  of  art  and 
the  produce  of  the  soil.  Their  vicinities  were  covered  with  beautiful 
buildings,  and  adorned  for  miles  with  villas  and  summer-houses.  They 
exercised  a  salutary  influence  on  the  manners  and  culture  of  the  natives, 
but  degenerated  in  course  of  time,  when  wealth  and  refinement  intro- 
duced luxury,  sensuality,  and  effeminacy.  The  colonial  cities  occupied 
the  position  of  blood  relations  to  the  mother  state,  but  vrere  entirely 
free  and  independent.  They  retained  the  manners  and  religious  customs 
of  the  parent  city,  and  honored  it  with  filial  piety  ;  but  they  entered 
into  no  dependent  relations  with  it,  like  the  colonies  of  the  Romans, 
or  those  of  modern  times. 


HISTORY   OF   GREECE.  31 


II.    THE   PERIOD    OF   THE    WISE   MEN   AND    LAWGIVERS. 
a.    GENERAL    VIEW. 

§  41.  Greece  never  formed  a  united  state,  but  was  separated  into  a 
number  of  independent  communities,  among  which  the  most  powerful 
exercised  from  time  to  time  a  predominant  influence.  Sparta,  Athens, 
and  Thebes,  ruled  for  the  most  part.  But  language,  manners,  and  reli- 
gious institutions  united  the  diiferent  tribes  into  a  single  nation.  They 
called  themselves  Hellenes, — all  other  people  they  included  under  the 
general  term  of  barbarians.  The  Greeks,  a  people  full  of  talent,  and 
eminently  capable  of  civilization,  arrived  at  a  degree  of  culture  that  has 
never  since  been  equalled.  Love  of  freedom,  and  a  masculine  energy, 
led  them  to  establish  a  number  of  independent  republics,  to  which,  at 
first,  they  attached  themselves  with  enthusiastic  patriotism,  and  in  defence 
of  which  they  poured  forth  their  heart's  blood,  till  the  rage  of  faction  had 
choked  the  more  generous  feelings.  Activity  and  diligence  produced 
general  prosperity,  and  a  beautiful  land  under  a  sky  of  unvarying  bright- 
ness, with  a  healthy  and  happy  climate,  engendered  cheerfulness  of  mind, 
and  made  existence  a  pleasure.  Simplicity  of  life  lessened  the  number 
of  the  wants,  and  the  frugal  use  of  what  a  fruitful  soil  and  a  happily 
situated  country  produced  with  but  little  labor,  banished  the  cares  and 
anxieties  of  life,  and  permitted  every  one  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  afforded 
by  poetry,  art,  and  the  sciences. 

§  42.  Certain  institutions  and  establishments  connected  with  religion 
were  common  to  all  the  Greek  races.  The  first  among  these  was  the 
ancient  Amphictyonic  Council,  a  court  of  arbitration  to  which  twelve 
states  sent  their  deputies,  and  the  office  of  which  was  to  defend  the 
national  sanctuary  at  Delphi,  and  to  prevent  the  wars  that  broke  out  be- 
tween single  states  from  becoming  too  cruel  and  destructive.  It  was 
also  the  defender  of  the  Delphic  oracle,  with  its  rich  temple.  In  all  im- 
portant undertakings,  the  Delphic  Apollo  was  consulted ;  the  response 
was  given  by  the  inspired  priestess,  Pythia,  from  her  golden  tripod,  in 
obscure,  and  frequently  ambiguous  and  enigmatical  expressions.  The 
temple  of  Delphi  possessed  extensive  territories,  and  rich  treasures  in 
gifts  and  offerings.  The  celebration  of  numerous  games,  as  the  Pythian 
(at  Delphi),  the  Isthmian,  Nemean,  &c.,  was  a  third  bond  to  connect 
together  the  various  states  and  families  of  Greece.  None  of  these  games, 
,  however,  were  so  renowned  as  the  Olympic,  which,  from  the  time  776 
B.  c,  were  celebrated  every  fourth  year,  in  the  plain  of  Olympla,  in  Elis. 
They  principally  consisted  in  running,  boxing,  wrestling,  throwing  the 
discus  or  spear,  and  in  chariot  racing ;  and  the  crown  of  olive  branches, 
that  was  presented  to  the  victor,  was  regarded  as  an  enviable  distinction 
that  rendfTcd  illustrious,  not  the  receiver  only,  but  his  whole  family  and 


32  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 

his  native  dwelling-place.  The  works  of  artists,  poets,  and  literary  men 
"were  also  objects  of  attention.  There  is  even  a  tradition  that  Herodotus, 
the  father  of  history,  read  the  first  book  of  his  works  at  these  games,  and 
by  so  doing  excited  the  emulation  of  Thucydides,  the  greatest  of  historical 
writers.  The  temple  of  the  Olympian  Jupiter,  and  the  colossal  sitting 
statue  of  this  deity,  which  was  overlaid  with  ivory  and  gold,  were  among 
the  most  splendid  examples  of  Greek  art.  Pindar,  of  Thebes,  the  great 
lyric  poet,  celebrated  the  victors  in  these  games  in  his  immortal  odes. 

h.    LYCURGUS    THE    SPAKTAX    LAAYGIVEE. 

§  43.  The  manners  of  the  Dorians  gradually  degenerated  in  their  new 
possessions;  the  affairs  of  the  state  fell  into  disorder,  and  an  unwarlike 
spirit  threatened  to  diffuse  itself.  To  remedy  these  evils, 
Lyciirgus,  a  patriotic  Spartan  of  royal  descent,  determined 
to  give  his  native  city  the  preeminence  over  the  other  states,  b}'-  re- 
storing and  establishing  the  ancient  institutions,  of  the  Dorians.  With 
this  purpose,  he-  visited  the  island  of  Crete,  which  was  at  this  time  cele- 
brated for  its  excellent  laws ;  made  himself  acquainted  with  the  systems 
that  prevailed  there,  and,  on  his  return,  gave  the  Spartans  the  remark- 
able constitution,  of  which  the  following  are  the  chief  outlines  :  — 

a.  Institutions  of  State.  —  The  whole  power  of  government  was 
in  the  hands  of  the  Dorians,  who,  without  engaging  in  any  other  occupa- 
tion, devoted  themselves  entirely  to  the  exercise  of  arms,  the  conduct  of 
war,  and  the  affairs  of  the  state.  In  the  assemblies  of  the  people,  they 
elected  the  senators,  or  council  of  ancients,  whose  duty  it  was  to  conduct 
the  government  and  protect  the  laws ;  and  the  five  Ephori,  who  at  first 
superintended  tlie  regulations  of  the  city,  but  who  afterwards  obtained 
the  greatest  power  of  control  over  the  public  life  and  actions  of  those  who 
were  in  office,  and  by  this  means  gained  such  an  authority  for  themselves, 
that  even  kings  were  subject  to  their  tribunal.  The  senate  consisted  of 
twenty-eight  members,  of  at  least  sixty  years  of  age;  the  presidency  of 
this  assembly  devolved  upon  the  two  kings  of  Sparta,  who  were  chosen 
from  the  race  of  the  Heraclida?,  and  whose  office  was  consequently  hev-di- 
tary.  At  home,  they  possessed  more  honor  than  power ;  but  in  war,  they 
were  always  the  leaders,  and  had  an  unlimited  command.  The  funda- 
mental principle  of  the  whole  constitution  was  the  equality  of  propert3\ 
In  furtherance  of  this,  the-  whole  lands  of  Laconia  were  divided  in  such 
a  way,  that  each  of  the  9,000  Spartan  families  received  an  equal  portion. 
These  estates  were  indivisible,  and  descended  to  the  eldest  born  by  the 
law  of  primogeniture.  The  30,000  families  of  Perice'ci  Avere  in  a  similar 
manner  provided  with  lands  of  less  extent,  whilst  the  Helots  were  left 
uncared  for,  and  were  obliged,  in  their  capacity  of  serfs,  or  day-laborers, 
to  till  the  ground  of  the  Dorians,  and  to  deliver  a  certain  proportion  of 
the  productions  of  the  soil,  in  corn,  wine,  oil,  and  similar  matters,  to  the 
Spartan  magazines. 


HISTORY   OF   GREECE.  33 

h.  Mode  of  Life.  —  The  rights  of  the  Dorian  depended  less  upon 
his  birth  than  upon  his  educatien ;  this,  therefore,  was  entirely  under- 
taken by  the  state.  Weak  and  deformed  children  were  cast  into  a  gulf 
immediately  upon  their  birth ;  the  vigorous  were  removed  from  their 
parents  at  the  age  of  six  years,  and  educated  in  public.  The  great  ob- 
ject of  this  education  was  to  produce  bodily  hardihood;  the  gymnastic 
exercises  of  the  palestra  were,  for  this  reason,  one  of  its  most  important 
branches.  But  the  understanding  was  also  cultivated,  and  the  Spartan 
was  not  less  celebrated  for  Ins*craft  and  shrewdness,  than  for  the  terse 
brevity  of  his  speech,  which  was  afterwards  distinguished  by  the  terra 
"  laconic."  Tlie  feelings  and  imagination  were  alone  neglected,  and  con- 
eequently,  science  and  poetry  were  neither  esteemed  nor  cultivated  in 
Sparta.  Doric  art  was  merely  distinguished  by  vast  strength  ;  not,  like 
the  Ionic,  by  grace  and  beauty.  The  male  part  of  the  population  were 
dinded,  according  to  their  ages,  into  companies,  who  dined  together  at 
public  meals,  (syssitia),  fifteen  usually  sitting  at  one  table.  These  meals 
were  extremely  temperate  and  simple,  and  were  furnished  from  the  sup- 
plies of  the  Helots.  The  so-called  black  broth  and  a  vessel  of  wine  were 
the  chief  features  of  the  entertainment.  The  kings  sat  at  the  heads  of 
their  tables,  and  received  a  double  portion.  Luxury  and  effeminacy 
were  by  all  means  to  be  avoided ;  for  this  reason,  the  houses  were  rude 
and  devoid  of  convenience ;  no  instrument  but  the  axe  was  permitted  to 
be  employed  in  their  construction.  IMoney  was  banished  in  ordinary 
intercourse,  to  the  end  that  no  one  should  possess  the  means  of  procuring 
unnecessary  pleasures ;  and  that  the  Spartans  should  not  learn  and  accus- 
tom themselves  to  these  pleasures,  they  were  not  permitted  to  travel  into 
foreign  countries,  nor  were  strangers  allowed  to  make  a  long  residence 
in  Sparta.  The  chase,  and  the  exercise  of  arms  were  the  chief  employ- 
ments of  those  who  were  grown  up ;  the  cultivation  of  the  ground  was 
left  to  the  Ilelots  ;  trade  and  business  to  the  Perice'ci.  The  whole  life  of 
the  Spartan  was  a  preparation  for  war.  In  the  city,  he  lived  as  though 
lie  were  in  the  camp,  and  the  time  of  war  was  his  time  of  joy  and  rejoic- 
ing. The  Spartans  marched  into  the  field  with  purple  mantles  and  long 
Lair,  and  adorned  themselves  before  battle  as  if  for  a  festival.  The 
strength  of  the  army  lay  in  the  heavy-armed  infantry  (hoplites),  which 
consisted  of  numerous  divisions,  and  which  was,  in  consequence,  enabled 
to  execute  without  confusion  many  movements  and  evolutions.  The 
Spartan  never  retreated  from  his  ranks;  he  conquered  or  died  in  his 
place.  Strict  obedience,  and  subordination  of  the  young  to  their  elders, 
was  the  soul  of  the  military  education  and  discipline  in  Sparta,  v»hich 
was  the  true  temple  of  honor  of  the  age. 

§  44.  After  these  laws  had  been  confirmed  by  the  oracle  of  Delphi, 
Lycurgus  caused  the  Spartans  to  take  an  oath  that  they  would  never 
alter  any  thing  contained  in  them,  till  he  came  back  from  the  journey  he 


34  THE   AXCIENT   WORLD. 

was  about  to  undertake.  Upon  this,  lie  is  smd  to  have  gone  to  Crete, 
and  there  to  have  died.  The  consequences  of  the  laws  of  Lycurgus  soon 
became  apparent.  Not  only  did  the  hardy  Spartans  overcome  the  kin- 
B.  c.  743.  dred  race  of  the  Messenians  in  two  lengthened  wars,  but 
B.  c.  724.  they  soon  established  their  power  over  the  whole  Pelopon- 
nesus. The  Messenians  were  reduced  to  pay  tribute  in  the  first  of  these 
wars,  after  their  citadel,  Ithome,  had  been  destroyed,  and  their  hero, 
Aristodemus,  had  slain  himself  on  the  grave  of  his  daughter  whom  he 
had  sacrificed.  The  tyramiy  of  the  Spartans  in  a  short  time 
provoked  the  Messenians  to  a  second  war.  In  this,  they  at 
first  obtained  some  advantages,  by  the  heroic  deeds  of  the  brave  and 
cunning  Aristomenes  ;  but  the  Spartans,  inflamed  by  the  war-songs  of 
the  Athenian  poet,  Tyrta^us,  finally  proved  the  victors.  A  part  of  the 
Messenians  quitted  their  country,  and  founded  Messina  in  the  island  of 
Sicily  :  those  who  remained  were  led  into  slavery,  and  condemned  to  the 
miserable  fate  of  the  Helots. 

C.    SOLOX,    THE    LAWGIVER    OF    THE    ATHENIAXS,   B.    C.    600. 

§  45.  Whilst  the  Spartans,  a  race  of  steady  and  inflexible  character, 

held  fast  for  centuries  the  laws  of  Lycurgus,  the  lively  and  fickle  Atlie- 

nians  introduced  among  themselves  every  possible  form  of  government. 

After  the  erlorious  death  of  Codrus,  (§  39)  the  Athenians 

B.  c.  1068.         T     T        -,     ,  .1       ;     1       1  •  1 

declared  that  no  one  was  worthy  to  be  his  successor,  and 

abolished  the  monarchy.  Some  one  of  the  nobles  (eupatridtc),  chosen 
for  life  to  the  office  of  archon,  received  the  supreme  power.  At  first,  the 
family  of  Codrus  had  the  preference  in  this  election;  but  as  the  govern- 
ment with  time  assumed  more  and  more  the  form  of  an  aristocratic 
republic,  the  office  of  archon  was  throv/n  open  to  the  whole  body  of 
B.  c.  752.  nobles,  and  the  period  of  its  existence  reduced  to  ten  years. 
B.  c.  682.  For  the  purpose  of  admitting  a  greater  number  to  this  honor, 
they  at  length  adopted  the  expedient  of  electing  nine  archons  every  year, 
wdio  were  to  superintend  the  government,  the  affiiirs  of  religion,  military 
matters,  legislation,  and  the  administration  of  justice.  The  nobles  now 
held  the  power  in  their  own  hands,  and  excluded  the  people  (demos) 
from  all  share  in  the  government,  or  in  the  administration  of  the  laws. 
They  alone  gave  judgment,  because  they  only  were  acquainted  with  the 
unwritten  and  traditionary  statutes ;  in  this  way,  arbitrary  decisions,  par-* 
tiality,  and  injustice,  w^ere  of  no  unfrequent  occurrence.  This  induced 
the  citizens,  in  the  assemblies  of  the  people,  to  insist  upon  the  framing  of 
written  laws.  The  nobles  for  a  long  time  refused  to  accede  to  the 
demands  of  the  people;  but  when  at  length  they  found  that  further 
resistance  was  impossible,  they  determined  upon  a  different  method  of 
Draco,  oppressing  the  commons.     They  commissioned  one  of  their 

B.  c.  624.         own  number,  Draco,  surnamcd  the  Cruel,  to  draw  up  a  code 


HISTORY   OF   GREECE.  •        35 

of  laws.  These  proved  so  severe,  that  they  were  said  to  be  written  in 
blood.  Every  oflfence  was  punished  with  death.  By  this  means,  the 
nobles  hoped  again  to  reduce  the  discontented  people  to  their  former  state 
of  dependence.  Desperate  struggles  followed,  and  contention  and  party 
spirit  ros^  to  such  a  height,  that  the  state  was  reduced  to  the  verge  of 
destruction.  At  this  juncture,  Solon,  one  of  the  seven  wise  men,  and 
greatly  esteemed  both  as  a  poet  and  a  friend  of  the  people,  proved  the 
savior  of  his  country.  He  gave  the  state  a  new  and  republican  form  of 
government,  in  which  the  principal  authority  was  vested  in  the  assem- 
blies of  the  people.  These  assembhes  made  the  laws,  named  the  judges 
and  officers  of  state,  and  elected  the  council  of  the  four  hundred  ;  that  the 
nobility,  however,  might  not  be  deprived  of  the  whole  of  their  power,  he 
secured  to  them  certain  privileges:  they  alone  could  fill  the  office  of 
archon,  or  sit  in  the  high  court  of  the  Areopagus,  which  Solon  had 
established  to  preserve  the  laws,  the  government,  and  public  morals. 
This  court  consisted  of  the  most  respected  citizens ;  it  superintended  the 
education  of  youth,  and  kept  an  eye  upon  the  livfes  of  the  burghers,  to  the 
end  that  morality  and  discipline  might  be  preserved,  and  an  honorable 
and  industrious  course  of  life  be  maintained;  and  that  luxury,  riot, 
and  extravagance  in  dress,  might  be  banished.  Solon,  at  the  same  time, 
relieved  the  necessities  of  the  people  by  the  so-called  remission  of  bur- 
dens, by  which  the  poorer  citizens  were  freed  from  a  portion  of  their 
debts,  and  restored  to  the  unfettered  enjoyment  of  their  mortgaged 
estates.  After  Solon  had  completed  these  measures,  he  caused  the 
Athenians  to  swear  that  they  would  make  no  alterations  in  them  for  the 
space  of  ten  years :  he  tlfen  set  forth  on  his  travels  to  Asia  and  Egypt, 
in  the  course  of  which  he  held  the  before-mentioned  conversation  (§  27) 
with  Croesus  at  Sardis. 

d.   THE   TYRANTS. 

§  4G.  All  the  Grecian  states  had  at  first  been  governed  by  kings,  who, 
as  high  priests,  judges,  and  leaujrs  of  the  army,  exercised  a  patriarchal 
power.  But  the  rich  and  distinguished  class,  who  had  hitherto  stood  by 
the  side  of  the  king  as  his  councillors,  gradually  attained  the  upper  hand, 
and  seized  the  first  favorable  opportunity  of  ridding  themselves  of  the 
monarch,  and  of  establishing  an  aristocratic  republic,  in  which  they  exer- 
cised the  supreme  power.  This  institution  became,  in  time,  extremely 
oppressive  to  the  people.  But  as  the  nobles  were  in  the  exclusive  pos- 
session of  arms,  and  of  the  practice  of  war,  it  was  no  easy  matter  tc 
deprive  them  of  the  government.  This  took  place  for  the  first  time, 
when  an  ambitious  noble  separated  himself  from  his  order,  and  placed 
himself  dt  the  head  of  the  people.  But  the  rule  of  the  aristocracy  was 
not  at  once  succeeded  by  a  democratic  government ;  on  the  contrary,  the 
leaders  of  the  people  (demagogues)  seized  in  most  of  the  states  upon  the 


36  THE  ANCIENT   WORLD. 

supreme  power.  They  were  distinguished  by  the  name  of  "  tyrants ;  ** 
by  which  term,  however,  we  are  not  always  to  understand  a  violent  and 
arbitrary  ruler,  but  merely  one  who  unites  in  his  own  person  all  the 
functions  of  government,  in  a  state  that  had  previously  been  a  republic. 
Many  of  these  tyrants  possessed  great  talents  for  their  office,  and  ruled 
with  splendid  success.  For  the  purpose  of  giving  employment  .to  the 
people  to  whom  they  were  indebted  for  their  rise,  they  erected  magnifi- 
cent buildings ;  their  wealth  gave  them  the  means  of  attracting  artists 
and  poets,  whilst  their  splendid  courts  contributed  to  the  magnificenc*e  of 
the  cities.  But  the  government  of  the  tyrants  was  not  of  long  duration. 
The  nobles  neglected  no  means  to  effect  their  overthrow ;  and  in  this 
they  were  supported  by  the  Spartans,  who  were  everywhere  favorable 
to  aristocratic  institutions.  Their  sons,  who  had  grown  up  in  the  en- 
joyment of  power,  frequently  forgot  the  consideration  they  owed  to 
the  people,  and  hastened  their  own  destruction  by  cruelty  and  des- 
potism. 

Periander  §  47.  The  most  celebrated  of  the  tyrants  were  Periander 

B.  c.  600.  of  Corinth,  Polycrates  of  Samos,  and  Pisistratus  of  Athens. 
The  first  two  are  well  known  by  poetical  legends.  Periander's  friend, 
the  singer  Ari'on,  once  wished  to  return  to  Corinth  by  ship,  from  Lower 
Italy.  The  sailors,  who  were  greedy  after  the  treasures  he  had  acquired 
in  Tarentum,  made  attempts  upon  his  life.  When  every  hope  of  deliver- 
ance had  vanished,  Arion  sang,  and  played  some  notes  upon  his  harp,  and 
then  leaped  into  the  waves.  The  dolphins,  who  had  followed  the  ship, 
bore  the  singer  to  the  shore.  He  hastened  to  Periander,  at  Corinth,  who 
easily  discovered  and  punished  the  offenders.  Not  less  celebrated  is  the 
Polycrates,  story  of  the  ring  of  Polycrates.  The  rich  and  powerful 
B.  c.  550.  ruler  of  Samos  was  successful  in  every  thing  he  undertook. 
At  one  time,  when  the  king  of  Egypt  was  paying  him  a  visit,  messenger 
after  messenger  came  to  announce  some  fortunate  event.  Psammetichus 
appeared  thoughtful,  and  warned  his  friend  of  the  instability  of  fortune 
and  the  envy  of  the  gods,  and  advised  him  to  inflict  some  vexation  upon 
himself  to  appease  the  irritated  divinities.  Upon  this,  Polycrates  cast  a 
costly  and  exquisitely  wrought  ring,  upon  which  he  placed  a  great  value, 
from  the  roof  of  his  house  into  the  sea.  But  the  gods  despised  the  gift. 
On  the  following  day,  some  fishermen  brought  a  large  fish  to  the  palace, 
and,  as  the  servants  were  preparing  it  for  the  table,  they  discovered  the 
ring  in  its  entrails.  They  presented  it  with  joy  to  the  tyrant ;  but  Psam- 
metichus saw  in  this  the  omen  of  approaching  misfortune,  and  took  a 
melancholy  leave.  Shortly  after,  Polycrates  was  taken  prisoner  by  the 
Persians,  and  crucified. 

Pisistratus  The  most  celebrated  of  all  the  tyrants  was  Pisistratus,  of 

B.  c.  560.  Athens,  who  succeeded,  even  during  the  lifetime  of  Solon,  in 
grasping  the  sole  power.     He  contrived  by  dint  of  cunning,  having  first 


mSTORT   OF   GREECE.  37 

wounded  liimself,  and  then  giving  out  that  his  life  had  been  attempted,  to 
procure  a  bo^j-guard,  and  to  obtain  possession  of  the  citadel.  His  ene- 
mies were  indeed  twice  successful  in  banishing  him  from  the  city ;  but  he 
again  returned,  succeeded  in  establishing  himself  in  the  government,  and 
bequeathed  it  at  his  death  to  his  two  sons,  Ilippias  and  Hipparchus. 
Pisi'stratus,  and,  at  first,  his  son  Ilippias,  ruled  with  much 
glory.  Agriculture,  trade,  and  commerce  received  a  great 
impulse.  The  poems  of  Homer,  that  had  hitherto  only  been  delivered 
orally  by  the  wandering  singers  (rhapsodists),  were  now  reduced  to 
writing,  and  by  this  means  preserved  to  posterity.  Artists  of  every  kind 
found  in  them  liberal  patrons.  Athens  was  embellished  with  temples 
and  public  buildings,  and  the  lyric  poet,  Anacreon,  was  a  resident  at 
Hippias's  court.  But  when  Hipparchus,  who  was  a  man  devoted  to  riot 
and  the  pleasures  of  the  senses,  had  been  killed  at  the  panathenaic  fes- 
tival, by  two  Athenians,  Ilarmodius  and  Aristogiton,  in  revenge  of  some 
injury  they  had  suffered  from  him,  Hi'ppias  gave  free  scope  to  his  violent 
disposition.  By  his  severity  and  cruelty,  he  alienated  tlie  affections  of 
the  popular  party,  and  by  this  means  prepared  the  way  for  his  own 
expulsion.  He  took  refuge  with  the  Persian  king,  Darius,  and  en- 
couraged him  in  his  design  of  making  war  upon  the  Athenians. 
Shortly  after  his  departure,  the  democratic  republic  was  established  in 
Athens.  * 

THE    SEVEN   WISE   MEN. PYTHAGORAS. 

§  48.  Periander  of  Corinth,  and  Solon  of  Athens,  were  numbered 
among  the  seven  wise  men ;  of  the  remainder,  Thales  of  Miletus,  the 
founder  of  the  Ionic  school  of  philosophy,  was  the  most  renowned.  Their 
principles  and  practical  rules  of  life  were  embodied  in  short  mottoes,  as 
"  Know  thyself,"  "Avoid  excess,"  "  Consider  the  end,"  "  Be  watchful  for 
opportunities,"  and  numerous  others. 

One  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  this  period,  who  did  not  however 
call  himself  a  wise  man  (sophos),  but  only  a  lover  of  wisdom  (philosophos), 
was  Pythagoras  of  Samos,  the  founder  of  the  sect  of  the  Pythagoreans, 
which  had  many  adherents  in  Crotdna  and  other  towns  of  Lower  Italy, 
and  enjoyed  great  respect.  The  members  of  his  sect  led  a  life  of  tem- 
perance and  severe  morality,  had  their  meals  and  exercises  in  common, 
and  were  devoted  with  the  greatest  veneration  to  their  master.  They 
practised  themselves  in  mathematics,  geometry,  and  music ;  for  Pytha- 
goras is  known  as  the  inventor  of  the  theorem,  which  is  named  after 
him,  the  Pythagorean. 

e.   LYRIC    POETRY. 

§  49.  A  cheerful  mode  of  life  prevailed  at  the  courts  of  the  tyrants, 
where  singers  and  poets  were  welcome  guests.    The  severe  heroic  poetry 
4 


38  THE   ANCIE^^T   WORLD. 

was  not  suited  to  the  pleasures  and  amusements  that  were  there  prin- 
cipallj  sought  after,  and  its  place  was  in  consequence  §upplied  by  a 
lighter  and  less  prolix  kind,  which  was  distinguished  hy  the  term  lyric, 
because  it  was  intended  to  be  sung  to  the  lute  (lyra).  All  lyric  poetry, 
therefore,  originally  consisted  in  cheerful  songs,  M'hich  exhorted  to  the 
enjoyment  of  life  on  account  of  the  shortness  of  its  duration,  and  were 
filled  with  the  praises  of  love  and  wine,  because  they  drove  away  care 
and  trouble.  In  this  style,  Anacreon  of  Teos,  in  Ionia,  who  passed  his 
life  at  different  courts,  and  died  in  his  eighty-fifth  year, 
was  the  most  celebrated ;  and  for  this  reason,  this  kind  of 
song  is  called  Anacreontic. 

If  the  shortness  of  life,  and  the  transitory  character  of  every  thing 
earthly,  gave  occasion  to  Anacreon  to  exhort  to  the  enjoyment  of  exist- 
ence, there  were  not  wanting  others  to  whom  these  considerations  were  a 
source  of  melancholy  and  sorrow,  and  who  poured  forth  their  complaints 
over  the  instability  and  uncertainty  of  human  happiness.  This  style  was 
called  the  "  elegiac,"  and  was  usually  composed  in  a  measure  consisting 
of  hexameters  and  pentameters  united  (disticha).  The  best  known 
elegiac  poets  are  Mimnermus  of  Colophon,  and  Simonides  of  Ceos.  Those 
lyrical  compositions  that  are  distinguished  by  a  more  lofty  feeling,  and  in 
which  the  poet  sings  with  enthusiasm  or  passion  of  some  sublime  object, 
are,  called  "  odes."  Sappho,  of  Lesbos,  a  poetess  celebrated 
for  her  amatory  songs,  and  her  voluntary  death,  distinguished 
herself  in  this  style  of  composition.  But  the  Theban,  Pindar,  was  the 
first  who  gave  to  the  ode  its  full  perfection.  At  a  later  period,  the  term 
"  lyric  "  was  applied  to  all  the  shorter  specimens  of  poetry,  even  though 
they  were  not  fitted  to  be  sung  to  music.  Thus  satire,  the  object  of  which 
is  to  punish  the  vices  and  failings  of  men  by  ridicule,  and  by  this  means 
to  bring  about  their  instruction  and  improvement,  is  called  "  lyric 
poetry." 

B.  c.  TOO.  Archilochos,  of  Paros,  the  discoverer  of  iambics,  is  named 

B.  c.  600.  as  the  first  satiric  poet ;  at  whose  side,  Alcee'us  of  Mitylene, 
the  freedom-inspired  opponent  of  the  tyrants,  occupies  no  unworthy 
place.  In  like  manner,  the  short  stories  where  animals  are  introduced 
acting  and  speaking  (fables),  and  the  object  of  which  is  the  inculcation 
of  some  useful  maxim  or  rule  of  life,  are  distinguished  by  the  same  term, 
w3iJsop,  a  Phrygian  slave,  whose  history  is  involved  in  obscurity,  and  dis« 
figured  by  many  fabulous  stories,  acquired  a  great  renown  in  this  sort  of 
composition 


HISTORY   OF   GREECE.  39 


11.   THE   FLOURISHING   PERIOD   OF    GREECE. 

I.    THE    PERSIAN    T7AR. 

§  50.  The  Greek  colonial  cities,  on  the  coasts  of  Asia  Minor,  had  been 
brought  by  Cyrus  under  the  Persian  dominion.  Accustomed  to  freedom, 
they  bore  this  foreign  yoke  with  the  greatest  reluctanc^;  but  were  unable 
to  free  themselves  from  it,  because  the  principal  Greeks,  who  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  Persians  to  the  office  of  prince,  or  tyrant,  of  the  different 
towns,  and  who  we<-e  consequently  devoted  to  the  court  of  Susa,  knew 
'well  how  to  keep  their  countrymen  in  subjection.  One  of  the  most 
powerful  of  these  was  Histiae'us,  prince  of  Miletus.  He  had  accom- 
panied Darius  in  his  expedition  against  the  Scythians,  (§  30),  and  had 
received,  together  with  some  other  Greeks,  the  charge  of  guarding  the 
bridges  that  liad  been  thrown  over  the  Danube.  When  the  news  of  the 
disasters  of  the'  Persians  became  known,  Milti'ades,  the  Athenian,  advised 
that  these  bridires  should  be  destroyed,  and  the  king  and  his  whole  army 
givcM  up  {()  (Km ruction.  But  Histiaj'us  opposed  this  project,  and  vras 
afterwards  rewarded  by  being  invited  to  the  Persian  capital,  and  passing 
liis  life  there  in  splendor  and  luxury.  But  no  pleasures  could  extinguish 
his  longing  after  his  native  country  ;  and  when  he  found  that  he  was  so 
much  mistrusted  as  not  to  be  permitted  to  depart,  he  secretly  instigated 
his  relative,  Aristilgoras  of  Miletus,  to  stir  up  tlie  discontented  Greeks  to 
rebellion,  hoping  by  this  means  to  gain  an  opportunity  of  returning.  In  a 
short  time,  Miletus  and  the  other  Greek  towns  were  in  arms.  Sparta, 
and  tli;'  other  st;it(  s  of  tlie  motl)er  country,  were  appHed  to  for  assistance ; 
but  Alliens  oidy,  who  was  afraid  that  Darius  miglit  again  restore  Hippias,' 
who  was  residing  at  his  court,  and  th^  small  town  of  Krctria,  in  Euboe'a, 
sent  a  few  ships.  At  first,  the  insurrection  appeared  successfuk  The 
Greeks  took  and  burnt  Sardis,  the  chief  city  of  Asia  Minor,  upon  which 
the  revolt  spread  over  the  whole  of  Ionia.  But  fortune  soon  changed 
Divisions  among  themselves,  and  the  superior  force  of  the  enemy,  occa- 
sioned the  loss  of  a  maritime  engagement,  and  the  capture  and  destruction 
of  Miletus.     Man}^  of  the  Milesians  were  led  into  slavery : 

B.  C.  494. 

Aristanoras  fled  to  the  Thracians,  where  he  met  with  his 
death  ;  IIi,-:ticr"'us  v\as  taken  prisoner  and  crucified.  Ionia  again  fell 
under  the  dominion  of  the  Persians,  and  Darius 'vowed  a  bloody  ven- 
geance against  the  Athenians  and  Eretrians,  for  the  assistance  they  had 
afforded  the  rebels. 

§  51.  Mardonius,  the  son-in-law  of  Darius,  sailed  w^ith  a  fleet  and  army 
along  the  coast  of  Thrace,  towards  Greece,  whilst  the  Persian  heralds 
demanded  earth  and  water,  the  symbols  of  submission  from  the  whole  of 


40  THE  ancie:s"t  world. 

the  Greek  cities.  But  the  fleet  was  driven  against  the  promontory  of 
Athos  by  a  storm,  and  the  Tliracians  destroyed  a  part  of  the  land  force, 
BO  that  Mardonius  Avas  compelletl  to  lead  Lack  the  remains  of  his  army 
into  Asia,  without  eifecting  his  purpose.  It  fared  no  better  with  the 
heralds.  iEgi'na,  and  the  greater  number  of  the  islands  indeed,  presented 
the  earth  and  water ;  but  when  they  made  the  same  demands  at  Athens 
and  Sparta,  they  were  put  to  death  by  the  inhabitants,  in  defiance  of  all 
the  laws  of  nations.  Darius,  enraged  at  this  insult,  despatched  a  second 
fleet,  under  the  command  of  Datis  and  Artaphernes.  They  sailed  through 
the  Archipelago,  and  reduced  the  islands  of  the  Cyclades  to  submission, 
and  afterwards  landed  at  Euboj'a.  Eretria,  aftQr  a  gallant  resistance,  fell 
by  treachery  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  who  razed  the  city  to  the 
ground,  and  sent  away  the  inhabitants  into  Asia.  The  Persians  marched 
through  the  island,  burning  and  destroying;  and  at  length,  under  the 
command  of  Ilippias,  landed  on  the  coast  of  Attica,  and  encamped  on  the 
plain  of  Marathon.  The  Athenians  sent  in  haste  to  the  Spartans  for 
assistance ;  but  these  not  appearing  at  the  proper  time,  in  consequence  of 
an  ancient  law  of  their  religion,  which  forbade  them  to  march  to  battle 
before  a  full  moon,  the  Athenians,  under  the  command  of  ten  leaders, 
advanced  upon  the  enemy.  The  most  esteemed  among  these  leaders  was 
Miltiades,  who  had  formerly  served  in  the  Persian  army,  and  was 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  its  qualities  and  tactics.  By  his  direction, 
10,000  Athenians,  and  1,000  Plata3^ans,  attacked  the  army  of  Persians, 
of  ten  times  their  number,  in  a  place  unfavorable  for  cavalry,  and  gave 
them  a  complete  overthrow  in  the  battle  of  JMarathon.     The 

B.  C.  490.  .  . 

victors  gained  a  rich  booty,  and  placed  the  fetters  they  dis- 
covered, and  which  were  intended  for  themselves,  on  the  bodies  of  their 
enemies.  Great  was  the  renown  acquired  by  the  Athenians,  who  here 
for  the  first  time  proved  that  they  were  worthy  of  the  democratic  free- 
dom they  had  lately  introduced  among  themselves  ;  and  centuries  later, 
patriotic  orators  would  excite  the  enth.usiasm  of  the  people,  by  calling 
to  their  remembrance  the  victory  of  Marathon.  Hippias  was  one  of  the 
slain. 

§  52.  Miltiades,  the  savior  of  Greece,  did  not  long  enjoy  his  honors. 
He  persuaded  the  Athenians  to  equip  a  fleet  for  the  purpose  of  subduing 
the  islands  of  the  JEgcan  Sea,  which  had  submitted  to  the  Persians. 
But  when  the  attempt  upon  the  island  of  Pares  miscarried,  the  people 
condemned  him  to  pay  the  cost  of  the  expedition,  and  to  be  cast  into 
prison  till  the  debt  should  be  discharged.  The  sentence  was  carried  into 
execution,  and  Miltiades  died  in  prison  of  his  wounds.  Cimon,  his  son, 
paid  the  debt,  and  conferred  an  honorable  burial  upon  his  father. 

At  that  time,  there  lived  in  Athens  two  men  of  remarkable  character, 
Aristi'des,  surnamed  the  Just,  and  Themistocles.  Both  sought  to  render 
their   country   illustrious,   but   by  different  methods.     Aristi'des   would 


HISTORY    OF   GREECE.  41 

•  ■ 

make  use  of  no  means  that  were  not  strictly  just  and  honorable,  nor  con- 
Bent  to  any  measure  that  excited  the  scruples  of  his  conscience.  Themi's- 
tocles  was  less  scrupulous :  he  would  regard  nothing  but  the  greatness 
and  advantage  of  his  native  city,  and  not  unfrequently  had  recourse  to 
artifice  and  deceit.  Shrewder  and  more  talented  than  his  rival,  Themi's- 
tocles  soon  won  a  greater  share  of  the  popular  esteem  ;  and  to  free  him- 
self from  a  hinderance  to  his  plans,  he  urged  the  banishment  of  the  more 
honest  Aristi'des  by  ostracism.* 

By  this  means,  Themistocles  became  the  sole  leader  of  the  Athenian 
republic,  and  he  exerted  the  whole  of  his  influence  to  obtain  an  increase 
of  the  fleet ;  for  it  was  only  by  this  means  that  the  Athenians  could 
attain  a  superiority  to  the  other  states.  A  declaration  of  the  Delphic 
oracle,  that  the  safety  of  Athens  depended  upon  its  "  wooden  walls,'*  was 
of  great  service  to  him  in  the  execution  of  this  project. 

§  53.  Darius  died  in  the  midst  of  vast  preparations  for  a  fresh  inva- 
sion of  Greece.  But  his  successor,  Xerxes,  a  man  puffed  up  with  pride 
and  arrogance,  pursued  his  father's  designs  of  vengeance,  and  carried  on 
liis  preparations  on  such  a  scale,  that  he  collected  an  army  of  a  million 
and  a  lialf  of  men,  and  more  than  1,200  triremes  and  3,000  smaller  ves- 
sels. But  this  immense  crowd  of  people  of  all  nations  and  tongues,  with 
habits  and  weapons  of  the  most  diversified  character,  and  accustomed  each 
to  its  own  method  of  warfare,  was  rather  a  hinderance  than  an  assistance  to 
the  enterprise.  When  Xerxes  had  completed  his  preparations,  and  with 
wonderful  good  fortune  had  quelled  a  revolt  that  broke  out  in  Egypt,  (a 
circumstance  that  contributed  not  a  little  to  swell  his  confidence),  he 
ordered  his  troops,  with  an  enormous  crowd  of  sutlers,  beasts  of  burden, 
wagons,  and  dogs  of  chase,  to  defile  for  seven  days  and  nights  across  the 
Hellespont,  on  two  bridges  of  boats,  and  then  to  march  through  Thrace 
and  Macedonia  towards  Tiiessaly,  whilst  his  fleet  coasted  along  the  shore 
to  supply  the  army  with  whatever  it  needed.  To  prevent  his  ships  being 
wrecked  on  the  promontory  of  Athos,  as  in  the  first  expedition,  Xerxes 
separated  the  mountain  fr<5m  the  mainland,  by  cutting  a  canal.  Thessaly 
'  submitted  without  a  blow.  Boedtia,  and  a  few  of  the  smaller  states, 
pusillanimously  yielded  earth  and  water;  and  the  threatening  foe  still 
marched  on.  At  this  juncture,  Greece  showed  what  union,  courage, 
and  patriotism  are  capable  of  effecting.  The  greater  number  of  the 
states  united  in  a  confederacy,  and  placed  themselves  under  the  guid- 
ance of  Sparta. 
• 

*  Ostracism  was  an  arrangement  by  which  any  citizen  who  was  so  superior  to  his  fel- 
lows ill  power,  influence,  authority,  or  other  quahties,  as  to  endanger  the  civic  equality, 
or  the  democratic  constitution  of  tlie  state,  might  be  banished  for  a  term  (usually  ten) 
of  years. 

The  term  was  derived  from  the  Greek  word  for  the  shell  (ostracon)  on  which  the  name 
of  the  accused  citizen  was  written.  —  T7-an8. 
4* 


42  THE   ANCIEXT   WORLD. 

It  was  In  July,  just  at  tlie  time  of  the  celebration  of  the  Olympic 
ffames,  that  Xerxes  arrived  at  the  narrow  pass  of  Ther- 

B.  C.  480. 

mopyloe,  which  Leonidas  had  occupied  with  three  hundred 
Spartans  and  a  few  thousands  of  the  alhes.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  Per- 
sian king  attempted  for  several  days  to  force  a  passage ;  thousands  of  his 
troops  fell  beneath  the  swords  of  the  brave  Greeks  ;  even  the  10,000  Im- 
mortals, as  they  were  called,  the  flower  of  the  Persian  army,  were  com- 
pelled to  yield  to  the  Spartan  valor.  At  length,  a  traitorous  Greek 
CGRductfed  a  part  of  the  Persians  by  a  footpath  over  the  summit  of  the 
mountain  CEta,  who  attacked  the  rear  of  the  Greeks.  Upon  receiving 
intelligence  of  this,  Leonidas  dismissed  the  troops  of  the  allies.  He 
himself,  with  his  300  Spartans,  and  about  700  of  the  citizens  of  Thespia, 
who  united  themselves  to  him,  devoted  themselves  to  an  heroic  death  for 
their  country.  Surrounded  on  all  sides,  they  fought  like  lions,  till,  over- 
powered by  numbers,  and  wearied  with  slaughter  and  contest,  they  sunk 
to  the  earth.  Leonidas  and  his  heroic  band  lived  long  in  song,  and  a  monu- 
ment pointed  out  to  the  traveller  the  spot  where  they  fell.  The  Persians 
now  subjected  Bceotia  without  opposition,  pursued  their  devastating 
course  into  Attica,  and  reduced  Athens  to  ashes.  The  old  warriors  who 
defended  the  Acropolis  were  slaughtered.  The  citizens  who  were  fit  to 
bear  arms  were  serving  in  the  fleet.  The  women  and  children,  together 
with  their  effects,  had  been  sent,  by  the  advice  of  Themistocles,  to  j^d^gina*, 
Salamis,  and  Trazoe  ne. 

^  54.  Themistocles  now  became  the  saviour  of  Greece.  The  united 
fleet  of  the  Greeks  had  sailed  from  the  promontory  of  Artemisium,  where 
it  had  been  for  some  days  successfully  engaged,  into  the  Saronic  gulf, 
whither  it  was  followed  by  the  Persians.  It  was  here  that  Themistocles, 
by  his  prudence,  rendered  abortive  the  ruinous  design  of  ^he  Spartan 
admiral,  Eurybiades,  of  removing  the  Peloponnesian  fleet  from  Salamis, 
and  deciding  the  battle  at  the  isthmus  of  Corinth,  by  craftily  provoking  the 
Persian  king  to  a  sudden  attack  in  the  narrow  channel,  where  the  enemy's 
fleet  was  embarrassed  by  its  own  magnitude.  Thus  originated  the  sea- 
fight  of  Salamis,  in  which  the  Greeks  obtained  a  complete 

B.  C.  480.  o  7  r 

victory.  Xerxes  gazed  in  despair  from  a  neighboring  emi- 
nence on  the  destruction  of  his  fleet,  and  then  commenced  a  hasty  retreat, 
with  a  portion  of  his  army,  through  Thessaly,  Macedon,  and  Thrace, 
during  which  he  lost  some  thousands  of  his  soldiers  from  cold,  hunger, 
and  fatigue. 

§  55.  Xerxes  on  his  retreat  left  300,000  of  his  best  troops  behind  him 
in  Thessaly.  These  marched  again  into  Attica,  in  the  following  spring, 
and  compelled  the  Athenians,  who  had  returned  home,  once  more  to  dis- 
perse themselves.  But  the  Greeks,  under  the  conduct  of  the  Spartan 
Pausanias,  assisted  by  the  Athenian  general,  Aristides,  obtained  so 
signal  a  victory  in  the  great  battle  of  Platae'a,  over  a  force  of  three  times 


HISTORY    OF   GREECE.  43 

their  number,  that  only  40,000  of  the  Persians  saved  themselves  acrosg 
the  Hellespont.  The  remainder,  with  their  leader,  were  slain,  either  in 
battle,  in  the  storming  of  their,  camp,  or  in  the  flight.  The  booty  was 
enormous.  On  the  same  day,  the  Persians  suffered  a  decisive  defeat  at 
the  promontory  of  Mycale,  in  Asia  Minor,  from  the  Greeks  on  board  the 
fleet.  In  this  case,  also,  a  Spartan  was  the  leader ;  but  it  was  the  Athe- 
nians and  Milesians  who  bore  off  the  prize  of  valor.  The  fleet  and  camp 
of  the  enemy  were  taken  and  destroyed.  The  slaughter  among  the 
broken  and  flying  crowd  was  frightful.  Valor  triumphed  over  strength, 
and  the  truth,  that  patriotism  and  love  of  freedom  can  bear  away  the 
victory  from  superior  numbers,  received  a  splendid  confirmation  in  the 
glorious  triumph  of  the  Greeks  over  the  Persians.  Ten  years  after- 
wards, the  double  victory  of  Cimon  on  the  river  Eurymedon, 
over  the  fleet  and  army  of  the  Persians,  brought  the  war  to 
a  temporary  conclusion.  A  peace  concluded  soon  after  the  death  of  Cimoa 
freed  all  the  Greek  cities  in  Asia  Minor  from  the  Persian  yoke. 

THE  SUPREMACY  OF  ATHENS,  AND  THE  AGE  OF  PERICLES. 

§  5G.  After  the  battle  of  Platae'a,  the  ^^ar  was  principally  carried  on 
at  sea.  As  the  Spartans  possessed  but  few  ships,  the  command  had 
gradually  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Athenians,  who,  moreover,  during 
the  whole  war,  had  displayed  the  greatest  courage  and  magnanimity. 
The  supremacy  of  the  Athenians  was  also  forwarded  by  the  treachery 
of  the  Spartan  general  Pausanias.  Pausdnias,  at  the  taking  of  Byzan- 
tium, had  made  prisoners  of  some  illustrious  Persians.  He  sent  these 
without  any  ransom  to  Xerxes,  with  the  message,  that  "  He  would  assist 
him  in  subduing  the  Greeks,  if  Xerxes  would  give  him  his  daughter  in 
marriage,  and  make  him  governor  of  Peloponnesus."  When  the  Persian 
king  acceded  to  these  terms,  the  vain  and  ambitious  man  became  so  inso- 
lent, as  entirely  to  neglect  the  Spartan  laws  and  manner  of  living ;  he 
clothed  himself  in  costly  garments,  maintained  a  luxurious  table,  and  was 
waited  on  and  accompanied  by  a  band  of  Persian  guards.  At  the  same 
time,  he  rendered  the  Lacedaemonian  rule  universally  odious  by  his  im- 
perious behavior.  The  Spartans,  when  made  acquainted  with  this  con- 
duct, recalled  their  faithless  general ;  but  their  authority  in  maritime 
affairs  was  already  so  much  weakened,  that  they  voluntarily  renounced 
the  command.  Pausanias,  even  in  Sparta,  kept  up  a  private  correspond- 
ence with  the  king  of  Persia.  But  this  treachery  being  exposed  by 
means  of  a  slave,  he  perished  of  hunger  in  a  temple  in  which  he  had 
taken  refuge. 

§  57.  Whilst  Pausdnias  was  thus  weakeiling  the  power  of  his  native 
city,  the  three  Athenian  generals,  hj  their  various  capacities  and  talents, 
were  instrumental  in  raising  that  of  their  own.  Themistocles,  by  dint 
of  wisdom  and  cunning,  succeeded  in  getting  Athens  surrounded  by  a 


44  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 

strong  wall,  and  in  founding  tlie  admirable  harbor  of  Pira3'us,  which 
Cimon  and  Pericles  afterwards  connected  with  Athens,  by  means  of  a 
long  double  wall.  By  this  undertaking,  Themistocles  incurred  the  impla- 
cable hate  of  the  Spartans,  who  were  very  averse  to  the  fortification  of 
Athens,  and  who,  for  this  reason,  attempted  at  a  later  period  to  implicate 
him  in  the  treachery  of  Pausanias.  This  happened  at  a  time  when  his 
enemies  in  Athens  had  succeeded  in  ffettin";  the  ambitious  man 

B.  c.  471. 

banished  by  ostracism,  for  a  term  of  ten  years.  Persecuted 
in  this  way,  the  great  general  fled,  in  the  midst  of  innumerable  dangers, 
to  Asia,  where  he  was  honorably  received  by  the  Persian  king,  and  had 
the  revenues  of  three  cities  of  Asia  Minor  allotted  to  him  for  his  support. 
But  when  the  king  wanted  his  assistance  in  the  subjection  of  Greece, 
he  is  said  to  have  swallowed  poison  rather  than  prove  a  traitor  to  his 
country. 

As  Themistocles  by  prudence,  so  Aristides  by  justice,  aided  the  inte- 
rests of  his  native  city.  The  perfect  confidence  that  was  placed  in  his 
cliaracter  and  opinions,  induced  the  islands  and  maritime  cities  to  enter 
into  alliance  with  the  Athenians,  and  to  pledge  themselves  to  a  supply 
of  ships  and  money  for  the  ccfntinuation  of  the  war.  The  treasury  of 
the  confederacy,  which  waa  established  in  Delos  for  this  purpose,  was 
intrusted  to  the  management  of  Aristides,  and  the  command  of  the  united 
fleet  was  also  given  to  an  Athenian.  The  supply  of  ships  soon  became 
burdensome  to  the  smaller  states,  and  they  were  glad  to  compromise  for 
their  delivery,  by  the  payment  of  an  additional  sum  of  money.  This 
gave  the  Athenians  the  opportunity  they  so  much  wished  for,  of  increas- 
ing their  fleet,  of  subjecting  the  smaller  maritime  states,  and  treating 
them  as  tributary  vassals.  Aristides  died  so  poor,  that  the  state  was 
obliged  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  burial,  and  to  provide  for  the 
establishing  of  his  children. 

§  58.  Cimon,  the  son  of  Miltiades,  and  Pericles,  were  not  less  instru- 
mental in  the  aggrandizement  of  Athens.  The  first  rendered  many 
services  to  his  country  by  successful  expeditions  at  sea,  and  gained 
the  people  by  his  affability  and  generosity.  He  enlarged  the  terri- 
tory of  Athens,  and  employed  his  vast  wealth  in  the  embellishment 
of  the  city,  where  he  established  the  beautiful  gardens  called  the 
Academy. 

During  his  time,  Sparta  was  visited  by  a  fearful  earthquake.     The 

greater  part  of  the  principal  city  was  destroyed,  and,  to  increase  the 

calamity,  the  Helots  and  Messenians  seized  their  arms  for 

B   c   465 

the  purpose  of  regaining  their  freedom.  In  their  distress, 
the  Spartans  turned  to  Athens  for  assistance,  and  by  the  influence  of 
Cimon,  an  army  wa^  despatched  to  their  aid.  But  the  suspicious  Spar- 
tans sent  it  back  again,  a  proceeding  which  so  offended  the  Athenians, 
that  they  banished  Cimon  by  the  ostracism ;  and  when  the  Messenians, 


HISTORY   OF   GREECE.  45 

after  a  contest  of  ten  years,  were  compelled  to  surrender  their  citadel, 
Ithome,  they  gave  up  the  seaport  town,  Naupactus,  to  them  for  a  resi- 
dence.    Cimon  died,  much  respected,  in  Cyprus,  b.  c.  449. 

Pericles,  a  soldier  and  statesman,  distinguished  by  great  talents,  culti- 
vation, and  eloquence,  exercised  during  his  life  such  an  influence  on  the 
state  and  people  of  Athens,  that  the  years  of  his  rule  were  distinguished 
as  *' the  age  of  Pericles."  This  period  includes  the  time  when  Athens 
had  attained  its  highest  point  of  refinement  at  home,  and  possessed  the 
greatest  power  abroad.  Pericles  adorned  Athens  by  the  erection  of  tem- 
ples and  magnificent  buildings ;  he  encouraged  the  arts  and  sciences,  he 
invited  men  of  genius,  and  iu  particular  the  great  artist,  Phidias,  to  his 
hospitable  home.  He  gave  to  every  one  the  means  and  opportunity  of 
educating  and  distinguishing  himself,  and  produced  by  these  means  a 
taste  for  aVt,  literature,  and  poetry,  even  among  the  lowest  classes  of  the 
people.  Tliough  descended  from  a  rich  and  illustrious  family,  he  was 
nevertheless  a  man  of  the  people,  and  devoted  to  democratic  principles. 
He  procured  a  law,  by  which  every  Athenian  citizen  who  sat  in  judgment, 
or  was  present  at  an  assembly  of  the  people,  or  served  in  the  fleet  or 
army,  was  entitled  to  a  stipend.  He  distributed  large  alms  to  the  neces- 
sitous, he  instituted  magnificent  festivals,  plays,  and  processions,  for  the 
gratification  of  the  sight-loving  people.  By  his  exertions,  the  Athenian 
state  attained  such  an  exalted  state  of  cultivation,  that  the  citizens  were 
almost  all  equally  well  fitted  to  fill  offices  or  discharge  business ;  so  that 
the  regulation,  that  the  greater  part  of  the  public  oflSces  should  be  filled 
by  lot,  was  attended  with  less  inconvenience  at  Athens,  than  such  arrange- 
inent  would  have  produced  at  any  other  place.  At  the  same  time,  Athens, 
^y  means  of  Pericles,  attained  the  greatest  renown  abroad.  Her  ships 
ruled  over  the  -^gean  sea,  and  compelled  the  islanders  to  pay  tribute, 
by  which  means  enormous  sums  of  money  flowed  into  her  treasury.  The 
statue  of  Minerva  was  covered  with  a  robe  of  solid  gold ;  the  Athenian 
armies  enpi^ajTed  in  successful  conflicts  with  the  Thebans  and 

B.  C.  447. 

Spartans,  till  the  unfortunate  battle  of  Coronea  put  an  end 
to  their  military  glory.  After  this  engagement,  in  which  the  Athenians 
were  either  killed  or  taken  prisoners,  Pericles  was  obliged  to  save  Athens 
from  the  destruction  by  which  it  was  threatened,  by  concluding  the  peace, 
named  after  him  "the  peace  of  Pericles." 

THE   PELOPONNESIAN    WAR,   B.    C.    431-404. 

§  59.  The  peace  of  Pericles  was  of  short  duration.  The  prosperity 
of  the  Athenians  filled  the  Spartan!  with  envy  and  malevolence ;  ajid 
the  insolence  and  severity  with  which  they  treated  their  subjected  allies, 
more  particularly  the  inhabitants  of  jEgina,  who.  had  only  submitted 
after  a  long  struggle,  excited  hatred  and  disgust.  In  a  short  time, 
two  armed  and  hostile  powers  stood  opposed  to  each  other :  the  Athenian 


46  THE   ANHIENT   WOELD. 

confederation,  wliicli  included  most  of  the  islands  and  maritime  towns, 
and  which  was  favored  by  the  democratic  party  in  all  the  states,  and  the 
chief  strength  of  which  lay  in  its  fleet ;  and  the  Peloponn'esian  alliance, 
with  Sparta  at  its  head,  to  which  the  Doric  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
JEolian  states  (Bocotia  and  others)  attached  themselves,  and  which 
reposed  its  confidence  on  a  gallant  army.  The  Spartans  declined  for 
a  long  time  to  commence  hostilities.  But  when  the  Corinthians  com- 
plained that  Athens  had  violated  the  peace  by  assisting  the  island  of 
Corcyra  in  its  war  against  the  mother  country,  Corinth,  and  had  laid 
siege  to  the  Corinthian  colony,  Potidai^'a,  in  Macedon,  the  Peloponnesian 
war,  which,  for  a  period  of  twenty-seven  years,  ravaged  Greece  in  the 
most  frightful  manner,  at  length  broke  out. 

§  60.  As  soon  as  war  was  declared,  a  Spartan  army  marched  into 
Attica,  and  devastated  the  country.  Upon  this,  Pericles  summoned  the 
inhabitants  of  the  country  into  the  town,  fitted  out  a  fleet,  and,  landing 
on  the  coast  of  Peloponnesus,  commenced  reprisals.  These  were  con- 
tinned  for  some  time,  till  at  length  a  plague  broke  out  in 
Athens,  in  consequence  of  the  overcrowded  state  of  the  city, 
swept  away  many  thousands  of  the  inhabitants,  and  finally  carried  Peri- 
cles himself  to  the  grave,  after  he  had  witnessed  the  death  of  his  two 
sons.  The  death  of  this  great  man  was  a  heavy  loss  to  Athens :  for  now 
a  crowd  of  selfish  demagogues,  and  among  them,  Cleon,  a  tanner,  obtained 
great  influence,  seduced  the  people  by  flattery,  and  strove  to  prolong  the 
war.  Weakened  by  their  own  divisions,  the  Athenians  were  compelled 
to  look  on,  whilst  the  Platce'ans,  their  most  faithful  allies,  were  subdued, 
after  an  heroic  struggle,  by  the  Lacedaemonians  and  Bosotians :  Platte'a 
itself  was  levelled  with  the  earth,  the  citizens  who  were  capable  of^- 
bearing  arms  were  put  to  the  sword,  and  their  wives  and  children  led 
into  slavery. 

The  Athenian  general,  Demosthenes,  shortly  after  suc- 
ceeded in  gaining  possession  of  the  Messenian  town  of  Pylos, 
whence  he  harassed  the  Spartan  territories  with  devastating  inroads. 
It  was  in  vain  that  the  Spartans  endeavored  to  drive  him  from  his  posi 
tion ;  their  attacks  were  repulsed,  and  more  than  four  hundred  heavy- 
armed  Spartan  troops  were  shut  up  in  the  barren  island  of  Sphacteria, 
where  they  were  reduced  to  great  extremities.  They  only  obtained  the 
means  of  subsistence  by  the  desperate  landing  effected  by  some  Helots,  to 
v;hom  the  Spartans  had  promised  freedom  if  they  were  successful  in  the 
attempt.  At  last,  to  escape  starvation,  they  were  compelled  to  surrender 
themselves  to  Cleon,  who  had  arrivffd  with  reinforcements.  This  success 
inflamed  the  insolence  of  the  democratic  leader.  He  fancied  himself  a  hero, 
und  obtained  the  command  of  an  army  that  was  intended  to  subdue  the 
Spartan  general,  Brasidas,  in  Thrace.  But  Cleon  suffered  a  defeat  before 
the  city  of  Amphipolis,  and  was  afterwards  killed  in  the  flight ;  whereupon 


HISTORY   OF   GREECE.  47 

the  opposite  party  gained  the  upper  hand  in  Athens,  and 
concluded  the  peace  of  Ni'cias.  In  the  mean  time,  a  despe- 
rate struggle  was  going  on  between  the  aristocratic  and  democratic  fac- 
tions, in  the  greater  number  of  the  Greek  cities ;  but  nowhere  was  the 
strife  more  sanguinary  than  in  the  island  of  Corcyra,  where  the  most 
illustrious  families  were  completely  destroyed.  By  the  help  of  the  Athe- 
nians, the  democrats  got  their  adversaries  in  their  power,  shut  them  up 
in  a  building,  and  killed  them  by  casting  down  stones  upon  their  heads. 
Where  the  Spartans  gained  the  upper  hand,  the  aristocratic  party  became 
predominant,  and  punished  their  enemies  by  death  and  banishment ;  if 
the  Athenians  prevailed,  the  democrats  assumed  tflb  direction  of  affairs, 
and  treated  their  opponents  with  similar  severity. 

^  61.  The  conclusion  of  peace  separated  the  Spartans  and  Corinthians. 
The  latter,  in  consequence,  united  themselves  with  Argos,  Elis,  and  Man- 
tinea  in  Arcadia,  for  the  purpose  of  depriving  the  Spartans  of  their 
superiority  (hegemony)  in  Peloponnesus.  In  this  attempt,  they  received 
the  assistance  of  Alcibiades,  who  was  then  about  thirty  years  old,  and 
sister's  son  to  Pericles,  and  who  here  displayed  for  the  first  time  his 
address  and  powers  of  persuasion.  Alcibiades  was  endowed  with  the 
greatest  advantages  both  of  mind  and  person.  He  was  rich,  handsome, 
accomplished,  and  a  most  admirable  orator ;  so  that  he  was  exactly  fitted  to 
supply  the  place  of  Pericles,  had  he  only  possessed  more  stability  and  pru- 
dence. The  war,  which  the  Spartans  now  had  to  sustain  with  the  Corinthi- 
ans and  allies,  would  have  been  fatal  to  their  authority,  had  not  fortune 

declared  for  the  Lacedoemdnian  arms  in  the  battle  of  Man- 
B.  c.  418.  .    , 

tmea. 

§  62.  Not  long  afterwards,  the  Athenians  despatched  the  finest  fleet 

and  the  most  admirable  army  that  had  ever  sailed  from  the 
B.  c.  415. 

Piraj'us,  to  Sicily,  under  the  command  of  Alcibiades,  Nicias, 

and  Lamachus,  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  the  Dorian  city,  Syracuse. 
This  undertaking  failed.  Alcibiades,  during  his  absence,  was  accused  by 
his  enemies  of  many  crimes  against  religion  and  the  government,  and 
was  in  consequence  hastily  recalled  by  the  Athenian  magistrates.  Thirst- 
ing for  vengeance,  he  fled  to  Sparta,  and  endeavored  to  stir  up  that  state 
to  make  war  upon  Athens.  The  brave  Lamachus  fell  in  the  siege  of 
Syracuse ;  the  Athenian  fleet  was  destroyed  in  the  harbor ;  and  when 
Nicias  attempted  to  escape  by  land  with  the  remains  of  the  army  to  a 
friendly  city,  he  was  attacked  during  a  night  march,  and,  after  a  bloody 
fight,  taken  prisoner  with  the  whole  of  his  troops.  Those  who  did  not 
fall  in  the  engagement,  were  employed  as  slaves  in  the  stone-quarries. 
The  valiant  generals,  Nicias  and  Demosthenes,  died  in  the  market-place 
by  the  hands  of  the  executioner. 

§  C3.  Dark  reports  conveyed  to  Athens  the  first  news  of  this  dreadful 
blow ;  when  the  frightful  intelligence  vras  confirmed,  there  was  scarcely 


48  THE  a:n'cient  world. 

a  family  that  had  not  occasion  to  mourn.  The  Athenian  allies  fell  off 
and  joined  the  Lacedaemonians  ;  the  Spartans  renewed  the  war  by  sea 
and  land,  and  were  assisted  by  the  Persian  governor  of  Asia  Minor. 
"Within  the  city,  the  aristocratic  party  were  attempting  to  overturn  the 
constitution,  and  entered  secretly  into  a  traitorous  alliance  with  the  Spar- 
tans. Athens  nevertheless  defended  herself  for  eight  years  against  the 
superior  force  of  the  enemy,  and  was  victor  in  tw^o  important  engage- 
ments at  sea.  But  no  exertions  could  restore  the  crippled  state  to  its 
former  greatness.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  Athenians  recalled  Aleibiades, 
gave  him  the  command  of  the  fleet  and  army,  and  cast  the  column,  on 
which  his  crimes  were  inscribed,  into  the  sea;  —  even  he  could  not  brinsc 
back  its  ancient  glories  to  the  Athenian  navy.  A  few  months  after  he 
had  entered  Athens  amidst  the  exulting  shouts  of  the  populace,  he  was 
again  deprived  of  his  command,  because  his  lieutenant  in  his  absence  had 
lost  a  sea-fight  near  Ephesus. 

§  64.  About  this  time,  the  Spartans  gained  an  excellent  leader  in  the 

artful  and  adventurous  Lysander,  who  obtained  the  favor  of  the  new 

governor  of  Asia  Minor,  Cyrus  the  younger,  for  the  purpose  of  increasing 

the  Lacedasmonian  fleet  by  the  assistance  of  the  Persians.    This  Lysander 

took  advantage  of  the  carelessness  of  the  Athenian  commanders,  who  had 

suffered  their  men  to  go  on  shore,  by  making  an  unexpected  attack  upon 

their   ships  at   the   Goat's   River  (iEgos-po tamos),  on  the 

Hellespont,  and  capturing  the  whole  of  them,  except  nine. 

The  power  of  Athens  was  now  vanished.     After  Lysander  had  reduced 

to  submission  the  islands  and  towns  that  were  friendly  to  the 

B.  C.  404. 

Athenians,  he  blockaded  Athens  itself  by  land  and  sea,  and 
the  overcrowded  city  w^as  soon  reduced  by  hunger  to  surrender.  The 
long  walls  and  fortifications  were  pulled  down  to  the  sound  of  flutes  ;  the 
ships,  with  the  exception  of  tw^elve,  delivered  to  the  Spartans,  and  all 
fugitives  and  outlaws  recalled.  iLysander  then  annulled  the  democratic 
constitution,  and  placed  the  government  in  the  hands  of  thirty  illustrious 
Athenians,  who  were  the  allies  of  Sparta.  These  aristocrats,  distin- 
guished by  the  name  of  the  Thirty  Tyrants,  with  the  clever  but  violent 
Critias  at  their  head,  breathed  nothing  but  death  and  banishment  agamst 
the  democratic  party.  But  this  reign  of  terror  was  but  of  short  duration. 
Thrasybiilus,  a  patriotic  man,  collected  around  him  the  fugitives  and  those 
who  had  been  banished,  and  marched  upon  Athens.  Critias  was  slain  in 
battle ;  the  rest  fell  by  treachery  into  the  hands  of  the  conqueror,  who  put 
them  to  death,  reestablished  the  democratic  constitution,  and,  by  the  as- 
surance that  the  past  should  be  forgotten  and  forgiven,  succeeded  in 
again  restoring  tranquillity  and  order. 

4.    SOCRATES. 

§  65.  During  the  Peloponnesian  war,  the  morals  of  the  Athenians  had 


HISTORY   OF    GREECE.  49 

deteriorated,  and  honesty  and  civil  virtue  came  to  be  less  esteemed  than 
wit  and  intelligence.  This  state  of  things  was  in  a  great  degree  brought 
about  by  the  sophists,  —  false  teachers,  who  paraded  a  factitious  kind  of 
wisdom  founded  upon  fallacies  and  sophisms,  and  who  presumed,  by  ora- 
torical arts  and  tricks  of  disputation,  to  put  lies  in  the  place  of  truth,  and 
to  convert  truth  into  error.  They  enticed  to  themselves  wealthy  young 
men,  and  for  great  rewards  instructed  them  in  these  arts,  by  which  means 
domestic  and  public  life  were  poisoned  in  their  very  sources.  At  this 
juncture  arose  Socrates,  an*  Athenian  citizen,  who  unmasked  these  so- 
phistical mountebanks,  and  awakened  the  sentiments  of  religion,  justice, 
and  virtue  in  the  bosoms  of  his  pupils.  Sdcrates  taught  his  practical 
philosophy,  the  end  of  which  was  "  Know  thyself,"  not  in  elaborate  dis- 
courses from  the  lecturer's  chair,  but  by  questions  and  answers  in  the 
public  streets,  under  the  open  sky,  or  in  the  workshops  of  mechanics. 
The  sophists  were  reduced  to  silence  by  his  clear  intellect,  his  simple 
and  upright  life,  and  his  moral  worth  ;  whilst  the  richest  and  most 
talented  young  men  united  themselves  to  him.  This  exasperated  the 
vain  and  greedy  sophists,  and  they  accused  him  c£  seducing  the  youth, 
and  introducing  false  gods.  Socrates,  in  a  simple  defence,  disproved 
before  the  judges  the  truth  of  this  accusation.  But  instead,  as  was 
then  the  custom,  of  imploring  his  acquittal  with  prayers  and  lamenta- 
tions, he  concluded  his  discourse  by  asserting  that  he  was  entitled  to  be 
received  into  the  number  of  those  illustrious  men,  who,  on  account 
of  their  services  to  the  commonwealth,  were  maintained  at  the  public 
expense.  This  offended  the  judges,  and  S6crates  was  condemned  to 
death  by  a  small  majority.  It  was  in  vain  that  his  friends,  particularly 
the  rich  citizen  Crito,  urged  him  to  fly ;  he  rejected  their  counsels, 
and  in  the  midst  of  elevating  discourses  on  the  immortal  nature  of  the 
soul,  (Plato's  Phaido),  he  drank  the  cup  of  poison,  and  died  with  the 
cheerfulness  and  composure  of  mind  of  a  philosopher.  He  has  left 
nothing  in  writing :  but  his  illustrious  disciple,  Plato,  has  placed  his  own 
philosophy  in  the  mouth  of  Socrates.  This  Plato  was  so  distinguished 
as  a  writer  and  thinker  that  he  was  named  the  "  Divine,"  as  well  on 
account  of  his  splendid  and  exalted  ideas  and  poetical  images,  as  of  the 
perfect  art  of  representation  which  is  displayed  by  his  works,  written  in 
the  form  of  dialogues.  Next  to  him,  Xenophon  the  Athenian,  at  once  a 
soldier  and  a  writfer,  was  the  most  distinguished  of  the  disciples  of  So- 
crates. He  has  made  the  world  acquainted  with  the  life  and  doctrines 
of  his  master,  in  the  philosophical  work,  entitled  "  Memorabilia  of 
Socrates." 

5.    THE    RETREAT    OF    THE    TEX    THOUSAND.       B.  C.  400. 

§  66.  Xenophon's  most  admirable  historical  work  is  the  "  Anabasis," 
or  the  description  of  the  campaign  of  the  younger  Cyrus  in  Persia,  and 


50  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

cf  the  retreat  of  the  Greek  troops  under  the  command  of  Xenophon  him- 
self. After  its  contest  with  Greece,  the  Persian  empire  had  grown  gra- 
dually weaker.  The  governors  ruled  the  provinces  in  an  arbitrary  manner, 
and  excited  insurrections  by  their  oppression.  The  court  was  swayed 
by  selfish  and  effeminate  men  and  intriguing  women,  who  practised  the 
most  frightful  crimes,  gave  themselves  up  to  every  lust  and  excess,  and 
perplexed  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom  by  their  contests  for  the  crown.  It 
was  under  these  circumstances,  that  the  younger  Cyrus,  governor  of  Asia 
Minor,  entertained  the  project  of  depriving  his  elder  brother,  Artaxerxes, 
of  the  crown.  He  assembled  a  considerable  army  of  mercenaries,  the 
flower  of  which  was  composed  of  Spartan  and  other  Greek  troops,  and 
marched  with  them  into  Persia.  A  battle  was  fought  in  the  plain  of 
Cunaxa,  a  few  miles  from  Babylon,  in  which  the  Greeks  indeed  proved 
victorious,  but  Cyrus  fell  by  the  hand  of  his  brother.  The  Greeks  were 
summoned  to  surrender,  and  when  they  refused,  the  Persians  invited 
Clearchus  and  the  other  captains  to  an  interview,  in  which  they  were 
treacherously  murdered.  The  Athenian,  Xenophon,  then  placed  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  helpless  host,  and  led  them,  under  the  most  incredible 
hardships,  through  Armenia  to  the  Black  Sea,  and  thence  to  Byzantium. 
Without  any  knowledge  of  the  land  or  of  the  language,  without  guides  on 
whom  they  could  depend,  they  were  compelled  to  climb  pathless  mount- 
ains, to  wade  through  rivers,  to  march  through  inhospitable  and  snow- 
covered  deserts,  pursued  by  the  Persians,  and  attacked  by  the  inhabitants. 
When  they  caught  the  first  glimpse  of  the  Black  Sea  from  an  eminence, 
they  fell  upon  their  knees  and  saluted  it  with  a  shout  of  joy,  as  the  ter- 
mination of  their  miseries. 

6.    THE    TIME    OF   AGESILAUS    AND    EPA3[IN0NDAS. 

§  67.  Sparta,  by  the  Peloponnesian  war,  had  become  the  first  power 
in  Greece.  She  abused  her  authority,  however,  by  tyrannizing  over  the 
other  states,  and  by  this  means  brought  upon  herself  the  hatred  of  her 
allies,  in  the  same  way  that  Athens  had  formerly  done.  Her  inhabitants 
had  long  degenerated  from  the  simplicity  and  severity  of  manners  en- 
joined by  Lycurgus.  Foreign  wars  had  brought  riches,  these  produced 
avarice  and  love  of  pleasure,  and  from  these  again  proceeded  a  host  of 
vices.  Kings  and  generals  suffered  themselves  to  be  bought  by  sums  of 
money,  and  disgraced  themselves  by  corruption.  A  few  families  acquired 
enormous  wealth  and  possessions,  and  plunged  into  luxury  and  intemper- 
ance, whilst  the  poorer  classes  starved.  Even  the  powerful  king,  Agesi- 
laus,  a  strenuous  advocate  for  the  old  Spartan  virtue  and  simplicity,  was 
unable  to  restrain  these  vices. 

The  other  states  had  also  long  equally  degenerated  from  the  virtues  and 
patriotism  of  an  earlier  period.  Their  citizens  disaccustomed  themselves 
from  the  use  of  arms,  and  reUnquished  the  practice  of  war  to  hired  mer- 


HISTORY   OF   GREECE.  51 

cenaries ;  and  when  king  Agesilaus  declared  war  against  the  crumbling 
empire  of  Persia,  and  penetrated  with  his  victorious  banners  into  Asia 
Minor,  the  Athenians,  Corinthians,  Boeotians,  and  some  others,  were  so 
forgetful  of  their  honor  and  national  feelings,  that  they  suffered  them- 
selves to  be  persuaded  by  the  Persian  monarch  to  take  the  field  against 
Sparta;  so  that  Agesilaus  was  compelled  to  retreat,  and  to  turn  his  arms, 
in  the  so-called  Corinthian  war,  against  the  Greeks  themselves.  Dis- 
union, enervation,  and  jealousy  at  length  produced  such  an  indifference 
to  national  honor,  that  the  Greek  states  rivalled  each  other  to  secure  the 
favor  of  Persia,  and  consented  to  the  shameful  peace  of  An- 
talcidas,  by  which  the  west  coast  of  Asia  Minor  was  given 
up  to  the  Persians,  and  in  consequence  lost  forever  to  liberty  and 
Greece. 

§  G8.  The  peace  of  Antdlcidas  contained  the  farther  condition,  that  all 
the  Grecian  states  should  be  free.  The  Spartans,  who  were  appointed 
the  guardians  and  executors  of  the  treaty,  took  this  opportunity  to  dis- 
solve all  alliances  between  the  states,  and  to  increase  their  own  power. 
But  their  arrogance  was  soon  punished.  The  Greek  town  Olynthus,  in 
Macedonia,  had  united  several  neighboring  cities  in  a  confederation,  over 
which,  as  the  principal  city,  it  exercised  authority.  The  Spartans  ob- 
jected to  this,  as  contrary  to  the  conditions  of  the  peace  of  Antalcidas, 
and  on  the  Olynthians  refusing  to  dissolve  the  confederacy,  marched  an 
army  into  the  country,  besieged  their  town,  and  compelled  them  to  sub- 
mission. During  the  march  through  Bocotia,  the  Spartan  general  allowed 
himself  to  be  persuaded  by  the  aristocratic  party  in  Thebes  to  invest  the 
town  and  overturn  the  democratic  constitution.  The  undertaking  was 
successful.  The  chiefs  of  the  popular  party  were  either  executed,  ba- 
nished, or  imprisoned ;  the  aristocrats  seized  upon  the  government,  and, 
confident  of  tlie  support  of  the  Spartans,  ruled  with  insolence  and  vio- 
lence. 

§  G9.  But  the  hour  of  retribution  was  approaching.  The  banished 
democrats  united  themselves  in  Athens,  whence  they  commenced  a  cor- 
respondence with  their  friends  in  Thebes.  At  their  instigation,  they  in 
a  short  time  returned  in  secret,  in  the  disguise  of  clowns,  assembled 
themselves  in  the  house  of  one  of  the  party,  and,  issuing  forth  at  mid- 
night, fell  upon  the  aristocrats  who  were  collected  together  at  a  luxurious 
repast.  After  these  had  been  despatched,  they  summoned  the  citizens  to 
liberty,  reestablished  the  deraocratical  government,  and  forced  the  Spar- 
tan garrison  to  retreat  from  the  citadel.  This  occasioned  a  war  between 
the  Thebans  and  Lacedaemonians.  The  commonwealth  of  Thebes  was 
at  tifht  time  conducted  by  two  men,  who  joined  patriotism  and  virtue  to 
courage  and  military  talents,  and  who  were  united  together  by  the  bonds 
of  friendship, —  Epamindndas  and  Peldpidas.  They  united  their  efforts 
in  the  attempt  to  elevate  their  country.     Epamindndas  introduced  a  new 


52  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

system  of  tactics,  "  the  oblique  order  of  battle,"  and  Pelopidas  was  the 
originator  of  the  sacred  band,  which,  composed  of  a  number  of  youths 
united  together  by  friendship,  and  inspired  by  a  love  of  honor  and  free- 
dom, offered  a  successful  resistance  to  the  Spartans.  At  first,  the  Athe- 
nians sided  with  the  Thebans,  and  by  means  of  their  generals,  Iphicrates, 
Chabrias,  and  Timdtheus,  did  much  mischief  to  the  Lacedaemonians, 
both  by  sea  and  land.  But  when  Thebes  subjected  the  lesser  cities  of 
Boedtia  to  its  authority,  and  destroyed  Plata3'a,  a  town  that  was  on 
friendly  terms  with  Athens,  the  old  jealousy  again  awoke,  Athens  con- 
cluded a  peace  with  Sparta,  and  when  the  Thebans  refused  to  accede  to 
its  conditions,  the  Lacedgemonian  troops  again  marched  into 
their  territory,  but  suffered  so  terrible  a  defeat  from  Epami- 
nondas  and  Pelopidas,  in  the  battle  of  Leuctra,  that  Sparta  never  re- 
covered from  its  effects.  For  the  first  time,  the  Laceda3m6nian  troops 
fled  from  the  field  of  battle,  so  that  the  old  Spartan  law,  which  declared 
fugitives  to  be  infamous,  could  not  be  put  in  force. 

§  70.  Epaminondas  shortly  afler  marched  into  Peloponnesus,  and  ap- 
proached the  unwalled  capital  of  Laconia,  that  for  five  centuries  had 
never  seen  an  enemy  in  its  neighborhood.  But  the  preparations  for  de- 
fence made  by  the  old  king,  Agesilaus,  and  the  determined  attitude 
assumed  by  the  Spartans,  whose  wives  and  children  prepared  to  aid  in 
the  struggle,  preserved  it  from  attack.  But  Epaminondas  expiated  an 
old  act  of  injustice.  He  called  the  Messenians  to  liberty,  and  restored  to 
the  exiles  who  returned  from  abroad  the  land  of  their  fathers,  with  the 
newly-built  town  of  Messene.  Some  years  later,  Epaminondas  again 
appeared  in  Peloponnesus.  The  Spartans  and  their  allies,  under  the 
command  of  Aojesilaus,  presented  themselves,  and  fought 

B    C    362.  o  V      i  y  o 

with  him  the  battle  of  Mantinea.  In  this  battle,  the  The- 
bans indeed  proved  victorious,  but  conquest  was  dearly  bought  by  the 
death  of  Epaminondas.  A  javelin  had  pierced  his  breast,  but  it  was  not 
till  he  heard  that  the  enemy  were  defeated,  that  he  allowed  the  weapon  to 
be  withdrawn,  and  breathed  forth  his  heroic  spirit.  Two  years  before,  the 
brave  Pelopidas  had  lost  his  life  in  Thessaly,  and  in  the  following  year,  at 
the  age  of  eighty,  died  Agesilaus,  after  witnessing  Sparta's  highest  glory 
and  her  deepest  fall.  Epaminondas  was  magnanimous,  experienced  in 
w^ar,  and  as  just,  unselfish,  and  poor  as  Aristides  himself;  the  loftiness  of 
his  aims,  and  the  sense  of  his  own  personal  worth,  elevated  him  above 
avarice  and  the  pursuit  of  pleasure,  and  the  single  cloak  which  he  pos- 
sessed was  a  greater  ornament  to  him  than  any  wealth  could  have  been. 
His  death  was  followed  by  a  general  flagging  in  the  energies  ^f  the 
Greeks. 


HISTORY   OF    GREECE.  53 

7.    THE   MOST   FLOURISHING   PERIOD    OF    GREECE    IX   LITERATURE 
AND    THE   ARTS. 

§  71.  "Whilst  the  Greeks  were  destroying  their  own  power  and  dis- 
turbing the  public  tranquillity  by  their  internal  contests,  literature  and 
the  plastic  arts  attained  their  highest  perfection.  Dramatic  poetry,  that 
in  its  origin  had  been  connected  with  the  festivals  of  the  wine-god, 
Dionysus,  was  raised  to  a  wonderful  height  by  the  three  great  poets,  So- 
phocles, Euripides,  and  iE'schylus.  The  lives  of  these  three  men,  who 
were  the  perfecters  of  the  serious  drama  (tragedy),  may  be  connected 
with  the  battle  of  Salamis,  since  iE'schylus,  who  was  then  in  his  forty- 
fifth  year,  fought  in  the  ranks  of  the  combatants  ;  Sophocles,  at  fifteen, 
idtk  a  part  in  the  chorus  of  youths  in  the  festival  held  after  the  battle 
for  the  celebration  of  the  victory,  and  Euripides  was  born  on  the  day  of 
the  engagement.  In  the  seven  pieces  of  -^'schylus,  (the  Prometheus 
vinctus,  Persas,  Agamemnon,  &c.),  we  may  recognize  the  great  period  of 
the  Persian  war,  when  the  souls  of  the  Greeks  were  inspired  by  a  noble 
enthusiavsm  for  freedom  and  their  fatherland.  His  compositions,  which 
breathe  a  reverence  for  the  gods,  a  respect  for  ancient  institutions,  and 
the  self-consciousness  of  a  lofty  mind,  are  occasionally  rendered  obscure 
by  the  bold  flight  of  the  ideas,  and  the  solemn  energy  of  the  language. 

In  the  tragedies  of  Sophocles,  of  which  also  seven  are  preserved  (An- 
tigone, CE'dipus,  Electra,  &c.),  we  see  the  age  of  Pericles,  with  its  cul- 
tivation and  intellectual  sociality ;  and  hence  these  compositions  remain 
unapproachable  models  of  beauty  and  harmonious  perfection  of  style. 
Euripides,  of  whom  we  possess  nineteen  pieces  (Medea,  Hecuba,  Iphi- 
geni'a,  &c.),  belongs  to  a  less  energetic  period.  He  prefers  to  linger 
amidst  scenes  of  justice,  in  which  the  Athenians  took  especial  delight ; 
he  makes  abundant  use  of  the  artfully-constructed  speeches,  sentences, 
and  common-places  then  in  vogue  among  philosophers,  and  seeks  to  affect 
his  auditors  by  scenes  of  sorrow  and  distress.  He  replaces  the  creative 
power  and  genuine  feeling  of  his  predecessors,  by  sensibility  and  elegant 
and  polished  language.  Euripides's  contemporary,  Aristophanes,  brought 
comedy  to  perfection.  His  pieced,  in  which  he  contrasts  the  vices  of  his 
own  age  with  the  virtues  of  an  earlier  period,  were  often  rendered  more 
effective  by  living  characters,  who  were  introduced  by  name,  and  por- 
trayed so  accurately,  that  it  was  impossible  to  mistake  them.  Thus,  in 
his  "  Frogs,"  and  in  another  of  his  pieces,  he  ridiculed  Euripides  and  his 
flat  and  lachrymose  tragedies ;  in  his  "  Clouds,"  he  held  up  to  derision 
the.  sophists  (under  the  name  of  Socrates*)  who  attempted  to  undermine 

*  This  is  an  ingenious  plea  to  save  Aristophanes  from  the  serrous  charge  of  intending 
to  ridicule,  and  hold  up  to  public  contempt,  the  greatest  and  purest  character  of  his  age, 
and  indeed  of  all  antiquity.  But  the  excuse  cannot  be  maintained ;  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  satirist,  who  was  as  licentious  as  he  was  witty,  actually  intended  to  injure  the  re- 
putation of  Socrates,  whom  for  the  tune  he  much  disliked.     Am.  Jul. 

5* 


54  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 

the  faith  of  the  people ;  and  he  was  even  bold  enough  to  attack  the  power< 
ful  Cleon,  and  the  selfish  demagogues,  in  his  "  Knights." 

The  chorus,  which  was  a  feature  peculiar  to  the  Greek  drama,  uttered 
in  impassioned  and  lyrical  poetry  the  sentiments  and  reflections  of  the 
audience  upon  what  was  going  on  upon  the  stage.  The  splendid  theatres 
which  were  everywhere  erected,  and  which  were  magnificent  specimens 
of  architecture,  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  elevation  of  the  dramatic 
art.  A  rich  citizen  could  find  no  better  way  to  the  favor  of  the  people 
than  exhibiting  a  dramatic  performance  at  his  own  expense. 

§  72.  It  was  at  this  same  period  that  the  prose  literature  of  the  Greeks 
Plato  B.  c.  i"ose  to  its  highest  point  of  cultivation.  In  the  dialogues  of 
429-348.  Plato,  (§  65,)  the  lofty  thoughts  of  a  rich  and  creative  mind 
are  clothed  in  the  finest  language,  and  presented  in  the  most  attractive 
Herodotus  form.  Herodotus,  of  Halicarnassus,  is  looked  upon  as  the 
B.  c.  450.  father  of  history.  He  described  the  contests  of  the  Greeks 
and  Persians  in  simple  and  copious  language,  but  occasionally  introduced 
portions  of  the  earlier  history  of  the  oriental  and  Greek  tribes,  so  that 
his  account  contains  a  great  deal  that  is  fabulous,  which  he  copied  from 
the  narrations  of  the  priests.  During  his  extensive  travels,  he  made 
himself  acquainted  by  personal  observation  with  most  of  the  countries  of 
which  he  relates  the  history.  His  work  was  written  for  the  people,  and 
therefore  its  language  is  simple  and  cordial.  He  shows  how  the  love  of 
freedom,  the  discipline,  and  the  moderation  of  the  Greeks,  bore  off  the 
victory  from  the  servility,  the  disorderly  masses,  and  the  pomp  of  the 
Thucydides  Asiatics.  The  historical  works  of  Herodotus  kindled  the 
B.  c.  430.  emulation  of  the  patriotic  Athenian,  Thucydides.  He  had 
been  banished  at  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Amphipolis,  ( §  60),  and  de- 
voted the  years  of  his  absence  to  the  composition  of  his  "  History  of  the 
Peloponnesian  war."  His  "  thought-weighted "  language,  and  the  pro- 
fundity of  his  reflections,  render  this  work  unintelligible,  except  to  the 
learned.  The  history  of  Thucydides  ends  with  the  twenty-first  year  of 
the  Peloponnesian  war. 

Xenophon  Xenophon,  his  continuator,  takes  up  the  historical  thread 

B.  c.  400.  where  Thucydides  relinquished  it.  He  is  distinguished  by  the 
clearness,  ease,  and  beauty  of  his  style,  but  is  far  inferior  to  Thucydides  in 
depth  and  historical  accuracy.  Although  an  Athenian,  Xenophon  respects 
and  praises  the  Spartans,  especially  their  king,  Agesilaus,  of  whose  life 
he  had  also  written  a  description.  For  this  reason,  his  Greek  history  is 
composed  wdth  a  conscious  partiality ;  the  illustrious  Thebans,  Pelopidas 
and  Epaminondas  in  particular,  are  thrown  entirely  into  the  shade.  His 
history  concludes  with  the  battle  of  Mantinge'a.  Another  work  of  Xeno- 
phon's  was  a  history  of  the  elder  Cyrus  (Cyropa^dia),  a  sort  of  romance, 
in  which  he  displays  the  founder  of  the  Persian  empire  as  the  model  of  a 
re«rent. 


HISTORY  OP   GREECE.  55 

§  73.  Rhetoric,  also,  about  this  time,  rose  in  Athens  to  its  highest  point. 
of  perfection.  If  eloquence  had  originally  been  a  gift  of  nature,  an  in- 
born talent,  it  began,  after  the  Peloponnesian  war,  to  be  treated  as  an  art, 
and  rules  and  theories  were  established  respecting  it.  Schools  of  oratory- 
were  opened,  where  the  Athenian  youth  who  wished  to  devote  themselves 
to  public  life,  or  to  the  affairs  of  government  or  the  law,  received  in- 
struction. For  in  a  democratic  republic  like  Athens,  he  alone  could  hope 
to  exert  himself  with  success,  who  was  capable  of  speaking  well.  Among 
the  ten  Athenian  orators  who  have  left  written  discourses  behind  them, 
j^  c.  Isocrates  takes  a  high   rank,  both  on   account  of  the  artistic 

43G  — 338.  skill  and  perfection  of  style  displayed  by  his  discourses,  and 
more  particularly,  from  the  great  success  of  his  oratorical  school.  IsaJU3, 
Demosthenes  ^  pupil  of  Isocrates,  was  the  instructor  of  Demosthenes,  who, 
B.  c.  from  his  youth  upwards,  kept  his  purpose  so  steadily  before  his 

385  —  322.  eyes  that  he  made  incredible  efforts  to  overcome  his  natural 
impediments,  so  that  he  might  render  himself  an  orator.  No  one  pos- 
sessed to  an  equal  degree  with  himself  the  gift  of  exciting,  enchaining, 
and  inspiring  his  auditors.  Animation  of  delivery,  alternations  from  se- 
verity to  ridicule,  bitter  outbursts,  and  happy  turns  of  expression,  all 
served  him  as  weapons.  The  most  remarkable  of  his  productions  are  the 
twelve  political  orations  against  Philip  of  Macedon  (Philippics),  in  which 
he  endeavors  t||^excite  the  Athenians  to  make  war  upon  this  enterprising 
monarch,  who  was  at  that  time  meditating  the  subjection  of  Greece. 
The  rival  of  Dem<5sthenes  was  -ZE'schines,  an  orator  like  himself,  who 
sided  with  the  king  of  Macedon  and  his  party.  When  the  Athenian 
senate  awarded  a  golden  crown  to  Demosthenes,  ^'schines  attempted,  in 
a  brilliant  speech,  to  procure  a  revocation  of  the  vote  by  calling  in  ques- 
tion the  merits  of  him  to  whom  the  crown  had  been  presented.  This  gave 
Demosthenes  the  opportunity  of  so  overwhelming  his  opponent,  in  his  in- 
comparable oration  "  de  Corona,"  that  ^'schines  was  sentenced  to  pun- 
ishment, and  experienced  so  much  annoyance,  that  he  betook  himself  to 
llhoiles,  where  he  established  a  school  of  oratory. 

§  74.  The  most  flourishing  period  of  the  fine  arts,  under  which  term 
are  inchided  architecture,  sculpture,  and  painting,  was  from  the  time  of 
Pericles  to  the  death  of  Alexander.  The  feeling  for  art  that  was  inhe- 
rent in  the  Greeks,  was  the  chief  cause  of  this  perfecfion.  Grecian  archi- 
tecture w^as  particularly  distinguished  by  symmetry  and  harmony,  so  that 
every  building  formed  a  beautiful  whole.  The  principal  feature  in  a 
Greek  edifice  are  the  pillars,  which  are  divided  into  three  orders  by  the 
differences  in  their  capitals.  The  plain  and  massive  Doric,  the  slendei 
Ionic  with  its  voluted  capital,  and  the  highly-decorated  Corinthian* 
They  were  particularly  employed  in  the  entrances  of  the  temples,  an(3 
in  halls  and  porticos.  The  dwelling-houses  of  the  ancients  were 
Email  and  insignificant,  so  that  their  architectural  skill  could  only  be 


56  THE   AKCIENT   WORLD. 

displayed  in  tlieir  public  buildings,  temples,  theatres,  senate-houses,  mo 
numents,  &;c. 

The  art  of  sculpture  was  carried  to  its  highest  perfection  by  the 
Greeks,  and  the  masterpieces  of  antiquity  that  have  been  preserved  to 
us  are  even  now  regarded  as  unapproachable  examples  of  beauty. 
Amongst  the  artists,  the  next  in  celebrity  to  Phidias  (§  58)  are  Scopas 
of  Pares,  Praxiteles  of  Athens,  and  Lysippus  of  Sicyon.  Since  the  best 
way  of  showing  respect  to  a  celebrated  or  deserving  man,  in  Greece,  was 
to  erect  his  statue,  or  set  up  his  bust  or  "  herm^es "  (bust  placed  on  a 
pedestal),  artists  everywhere  found  employment  and  encouragement. 
Every  city  made  it  a  point  of  honor  to  possess  a  multitude  of  statues  in 
its  streets  and  public  places.  The  splendid  physical  conformation  of  the 
Greeks,  which  was  disfigured  by  no  ugly  habiliments,  and  the  oppor- 
tunity, afforded  by  the  exercises  of  the  gymnasium,  of  seeing  the  naked 
figure  in  every  variety  of  attitude,  tended  materially  to  the  perfection 
of  the  art  of  sculpture.  The  statue  of  the  Belvidere  Apollo,  the  group 
of  the  La6coon,  and  innumerable  figures  and  works  in  bas-relief,  afford 
splendid  evidence  of  the  high  artistic  capabilities  of  the  Greeks. 

In  painting,  the  names  of  Parrhasius,  Zeuxis,  and  Apelles  are  particu- 
larly celebrated.  We  possess  no  specimen  of  ancient  painting  except  the 
figures  on  the  Grecian  vases  of  burnt  earth,  and  a  few  pictures  on  the 
walls  of  old  buildings.  Music,  dancing,  and  the  histrioim?  art  were  also 
cultivated  by  the  Greeks  with  enthusiasm. 


III.    THE    MACEDONIAN  PERIOD. 

1.   PHILIP    OF   MACEDOX,   B.    C.    361-336. 

§  75.  Northward  from  Greece  lies  the  rude  and  mountainous  tract 
of  Maceddnia,  the  inhabitants  of  which  were  not  looked  upon  as  belong- 
ing to  the  Hellenes,  though  they  had  adopted  the  military  system  and 
many  institutions  of  the  Greeks.  They  were  a  military  race,  dehghting 
in  war  and  the  chase,  and  in  chivalrous  exercises  and  entertainments. 
A  year  after  the  de^th  of  Epaminondas,  Philip  assumed  the  government 
of  this  people.  He  was  a  man  who  united  the  shrewdness  and  dexterity 
of  a  statesman,  the  talents  of  a  general,  and  the  generosity  and  magna- 
nimity of  a  prince.  He  both  loved  and  respected  the  cultivation,  and  the 
artists  and  poets,  of  Greece,  but  held  fast,  nevertheless,  to  the  manners 
of  his  own  people,  and  even  shared  the  disposition  to  intemperance 
indulged  in  by  his  nobles.  He  possessed  a  well-appointed  and  efficient 
army,  which  was  rendered  particularly  formidable  by  a  newly-invented 
order  of  battle,  called  the  phalanx. 


HISTORY   OF   GREECE.  57 

§  76.  Philip's  great  aim  was  the  subjugation  of  the  disunited  Greek 
Itates.  The  sacred  war  afforded  him  the  wished  for  opportunity  for  this 
purpose.  The  Thebans  wanted  to  reduce  the  neighboring  state,  Phocis, 
under  their  own  dominion,  and  had  cited  the  inhabitants  before  the  coun- 
cil of  Amphictyons,  on  a  charge  of  having  taken  possession  of,  and 
brought  into  cultivation,  some  of  the  lands  belonging  to  the  temple  of 
Delphi.  The  council  inflicted  a  heavy  fine  upon  the  Phdcians,  and  upon 
their  refusing  to  pay  it,  they  were  placed  under  a  ban,  and  the  Thebans 
were  directed  to  carry  the  punishment  into  execution.  Upon  this,  the 
Phdcians  took  possession  of  the  temple -of  Delphi,  and  employed  the 
treasures  deposited  there  in  hiring  an  army  of  mercenaries,  by  whose 
assistance  they  succeeded  in  defending  themselves  for  ten  years  against 
all  the  attacks  of  their  enemies.  The  Thebans  addressed  themselves  to 
Philip  for  assistance.  Philip  yielded  to  their  request,  first  subjected  ths 
Thessalians,  and  then  penetrated  by  the  pass  of  Thermopylae  into  Phocis. 
After  a  gallant  resistance,  the  Phdcians  were  compelled  to  submit.  They 
v/ere  tlirust  out  of  the  council  of  the  Amphictyons,  as  a  people  accursed, 
and  Philip  was  admitted  in  their  place ;  their  cities  were  razed  to  the 
ground,  some  of  the  inhabitants  quitted  their  country,  others  were 
carried  into  slavery,  and  those  that  remained  were  compelled  to  pay 
tribute. 

§  77.  Previous  to  this,  Philip  had  taken  possession  of  the  Greek  colonial 
cities,  Araphipolis  in  Thrace,  and  Potidao'a  in  Macedonia,  and  founded  the 
strong  town  of  Philippi  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  former,  in  a  region 
abounding  in  gold  mines;  after  this,  he  had  subjected  the  haughty  city 
Olynthus,  and  punished  it  severely  in  its  possessions  and  liberties.  But  it 
was  only  by  the  breaking  out  of  a  second  sacred  war,  that  he  was  enabled 
to  attain  his  object.  The  Locrians  were  now  accused  in  the  same  way  the 
Phdcians  had  formerly  been,  of  having  appropriated  and  brought  under 
cu'.ivation  a  portion  of  the  lands  belonging  to  the  temple  of  Delphi;  and 
for  this  crime,  they  were  visited  with  a  heavy  fine  by  the  council  of  Am- 
phictyons. As  this  fine  was  not  paid,  the  Amphictyons,  at  the  suggestion  of 
the  orator,  jiE'schines,  who,  in  his  capacity  of  Athenian  deputy,  was  pres- 
ent at  their  council,  commuted  the  punishment  of  the  Locrians.  The 
Macedonian  king,  Philip,  hastened  southward  with  his  army,  but  instead 
of  subduing  the  Locrians,  he  seized  and  fortified  the  importantly  situated 
town  of  Elatea.  This  arbitrary  proceeding  roused  the  Athenians  from 
their  indifi"erence,  and  induced  them  to  give  a  hearing  to  the  exhortations 
of  Demosthenes.  The  orator  himself  arranged  an  alliance  with  the  The- 
bans, and  effected  the  equipment  of  a  considerable  army.  But  these  troops, 
collected  together  in  haste,  and  placed  under  the  command  of  incompetent 
leaders,  were  unable  Jo  sustain  the  shock  of  the  Macedonian  phalanx. 
Despite  the  valor  of  the  sacred  band  of  the  Thebans,  who  fell  to  a  man  on 
the  field,  Philip  gained  the  battle  of  Chaeronea,  which  put  an  end  forever 


58  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

to  tlie  liberties  of  Greece.  Demosthenes  pronounced  the  funeral 
oration  over  the  bodies  of  those  who  had  fallen,  and  Isocrates, 
who  was  then  nearly  a  hundred  years  old,  put  himself  to  death  rather  than 
gurvive  the  liberties  of  his  country.  For  the  rest,  Philip  treated  the 
Greeks  with  kindness  and  affability,  to  accustom  them  more  readily  to 
the  Macedonian  yoke.  He  cherished  the  purpose  of  attacking  the  crum- 
bling empire  of  Persia,  at  the  head  of  the  united  states  of  Greece, 
and  summoned  an  assembly  of  the  whole  nation  at  Corinth,  to  make 
the  necessary  preparations.  He  was  already  named  generalissimo  of  the 
forces,  with  unlimited  powers,  and  every  state  was  directed  to  furnish  him 
with  its  contingent  of  troops,  when  he  was  killed,  from  motives  of  private 
vengeance,  by  one  of  his  body  guard,  at  the  nuptials  of  his  daughter  JEgsQ, 
in  Macedonia. 

2.    ALEXANDER   THE   GREAT. 

"i>  78.  After  the  death  of  Philip,  the  Macedonian  throne  was  ascended  by 
his  son  Alexander,  then  in  his  twentieth  year  ;  a  high-spirited  prince,  and 
susceptible  of  all  that  is  great  and  honorable.  He  was  brought  up  and 
instructed  in  the  culture  of  the  Greeks  by  Aristotle,  the  great  philosopher, 
thinker,  and  inquirer;  and  in  consequence,  remained  through  his  whole 
life  a  friend  and  admirer  of  the  Grecian  art  and  literature.  As  soon 
as  Alexander  had  established  himself  upon  the  throne,  he  was  ac- 
knowledged by  the  Greeks  as  the  successor  of  his  father  in  the  office 
of  generalissimo  against  the  Persians.  Before,  however,  he  could  under- 
take the  campaign  to  Asia  Minor,  he  had  to  sustain  a  severe  encounter 
with  some  wild  tribes,  who  had  made  an  irruption  into  Macedonia.  A 
false  report  of  his  death  was  suddenly  !5pread  abroad  in  Greece,  and 
filled  the  Greeks  with  the  hope  of  again  regaining  their  independence. 
The  Thebans  killed  a  part  of  the  Macedonian  garrison  in  their  citadel, 
and  the  Athenians  and  Peloponnesians  made  preparations  for  war.  But 
Alexander  came  upon  them  with  the  raj)idity  of  lightning,  Thebes  ^vas 
taken,  its  walls  and  houses  levelled  with  the  ground,  and  the  inhabitants 
reduced  to  slavery.  Only  the  temple  and  the  house  of  the  poet  Pindar 
were  spared.  The  rest  of  the  Greeks  were  terrified,  and  the  victor,  who 
soon  repented  of  his  severity,  forgave  them. 

§  79.  It  was  in  the  spring  of  the  year  334  b.  c,  that  Alexander  com- 
menced his  expedition  against  the  Persians,  with  a  small  but  valiant 
army,  commanded  by  admirable  officers,  Clitus,  Parm^nio,  Ptolema^^us, 
and  Antigonus.  The  army  arrived  at  the  Hellespont  by  the  same  path 
that  Xerxes  had  taken,  but  in  the  contrary  direction.  At  the  passage, 
Alexander  was  the  first  who  sprang  upon  the  Asiatic  continent,  where, 
upon  the  plain  of  Troy,  he  instituted  solemn  games  and  sacrifices  in 
honor  of  the  ancient  heroes  who  had  fallen  there.  Achilles  was  hia 
model ;  for  this  reason,  he  always  carried  the  compositions  of  Homer 


HISTORY   OF   GREECE.  59 

about  Tvith  him.  Shortly  after,  the  battle  at  the  stream 
Granicus  took  place,  where  Alexander  carried  off  the  victory 
from  the  far  superior  force  of  the  Persians.  His  courage  and  chivalrous 
spirit  here  plunged  him  into  imminent  hazard  of  his  life,  from  which  he 
was  only  rescued  by  the  timely  assistance  of  his  general,  Clitus.  The 
conquest  of  Asia  Minor  was  the  consequence  of  this  victory.  The  Greek 
cities  submitted  themselves  voluntarily,  and  hailed  with  joyful  enthusiasm 
the  kingly  hero  who  had  sprung  from  their  own  race.  In  the  city  of  G6r- 
dium,  there  existed  a  very  ancient  royal  chariot,  with  a  knot  twisted  in  the 
most  intricate  manner,  respecting  which  an  oracle  had  declared,  that  who- 
ever should  unfasten  this  knot  should  gain  the  empire  of  Asia.  Alex- 
ander accomplished  the  prophecy  by  cutting  the  Gordian  knot  with  his 
sword.  After  this,  he  crossed  by  perilous  marches  the  Cilician  moun- 
tains, where  he  got  a  dangerous  illness  by  bathing  in  the  cold  waters  of 
the  Cydnus,  from  which  he  was  only  restored  by  the  skill  of  the  Greek 
physician,  Philippus,  and  his  own  confidence  in  human  virtue. 

§  80.  Darius  Codomannus  himself  now  opposed  him  with  a  much 
stronger  force,  but  suffered  a  complete  overthrow  in  the  battle  of  the 
Issus.  This  unfortunate  king,  who  was  worthy  of  a  better  fate,  fled  with 
the  remains  of  his  army  into  the  interior  of  his  dominions,  whilst  Alex- 
ander prepared  to  attack  Phoenicia  and  Palestine,  so  as  not  to  leave  these 
lands  unsubdued  in  bis  rear.  The  booty,  after  the  battle  of  the  Issus, 
was  immense  ;  and  the  number  of  the  prisoners,  amongst  whom  were  the 
mother,  wife,  and  daughter  of  Darius,  who,  contrary  to  the  customs  of 
antiquity,  were  generously  treated  by  the  conqueror,  not  at  all  inferior. 

§  81.  Palestine  and  Phoenicia  submitted  without  resistance;  but  Tyre, 
confident  in  the  strength  of  its  position,  rejected  the  summons  to  surren- 
der with  defiance.  Upon  this,  Alexander  undertook  the  celebrated  siege 
of  Tyre,  which  lasted  seven  months.  He  commanded  a  mole,  with 
towers,  to  be  erected  from  the  main  land  to  the  island  on  which  the  city 
was  built;  and  from  this  mole  his  soldiers  attempted  the  conquest  of  the 
town  by  machines  for  casting  stones,  and  by  every  means  that  art  could 
supply,  whilst  his  ships  blockaded  the  place  by  sea.  But  the  Tyriana 
defeated  his  attempts  by  ingenious  methods  of  defence,  and  maintained  a 
desperate  resistance.  For  this,  Tyre  had  to  make  a  heavy 
expiation  when  it  was  at  length  taken.  Those  of  the  in- 
habitants who  had  not  escaped  or  perished  in  the  siege,  were  reduced  to 
slavery,  and. the  city  itself  was  levelled  to  the  ground.  For  the  purpose 
of  directing  the  commerce  of  the  world  into  a  different  channel,  Alex- 
ander, after  he  had  conquered  Egypt,  built  Alexandria  on  an  arm  of  the 
Nile,  and  this  city  soon  became  the  central  point  of  trade  and  civiliza- 
tion. From  Egypt  he  marched  to  the  widely-renowned  temple  of  Jupi- 
ter Ammon  in  the  oasis  of  Sivah,  where  the  priests  declared  him  to  be 
the  son  of  Jupiter,  a  distinction  that  gained  him  no  little  respect  in  the 
eyes  of  the  superstitious  orientals. 


60  THE  AIs^CIENT  WORLD. 

§  82.  After  Alexander  had  established  a  new  government  in  Egypt, 
he  marched  against  Darius,  who,  in  the  mean  time,  had  collected  a  large 
annj.  lie  crossed  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  and  with  a 
force  only  the  twentieth  part  of  that  of  the  enemy,  he  de- 
feated the  enormous  host  of  the  Persians  which  had  been  assembled 
together  from  all  the  East  in  the  plains  of  Babylon,  in  the  battle  of 
Arbela  and  Gaugamcla.  The  conquest  of  Babylon,  and  the  capture  of 
the  two  ancient  capitals,  Susa  and  Persepolis,  with  an  enormous  treasure, 
were  tlie  fruits  of  this  splendid  victory.  Darius  fled  from  Ecbatana,  the 
beautiful  summer  residence  of  the  Persian  kings,  to  the  mountainous 
region  of  Bactria,  where  he  received  his  death  from  the  hand  of  his 
treacherous  governor,  Bessus.  Alexander  shed  tears  over  the  fate  of  his 
unfortunate  rival,  and  caused  his  murderer,  who  had  assumed  the  title  of 
king,  but  who  was  soon  overcome  and  taken  prisoner  by  the  Macedoni- 
ans, to  be  crucified  in  conformity  with  the  Persian  custom. 

§  83.  The  enterprising  conqueror  succeeded,  by  dint  of  a  daring 
march  across  the  snow-covered  Indian  Caucasus,  during  which  his  sol- 
diers narrowly  escaped  perishing  by  hunger  and  fatigue,  in  making 
himself  master  of  the  mountain  region  to  the  south-east  of  the  Caspian 
Sea,  and  rendering  it  approachable  by  the  roads  he  caused  to  be  con- 
structed. His  lofty  spirit  was  not  entirely  absorbed  by  scenes  of  war 
and  conquest,  but  could  attend  to  the  civilization  of  the  savage  inhabit- 
ants. Four  newly-erected  towns,  named  after  him,  Alexandria,  becamo 
the  centre  of  the  caravan  trade,  and  diffused  the  Greek  cultivation  among 
the  farthest  nations  of  the  East.  At  the  storming  of  a  strong  fortress, 
he  took  prisoner  the  beautiful  princess,  lloxana,  "  the  Pearl  of  the  East," 
and  made  her  his  wife. 

§  84.  Although  the  Macedonians  repeatedly  expressed  their  discontent 
at  their  leader's  unbounded  love  of  conquest,  Alexander  nevertheless 
proceeded  onwards,  to  subjugate  the  lands  on  the  banks  of  the  Indus. 
But  the  warlike  inhabitants  of  northern  India,  urged  on  by  their  priests, 
offered  hira  a  far  more  vigorous  resistance  than  the  dastardly  subjects  of 
the  Persian  king.  Alexander's  life  was  exposed  more  than  once  to  the 
greatest  peril  in  the  storming  of  their  strong-holds.  The  quarrels  of  the 
native  princes  facilitated  the  conquest  of  the  Land  of  the  Five  Rivers 
(Puiijaub)  by  the  Macedonians.  Some  of  them  leagued  themselves  with 
Alexander  against  Porus,  the  most  powerful  of  these  princes  on  the 
farther  side  of  the  Hydaspes  (Dschelum).  The  passage  of  this  river  in 
the  face  of  the  enemy,  and  the  action  that  followed,  in  which  the  galknt 
Porus  was  wounded  and  tak^n  prisoner,  are  among  the  greatest  military 
achievements  of  antiquity.  Two  new  cities,  Bucephala  (so  named  in 
honor  of  Alexander's  charger,  Bucephalus),  and  Nicoe'a  (city  of  Vic- 
tory), were  to  diffuse  Grecian  civilization  among  these  lands  also. 
Alexander  continued  his  course  by  difficult  marches,  still  farther  east 


HISTORY   OF   GREECE.  61 

ward,  to  Ilypliasis,  and  was  already  making  preparations  to  add  the  rich 
lands  of  the  Ganges  to  his  dominions,  when  the  murmurs  of  the  Mace- 
donians became  so  loud  that  he  was  compelled,  though  with  inward 
reluctance,  to  retreat.  Twelve  stone  altars  on  the  banks  of  the  river 
mark  the  eastern  termination  of  his  conquests.  After  restoring  their 
lands  to  Porus  and  the  other  Indian  princes  under  Macedonian  supremacy, 
he  sailed  do^vn  the  Indus  to  discover  another  way  of  returning. 

This  undertaking  proved  most  fatal.  In  two  months,  he  lost  three 
fourths  of  his  army  in  the  frightful  deserts  of  Gedrosia,  The  heroic 
warriors,  who  bad  bidden  defiance  to  sword  and  lance  in  so  many  battles, 
fell  victims  in  the  barren  and  waterless  desert  to  want  and  fatigue,  to  the 
miseries  of  the  climate,  the  fervid  sun,  the  heated  sand,  and  the  nightly 
frosts.  Alexander  magnanimously  shared  all  the  dangers  and  difficulties 
with  the  meanest  of  his  troops,  and  rewarded  those  who  escaped  with 
entertainments  and  presents;  by  this  means,  the  feasting  became  as 
excessive  as  the  previous  want. 

§  85.  Upon  his  return,  Alexander  dismissed  his  veteran  soldiers  to 
their  homes,  after  having  laden  them  with  presents ;  inflicted  punish- 
ments upon  the  faithless  governors  and  officers,  who,  during  his  absence, 
had  committed  acts  of  violence  and  oppression,  and  then  devoted  himself 
zealously  to  the  plan  of  assimilating  the  conquered  people  with  their 
victors,  and  uniting  them  together  in  one  nation  possessed  of  the  arts  and 
cultivation  of  Greece.  He  treated  the  Persians  with  kindness,  for  the 
purpose  of  attaching  them  to  his  person  and  his  rule.  He  surrounded 
himself  with  a  court  after  the  fashion  of  their  kings,  assumed  the  royal 
habit  and  diadem,  and  employed  Persian  guards  and  attendants.  Ho 
encouraged  marriages  between  his  generals  and  soldiers  and  the  maidens 
of  the  country,  by  present^?,  and  he  himself  espoused  one  of  the  daughters 
of  Darius.  By  this  conduct,  Alexander  offended  the  Macedonians  and 
Greeks,  who  wished  to  rule  over  the  conquered  people.  Already,  during 
the  Indian  campaign,  the  soldiers  had  displayed  their  discontent  and  ill 
humor  in  dissatisfied  murmurs.  This  induced  Alexander  to  have  Phi- 
16tas,  the  playfellow  of  his  youth,  and  who  was  now  the  head  of  the 
malcontents,  stoned  by  the  army,  and  to  put  to  death  his  aged  father 
Parmenio,  who  had  remained  behind  in  Media. 

Alexander  had  at  first  imitated  the  customs  of  the  Persian  monarchs 
for  the  purpose  of  conciliating  the  conquered  people ;  but  he  soon  began 
to  take  delight  in  this  oriental  magnificence.  His  court  at  Babylon, 
which  he  intended  to  make  the  seat  of  the  government  of  his  empire, 
shone  with  the  highest  splendor;  riotous  feasts  and  banquets* crowded 
upon  each  other,  and  in  the  intoxication  of  sensual  indulgence,  he  com- 
mitted deeds  that  afterwards  cost  him  bitter  repentance.  On  his  march  to 
the  Indus,  he  had  slain  his  deserving  general,  Clitus,  who  saved  his  life  at 
the  GMinicus,  but  who  afterwards  excited  his  anger  by  some  sarcastic 
6 


62  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

speeches  as  they  were  drinking.  His  heart  was  corrupted  by  flatterers,  who 
thrust  his  honest  and  well-meaning  advisers  from  his  side.  The  intem- 
perate indulgence  in  strong  wines  undermined  his  health,  and  brought  him 
to  an  early  grave.  One  of  the  last  acts  of  the  hero  was  instituting  mag- 
nificent funeral  solemnities  in  honor  of  his  prematurely  departed  friend, 
Hepha3'stion.  His  grief  for  this  friend  of  his  youth  had  not  yet  passed 
away,  when  an  illness  carried  him  to  the  grave  in  the  midst 
B.  c.  -  .  ^^  fresh  schemes  of  conquest,  and  before  he  had  determined 
upon  a  successor.  When  he  was  asked  to  whom  he  left  his  kingdom,  he  is 
gaid  to  have  replied,  "  To  the  worthiest."  His  dead  body  was  brought 
from  Babylon  to  Alexandria,  and  there  interred. 


THE    ALEXANDRIAN    PERIOD. 


a.      ALEXANDERS    SUCCESSORS. 


§  86.  As  Alexander  left  no  heir  behind  him  who  was  capable  of 
assuming  the  government,  —  only  a  brother,  who  was  imbecile,  and  two 
children  who  were  minors,  —  his  empire  fell  to  pieces  as  rapidly  as  it  had 
been  constructed.  After  many  fierce  and  bloody  ways,  in  which  the 
house  of  Alexander  w^as  totally  destroyed,  his  generals  succeeded  in 
grasping  separate  portions  of  his  territories,  and  erecting  them  into  inde- 
pendent kingdoms.  At  first,  Perdiccas,  to  w^hom  Alexander  had  given 
his  signet  ring,  received  the  greatest  respect,  and  took  upon 
himself  the  ofRce  of  regent.  But  when  he  made  war  upon 
Ptolemy,  the  governor  of  Egypt,  he  w^as  killed  by  his  own  soldiers ; 
whereupon  Antigonus  assumed  the  chief  power.  Antigonus 
made  himself  master  of  the  treasury  in  Susa,  and  hired  such 
a  number  of  mercenary  troops,  that  he  was  enabled  to  bid  defiance  to  the 
rest  of  the  generals,  and  compel  them  to  acknowledge  him  as  commander 
and  regent  of  the  empire.  As  he  allowed  it,  however,  to  be  pretty 
plainly  seen  that  he  aimed  at  nothing  less  than  the  sovereignty  of  the 
whole  of  the  Alexandrian  dominions,  the  other  generals,  Sel^ucus  of 
Syria,  Ptolemy  of  Egypt,  and  Cassander  of  Macedon,  leagued  them- 
selves together  against  him  and  his  son  Demetrius,  who  afterwards 
obtained  the  surname  of  Poliorcetes  (Taker  of  Cities).  From  this 
originated  a  long  contest,  that  w^as  carried  on  at  the  same  time  both  in 
Greece  and  Asia,  with  various  success,  and  which  was  only  terminated 
by  the  great  battle  of  Ipsus,  in  Asia  Minor,  where  the  hero  Antigonus, 
who  was  then  eighty  years  old,  lost  his  life,  and  his  son  Demetrius  wag 
obliged  to  fly.     After  many  partitions  and  interchanges,  Alexander's 


HISTORY   OF   GREECE.  65 

empire  (a  few  smaller  states  excepted)  was  finally  divided  into  the  three 
following  kingdoms :  — 

I.  Macedonia  and  Greece. 
II.  The  Syrian  empire  of  the  Seleucidae. 
III.  Egypt  under  the  Ptolemies. 

h.   Greece's  last  struggle,  the  achaian  league. 

§  87.  From  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Cha3ronea,  Greece  had  remain- 
ed under  the  government  or  influence  of  the  Maceddnian  kings,  and  all 
attempts  made  by  individual  states  to  shake  off  this  yoke  had  proved 
ineffectual.  Thus  the  attempt  of  the  brave  Spartan  king,  Agis  II.,  who, 
with  5000  of  his  followers,  died  the  death  of  heroes  in  the 
bloody  field  of  Megaldpolis,  was  productive  of  no  result. 
The  contests  between  the  aristocratic  and  democratic  parties  still  con- 
tinued in  Athens  during  the  Maceddnian  period.  When  the  aristocrats, 
with  the  noble  Phocion  at  their  head,  obtained  the  governmetit  by  the 
aid  of  the  Maceddnians,  many  of  the  popular  party,  and  among  others, 
Demdsthenes,  the  vehement  opposer  of  the  royal  house  of  Macedon, 
quitted  the  city.  Threatened  with  being  given  up,  the  great 
orator  fled  to  a  temple  of  Neptune,  where  he  destroyed 
himself  by  poison,  to  save  himself  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  his 
enemies.  Some  years  afterwards,  the  democrats  again  gained  the  upper 
hand,  when  they  compelled  Phocion,  in  his  turn,  to  drink  the  cup  of 
poison.  From  this  time,  party  violence  diminished  in  Athens,  but  the 
love  of  freedom,  patriotism,  and  civic  virtue  decayed  with  it.  Effeminacy 
and  the  pursuit  of  pleasure  choked  the  nobler  feelings,  and  although  the 
arts  and  sciences  still  continued  to  flourish,  and  Athens  still  remained  the 
centre  of  civilization,  the  greatness  of  the  people  was  gone  forever. 
The  citizens  disgraced  themselves  by  servility  and  flattery,  particularly 
at  the  time  when  the  two  Demetrii,  Phalereus  and  Poliorcetes,  were 
resident  in  their  city,  and  destroyed  all  morality  by  their  sensuality  and 
debauchery. 

§  88.     About  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  Greece  made  a  final 
effort  in  the  Achaian  league,  to  which   Aratus  of    Sicyon 

B.  C.  250  o      '  J 

gave  such  power  and  consequence,  especially  after  the  strong 
city  of  Corinth  had  placed  itself  at  the  head  of  the  confederation,  that 
he  was  enabled  to  assume  the  supreme  power  over  Peloponnesus,  and 
even  over  the  whole  of  Greece.  This  excited  the  jealousy  of  Sparta, 
where,  just  at  that  time,  two  high-spirited  kings,  Agis  III.  and  Cleomenes, 
were  endeavoring  to  restore  the  ancient  strength  and  military  virtue. 
For  since  the  Spartans  had  decided  that  one  person  might  become  the 
proprietor  of  numerous  estates,  the  whole  of  the  land  had  gradually  got 
into  the  possession  of  a  few  rich  families,  who  governed  the  state  by 
choosing  the  ephori  from  among  themselves.     The  remainder  of  the  citi- 


64  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 

zens  possessed  neither  rights  nor  property,  and  were  in  debt  to  the  rich. 
The  two  kings  sought  to  remedy  these  evils  by  abolishing  the  office  of 
the  ephori,  by  destroying  the  bonds  of  the  debtors,  and  by  reestablishing 
the  laws  and  customs  of  Lycurgus.  But  Agis  was  dethroned  and  cruelly 
murdered  by  his  enemies ;  and  Cledmenes,  who  by  dint  of  resolution 
succeeded  in  carrying  his  objects  in  Sparta,  and  then  endeavored  to 
compel  the  rest  of  the  Peloponnesian  states  to  acknowledge  the  Spartan 
supremacy,  was  defeated  in  the  battle  of  Sellasia  in  Laconia 
by  the  Achaian  league,  supported  by  the  Macedonians,  and 
found  himself  compelled  to  fly  to  Alexandria;  where  he  and  his  faithful 
followers,  after  being  baffled  in  attempting  an  insurrection,  perished  by 
their  own  daggers.  In  the  same  year  in  which  Cledmenes  met  with  his 
death,  Sparta  was  subdued  by  the  valiant  PhilopcB'men  (who  had  been 
chosen  head  of  the  Achaian  league  after  Aratus),  and  compelled  a  short 
time  after  to  join  the  league  and  abolish  entirely  the  laws  of  Lycurgus. 
Philopoe'men  afterwards  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  during  a  war 
with  the  Messenians,  and  was  obliged  to  drink  the  cup  of  poison.  After 
the  death  of  this  "last  of  the  Greeks,"  the  power  of  the  Achaian  league 
declined,  so  that  the  Romans  were  enabled  to  take  possession  of  the 
whole  country  without  any  great  effort. 

C.   THE  PTOLEMIES    AND    SELEUCID^. 

§  89.  Seleiicus  and  Ptdlemy  were  the  most  fortunate  of  Alexander's 
successors.  The  former,  after  many  wars  which  were  attended  with 
important  results,  succeeded  in  reducing  all  the  countries  between  the 
Hellespont  and  the  Indus,  and  founding  the  Syrian  empire  of  the  Seleii- 
cidae.  He  built  the  magnificent  city  of  Antioch  on  the  Orontes,  and 
Seleucia  on  the  Tigris.  By  means  of  these  cities,  and  forty  others, 
erected  by  himself  and  his  successors,  the  Greek  language  and  culture 
became  more  and  more  predominant  in  the  East ;  and  from  this  period, 
Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and  Egypt,  were  the  chief  seats  of  civilization  and 
commerce.  But  this  condition  of  extreme  refinement  afibrded  little 
matter  for  rejoicing.  The  enormous  wealth  that  flowed  into  these  states 
produced  luxury,  effeminacy,  and  sensuality  ;  indolence  enervated  the 
people,  and  produced  a  servile  spirit,  which  displayed  itself  by  the  most 
abject  adulation  of  oppressive  rulers.  Sanguinary  crimes,  the  empire  of 
women  and  favorites,  universal  reprobation  and  corruption  of  morals,  are 
the  prominent  features  in  the  history  of  the  Seleiicidae,  of  whom  Anti'o- 
chus  III.,  surnamed  the  Great,  is  the  best  known,  as  well  by  his  expedi- 
tion into  India,  as  from  his  unfortunate  contest  with  the  Romans.  Under 
monarchs  so  weak  and  abandoned  as  these,  it  was  no  difficult  matter  for 
enterprising  men  to  establish  small  independent  states.  The  most  cele- 
brated of  these  were  the  kingdom  of  Pergamus  in  Asia  Minor,  and  that 
of  the  Parthians  on  the  north-east  o*f  the  Euphrates. 


HISTORY    OF   GREECE.  64 

The  Egyptians  under  the  Ptolemies  were  in  a  similar  position.  The 
three  first  kings  established  a  large  naml  and  military  force,  by  means 
of  which  they  enlarged  their  empire  on  an  sides.  Trade  and  commerce 
produced  Avealth  ;  the  science  of  government  and  taxation  was  brought 
to  a  high  degree  of  perfection:^  Alexandria  became  the  seat  of  the  com- 
merce of  the  world,  and  the  centre  of  Greek  art,  literature,  and  civiliza- 
tion ;  the  world-renowned  museum,  with  its  extensive  library  and 
resiiences  for  poets  and  men  of  learning,  was  connected  with  the  royal 
palace.  But  the  men  who  were  the  producers  of  all  this  prosperity  were, 
like  tlic  royal  family  itself,  aliens — Greeks  and  Jews.  The  glory  of 
the  Ptolemaic  dynasty  was  of  short  duration,  for  the  civilization  of  Alex- 
andria had  no  root  among  the  people.  It  was  an  exotic  plant  that  em- 
bellished the  surface,  but  left  the  soil  unchanged.  The  court  of  Alexan- 
dria was  not  less  distinguished  by  cruelty,  debauchery,  and  corruption  of 
morals,  than  by  its  splendor,  wealth,  and  refinement. 

d.    THE  JEAVS  UNDER  THE  MACCABEES. 

§  90.  Judaa'a  was  for  a  long  time  an  object  of  contention  between  the 
Seleucidae  and  the  Ptolemies.  The  latter  were  the  first  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  land  and  to  render  it  tributary ;  but  they  suflfered  the  old 
institutions  to  remain,  and  allowed  the  high  priest,  with  the  council  of 
seventy  (Sanhexlrim),  to  manage  the  affairs  of  religion  and  the  internal 
government.  Many  of  the  Jews  settled. in  Alexandria,  where  they  ac- 
quired wealth  and  power,  but  gradually  lost  the  language,  manners,  and 
r^iglou  of  their  own  country,  or  mingled  them  with  those  of  the  Greeks. 
The  translation  of  the  Hebrew  text  of  the  Bible  into  Greek, 

B.  C.  284.  .       . 

which  was  executed  at  the  instigation  of  the  second  of  the 
Ptolemies,  by  seventy-two  Alexandrian  Jews  (hence  called  the  Septua- 
gint),  was  afterwards  extremely  serviceable  to  the  propagation  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

Judaj'a  was  subjected  to  the  Seleucidae  by  the  Syrian  king  Antiochns 
III.  (the  Great),  and  grievously  oppressed  with  taxes.  His  second  suc- 
cessDr,  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  plundered  the  temple  in  Jerusalem  of  its 
treasures,  and  even  entertained  the  purpose  of  destroying  the  Jewish 
institutions  and  the  worship  of  Jehovah,  and  substituting  the  Greek 
idolatry  in  its  place.  To  this  project  the  Jews  offered  an  obstinate  resist- 
ance, and  by  this  means  drew  a  severe  persecution  on  themselves.  Whcft 
this  persecution  was  carried  beyond  all  endurable  limits,  the  people  rose 
in  desperation  against  their  oppressors,  and  under  the  command  of  the 
^  high  priest,  Mattathi'as,  and  bis  five  heroic  sons  (Maccabees), 

encountered  the  Syrians  with  courage  and  success.  The 
eldest  son,   Judas   Maccabae'us,  enforced  a  peace,  which  granted  the 

reestablishment  of  the  Jewish  worship.     His  brother  Simon 

B    C   135  ' 

freed  Judoe'a  from  the  Syrian  yoke,  and  reigned  wisely  and 
6* 


66  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 

righteously  as  prince  and  high  priest.  Under  his  successors,  the  limits  of 
the  kingdom  were  enlarged,  j|,nd  the  Idumoe'ans  (Edomites)  induced  to 
accept  the  Jewish  law.  But  internal  dissensions,  and  the  hatred  of  sects, 
Boon  again  impaired  the  strength  of  the  people.  The  Pharisees,  who 
held  firmly  to  the  prophets  and  the  law  of  Moses,  attributed  great  merit 
to  the  accurate  observance  of  trifling  precepts  and  outward  ceremonies, 
and  fell  by  this  means  into  hypocrisy  and  false  righteousness  ;  the  Saddu- 
cees  were  less  severe  in  their  interpretation  of  the  Mosaic  laws,  and 
attempted  to  bring  them  into  accordance  with  the  morals,  doctrine,  and 
way  of  thinking  of  the  Greeks  ;  the  Essenes  lived  together  in  brother- 
hoods, who  had  all  their  possessions  in  common,  and  served  God  by  acts 
of  penance  and  works  of  charity.  The  weakness  produced  by  the  mutual 
hostility  of  these  sects  at  length  brought  the  Jewish  race  under  the  domi- 
nion of  the  Romans.  The  last  of  the  Maccabees  was  slain  by  Herod  the 
Iduma^'an,  who  thereupon  ascended  the  throne  of  David  by  the  assistance 
of  the  Romans,  and  ruled  over  Judce'a  as  tributary  king  (Tetrarch).  For 
the  purpose  of  conciliating  the  Jews,  who  hated  him  as  a  foreigner,  he 
enlarged  and  beautified  the  temple  of  Solomon  ;  but  towards  the  end  of 
his  reign,  suspicion  caused  him  to  degenerate  into  a  bloodthirsty  tyrant, 
who  even  attempted  the  life  of  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  who  was  sent  into 
the  world  to  redeem  the  lost  race  of  man. 

C.    THE    STATE    OF    CIVILIZATION   DURING    THE    ALEXANDRIAN   PERIOD. 

§  91.  By  the  conquests  of  Alexander  and  his  successors,  the  Grecian 
arts  and  refinements  were  diffused  over  the  greatest  part  of  the  old  wdl'ld, 
and  a  high  amount  of  civilization  in  consequence  produced.  The  great 
increase  of  commerce  and  intercourse  among  all  nations  was  favorable  to 
the  spread  of  this  civilization.  But  the  inward  strength  was  weakened 
by  the  outward  diffusion.  Nothing  worthy  of  notice  was  produced  in 
poetry,  except  the  Idyls,  in  which  Theocritus  the  Sicilian 
describes  a  pastoral  life  full  of  innocence  and  simplicity,  and 
a  few  dramatic  compositions  which  are  now  lost.  History  and  oratory 
were  far  behind  the  splendid  examples  of  an  earlier  period.  Learning, 
and  the  practical  sciences,  which  are  based  on  experience  and  inquiry, 
attained,  on  the  other  hand,  to  a  great  degree  of  perfection.  Learned 
critics  and  grammarians  arranged  and  illustrated  the  works  of  the  older 
Greek  writers  ;  natural  history  and  mathematics,  geography  and  astro- 
nomy, of  which  the  elements  alone  had  previously  existed,  were  now 
Euclid,  greatly   advanced.      Euclid,   a    contemporary    of    the   first 

B.  c.  280.  Ptolemy,  composed  a  text-book  of  geometry  that  was  em- 
Archimedes,  ployed  in  education  for  centuries;  Archimedes  of  Syracuse 
B.  c.  212.  gained  imperishable  renown  by  his  discoveries  in  mechani- 
cal and  physical  science ;  and  the  art  of  medicine,  that  had  been  first 
established  on  a  scientific  basis  by  Hippocrates,  was  considerably  extended 


HISTORY   OF   GREECE.  67 

by  the  Alexandrian  physicians.  But  philosophy  was  the  subject  that 
received  the  greatest  attention.  As  Paganism  in  its  corruption  afforded 
no  rest  to  the  soul,  and  no  support  in  life,  men  sought  for  refuge  in  the 
pursuit  of  wisdom.  The  precepts  of  the  philosophers  of  an  earlier  period 
were  expanded  and  applied  to  the  regulation  of  life.  In  this  way  arose 
the  schools  of  philosophy,  some  of  which  reposed  on  the  doctrines  of  Plato 
and  Aristotle,  and  others  were  originated  by  the  disciples  of  Socrates  and 
other  wise  men.  The  Stoics  and  the  Epicureans  became  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  these  philosophical  sects.  Socrates  had  especially  taught, 
that  happiness  was  the  end  of  existence.  His  scholar  Antisthenes  be- 
lieved that  the  surest  way  of  attaining  this  happiness  was  to  renounce  all 
pleasures,  and  taught  that  moderation,  abstinence,  and  a  freedom  from 

^.  wants,  were  the  hidiest  objects  of   human  exertion.      His 

Diotrenes.  . 

"  disciple  Diogenes    carried  these  doctrines  to  the  greatest 

excess :  he  lived  in  a  tub,  deprived  himself  voluntarily  of  property  and 
all  the  pleasures  of  life,  and  by  this  "  heroism  of  abstinence,"  excited  the 
admiration  of  the  great  Alexander.  This  school  was  called  the  Cynic, 
from  the  place  in  which  Antisthenes  taught;  and  in  allusion  to  this,  Di6- 
genes  received  the  surname  of  kuon  (hound),  because  the  wretched  and 
joyless  life  he  led  seemed  fitter  for  a  dog  than  a  human  being.  This 
doctrine  in  a  more  noble  form  constitutes  the  basis  of  the  Stoic  philoso- 
phy,  which  was  taught  by  Zeno,  a  contemporary  of  Alexan- 
der, in  the  porticoes  (stoa)  of  Athens.  According  to  his 
teaching,  man  only  attains  felicity  by  bearing  with  invincible  indifference 
all  the  changes  and  chances  of  life, — joy  and  grief,  misfortune  or  happi- 
ness :  this  is  his  duty  the  rather,  that  every  thing  is  determined  on  before- 
hand by  an  eternal  natural  necessity  or  fate.  In  opposition  to  this  view, 
another  disciple  of  Sdcratcs,  Aristippus  of  Cyrene,  main- 
tained the  enjoyment  of  life  as  his  chief  principle,  and  taught 
the  art  of  wisely  mingling  together  sensual  and  intellectual  pleasures. 
This  art  of  enjoyment  was  erected  by  one  of  his  scholars,  Epicurus,  into 
a  system  that  numbered  many  adherents.  Whilst,  however,  Epicurus 
made  happiness  to  consist  in  a  freedom  from  all  painful  and  distressing 
emotions,  his  followers  overstepped  the  bounds  of  moderation,  placed 
luxury  and  the  gratification  of  the  appetites  as  the  ends  of  existence,  and 
rendered  Epicurism  the  philosophy  of  effeminacy  and  excess. 


68  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 


C.  HISTORY   OF   ROME. 

THE   EACES    AND    INSTITUTIONS    OP   ANCIENT    ITALY. 

§  92.  The  beautiful  peninsula  which  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the 
Alps,  surrounded  on  the  east,  west,  and  south  by  the  Mediterranean,  and 
traversed  throughout  its  whole  length  by  the  Appenines,  was  formerly 
inhabited  by  numerous  races  of  men  of  different  origin.  Upper  Italy, 
on  either  bank  of  the  Po  (Padus),  was  the  dwelling-place  of  the  Gallic 
race,  who  were  divided  into  many  tribes  and  states,  and  possessed  numer- 
ous cities,  both  in  the  fertile  plains  and  on  the  sea-coast.  Central  Italy 
was  inhabited  by  many  small  tribes,  a  part  of  which  had  dwelt  in  the 
land  from  time  immemorial,  and  might  be  looked  upon  as  the  aborigines 
of  the  country ;  whilst  others  had  wandered  thither  from  abroad.  To  the 
latter  class  belonged  the  remarkable  family  of  the  Etruscans,  to  the  for- 
mer the  sturdy  race  of  the  Sabelli,  who  were  again  divided  into  numer- 
ous warlike  and  freedom-loving  tribes,  among  whom  the  Samnites,  the 
Sabines,  and  the  ^qui,  w'ere  the  most  distinguished.  The  Latins,  a 
powerful  rustic  tribe  on  the  south  of  the  Tiber,  were  a  mixed  race,  com- 
posed of  natives  and  immigrants,  to  which,  after  the  conquest  of  Troy,  a 
Trojan  race,  under  the  conduct  of  ^neas,  is  said  to  have  united  itself. 
The  coast  of  Lower  Italy  was  covered  with  Greek  colonies ;  the  inland 
parts  were  the  seat  of  warlike  tribes  of  Sabelline  origin,  Samnites,  Cam- 
panians,  Lucani.  Campania,  with  its  vineyards  and  cornfields,  is  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  and  fertile  spots  on  the  globe,  and  was  chosen 
accordingly  by  the  Romans  for  the  erection  of  their  magnificent  villas. 
Of  all  these  races,  that  of  the  Etruscans  is  the  most  worthy  of  remark. 
They  formed  a  confederation  of  twelve  independent  cities,  of  which  Caere, 
Tarqumii,  and  Perusia,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Trasimenian  lake, 
Clusium,  and  Veii,  are  the  best  known.  The  separate  cities  were 
governed  by  an  aristocratic  priesthood.  These  nobles  (Lucumos) 
elected  the  head  of  the  confederation,  the  insignia  of  whose  office  were 
an  ivory  chair,  a  purple  mantle,  and  axes  inclosed  in  bundles  of  rods 
(fasces),  such  as  were  afterwards  borne  before  the  Roman  consuls.  The 
Etruscans  were  a  religious  people,  and  paid  great  observance  to  predic- 
tions derived  from  the  sacrifice  of  anima';s  (auspices),  and  the  flight  of 
birds  (auguries).  They  were  proficient  i  i  ihe  art  of  founding,  and  in 
working  earth  and  metals,  and  their  skill  in  architecture  is  attested  by 
the  existing  remains  of  gigantic  walls,  and  the  ruins  of  temples,  dykes, 
roads,  &c.  The  innumerable  vessels  of  clay  and  cinerary  urns  (Etruscan 
vases),  ornamented  with  paintings,  which  are  dug  out  of  the  earth,  ara 
evidence  of  the  diligence  of  the  Etruscans  in  arts  and  manufactures. 


HISTORY   OF   ROME.  69 

But  the  oppressive  power  of  the  aristocracy,  which  proved  destructive  to 
the  freedom  and  energy  of  the  middle  and  lower  classes,  was  the  occasion 
of  the  early  decay  and  extinction  of  the  arts  of  culture  among  the  people. 
The  Sabines,  Samnites,  and  other  tribes  of  Sabelline  origin,  led  a  simple 
and  temperate  life  in  open  or  only  slightly-fortified  towns.  They  loved 
the  pastoral  life,  agriculture,  and  war,  and  looked  upon  their  freedom  as 
their  greatest  blessing.  From  time  to  time,  they  celebrated  a  sacred 
spring,  during  which  the  newly-born  cattle  were  otfered  in  sacrifice ;  and 
the  children  who  came  into  the  world  in  the  course  of  the  year,  left  their 
country  as  colonists,  on  arriving  at  the  age  of  twenty. 

The  Latins  dwelt  in  thirty  cities,  which  were  united  together  in  a  con- 
federation, of  which  Alba  Longa  was  the  head.  Agiiculture  and  civil 
freedom  flourished  among  them ;  their  religion  was  founded  upon  the 
worship  of  nature,  and  bore  a  relation  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  The 
seed-god  Saturn,  and  his  spouse  Ops  (the  abundance  flowing  from  the 
earth),  were  among  their  deitjes.  The  venerable  goddess  Vesta,  whose 
sacred  and  perpetual  fire  was  watched  by  twelve  virgins  (Vestals),  was 
also  one  of  the  native  deities  of  the  Latins.  The  representatives  of  the 
union  held  their  meetings  in  a  wood  on  the  Albanian  hill. 


I.  ROME   UNDER  TPIE    GOVERNMENT   OF    KINGS   AND 

PATRICIANS. 

I.    ROME    UNDER    THE    KINGS. 

§  93.  We  are  told  by  an  old  legend,  that  king  Numitor  of  Alba  Longa, 
a  successor  of  the  Trojan  ^neas,  (§  37),  was  deprived  of  his  crown  by 
his  brother  Amulius,  and  his  daughter  Rhfea  Silvia  placed  among  the 
sacred  virgins  of  Vesta,  that  she  might  remain  unmarried  and  without 
offspring.  But  when  she  bore  the  twins  lldmulus  and  Remus,  to  the  god 
Mars,  her  cruel  uncle  commanded  the  children  to  be  exposed  on  the 
banks  of  the  Tiber,  where,  however,  they  were  discovered  and  brought 
up  by  shepherds.     Informed  by  an  accident  of  the  mystery  of  their  birth 

B  c  753  ^^^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^  *^^^"'  g^'^^^^'^^^^^^^j  they  restored  the  throne  of 

Alba  Longa  to  Numitor,  and  then  founded  Rome  on  the 
Palatine  hill,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Tiber.  The  rising  walls  of  the  city 
are  said  to  have  been  stained  by  the  blood  of  Remus,  who  was  slain  in  a 
quarrel,  by  his  brother. 

Bomulus,  §  94.  When  the  little  town  was  built,  Romulus  attracted 

B.  c.  730.  inhabitants,  by  declaring  it  a  place  of  refuge  for  fugitives. 
But  as  the  fugitives  had  no  wives,  and  the  neighboring  people  hesitated 
to  give  them  their  daughters  in  marriage,  Romulus  arranged  some  mili- 


/U  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 

tary  games,  and  invited  the  neighbors  as  spectators.  At  a  given  signal, 
every  Roman  seized  upon  a  Sabine  virgin,  and  carried  her  off  into  the 
city.  This  outrage  gave  rise  to  a  war  between  the  Sabines  and  the  new 
colony.  The  two  armies  were  already  opposed  to  each  other,  w^hen  the 
abducted  virgins  rushed  between  the  combatants,  and  put  an  end  to  the 
strife,  by  declaring  that  they  would  share  the  fate  of  the  Romans.  A 
treaty  was  arranged,  in  consequence  of  which  the  Sabines,  who  dwelt  on 
the  Capitoline  hill,  agreed  to  unite  themselves  in  a  single  community  with 
the  Latins,  who  lived  on  the  Palatine,  and  the  Etruscans,  who  inhabited 
the  Caalian  hill:  it  was  decided  further,  that  the  Sabine  king,  Titus 
Tatius,  should  share  the  government  with  Romulus  ;  and  that  a  Latin 
and  a  Sabine  should  be  elected  alternately  from  the  senate  to  the  office 
of  king.  Romulus  disappeared  from  the  earth  in  an  unknown  manner, 
and  received  divine  honors  under  the  name  of  Quiri'nus.  The  citi- 
zens from  this  time  bore  the  name  of  Quirites,  conjointly  with  that  of 
Romans. 

]s[:mna  §  ^^'  "^^^  warlike  Romulus  was  succeeded  by  the  wise 

Pompilius,  Sabine,  Numa  Pompilius,  who  reduced  the  rising  state  to  or- 
B.  c.  700.  ^gj.  1^^  j^jg  jjj^yg  ^j^j  religious  institutions,  and  improved  and 
civilized  the  inhabitants.  "He  built  temples,  and  established  a  form  of 
religious  worship,  increased  the  number  of  priests,  and  made  regulations 
respecting  sacriifices  and  divinations.  He  dediccated  a  temple  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  forum  to  Janus  Bifrons,  the  god  who  presides  over  the 
beginning  of  every  thing,  both  in  time  and  space:  the  doors  of  this 
temple  were  open  in  time  of  war,  and  closed  during  peace.  As  the 
Greeks  confirmed  their  laws  by  the  means  of  oracles,  so  Numa  main- 
tained that  he  had  derived  his  system  of  religion  from  conversations  with 
the  nymph  Eg(5ria,  who  had  a  M^ood  sacred  to  her  on  the  south  of  Rome. 
B.  c.  650.  §  96.  The  two  following  kings,  Tullus  HostiHus  the  Latin, 

B.  c.  625.  and  Ancus  Martius  the  Sabine,  enlarged  the  territory  of  the 
little  state  by  successful  wars  ;  so  that  four  other  hills  were  added  to  the 
three  before  mentioned,  and  gradually  supplied  with  inhabitants.  For 
this  reason,  Rome  is  called  the  seven-hilled  city.  Under  Tullus  Hostilius 
the  Romans  engaged  in  a  war  with  Alba  Longa.  Just  as  the  armies 
were  about  to  engage,  it  was  agreed  to  decide  the  fate  of  the  two  cities 
by  a  combat  between  three  brothers,  the  Iloratii  and  the  Curiatii,  chosen- 
from  each  of  the  parties.  Two  of  the  champions  of  the  Romans  had 
already  fallen,  when  the  victory  was  decided  in  their  favor  by  the  cunning 
and  bravery  of  the  third,  and  the  possession  of  Alba  Longa  fell  at  once 
into  their  hands.  The  city  was  destroyed,  and  the  inhabitants  trans- 
planted to  Rome.  The  same  fortune  happened  to  many  other  cities  in 
the  neighborhood,  during  the  reign  of  Ancus  Martius.  The  conquered 
citizens  settled  in  Rome,  where  they  received  houses  and  small  estates, 
but  were  not  admitted  to  the  privileges  of  the  elder  citizens.     The  latter 


HISTORY   OF   R02IE.  71 

from  this  time,  were  called  "  patricians,"  the  new-comers  bore  the  name 
of  "  plebeians."  Ancus  Mdrtius  founded  the  sea-port  of  Ostia,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Tiber. 

§  97.  The  last  three  kings,  Tarquinius  Priscus,  Servius  TuUius,  and 
Tarquinius  Superbus,  belonged  to  the  Etruscan  race,  as  is  evident  from 
the  buil  lings  they  erected,  and  the  Etruscan  institutions  they  introduced 
into  Home.  The  elder  Tarquin  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
vast  structure  of  the  Capitol,  which  was  completed  by  his 
son  Tarquinius  Superbus,  iti  accordance  with  his  father's  design.  It  con- 
sisted of  a  citadel  and  a  magnificent  temple.  He  constructed,  in  addition, 
the  enormous  cloacae  (sewers),  built  of  freestone,  for  the  draining  of  the 
city,  the  Circus  Maxim  us,  and  the  Forum. 

After  thajMurder  of  Tarquin  by  the  sons  of  his  predecessor,  his  son- 
HFiaw  Servius  Tullius  ascended  the  throne.     He  originated 

B.  C.  550.  ,  />,,,,. 

two  measures  that  were  tollowed  by  miportant  consequences. 
First,  he  divided  the  plebeians  in  the  city  and  its  vicinity  into  thirty 
tribes,  with  their  own  overseers  and  assemblies  ;  he  then  divided  the  en- 
tire population  of  the  state,  according  to  their  property,  into  five  classes, 
and  these  again  into  hundreds,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  collection  of  im- 
posts and  the  arrangement  of  military  service.  By  these  means,  the 
rich  obtained  greater  privileges,  coupled  however  with  the  condition  of 
serving  as  heavy-armed  troops  without  pay,  and  at  their  own  expense. 
A  sixth  class,  which  included  tlie  proletaries  (persons  without  property), 
were  exempt  from  taxes  and  military  service,  but  were  also  excluded 
from  all  political  rights.  By  these  measures,  Servius  Tullius  brought 
upon  himself  the  hate  of  the  patricians,  and  was  in  consequence  murdered 
by  his  son-in-law,  Tarquinius  Superbus,  with  their  assistance. 

§  98.  Tarquinius  Superbus  enlarged  the  boundaries  of  the 
state  by  successful  wars  with  the  Latins,  whom  he  united  in 
a  confederacy  under  the  direction  of  Rome ;  he  completed 
the  Capitol,  and  ordered  the  collection  of  ancient  oracles, 
call  2d  the  Sibylline  books,  to  be  preserved  there  ;  he  founded  the  first 
colony  in  the  neighboring  country  of  the  Volscians,  for  the  purpose  of  ex- 
tending the  power  of  Rome.  But  despite  all  these  services,  he  rendered 
himself  odious  to  the  patrician  party  by  attempting  to  extend  the  limited 
kingly  authority.  His  acts  of  violence  against  the  senate  and  the  patri- 
cians, and  the  severe  imposts  and  soccage  duties  with  which  he  visited 
the  plebeians,  produced  general  discontent,  which  finally  burst  into  rebel- 
lion nJien  it  became  known  in  Rome  that  the  outrage  which  one  of  the 
king's  sons  had  offered  to  the  virtuous  Lucretia  had  driven  her  to  self- 
destruction.  Two  relatives  of  the  royal  house,  Lucius  Tarquinius  Colla- 
tinus,  the  husband  of  Lucretia,  and  Junius  Brutus,  were  the  leaders  of 
the  insurrection.  Upon  receiving  information  of  what  was  taking  place^ 
the  king,  who  was  just  then  occupied  in  the  siege  of  the  ancient  seaport 


3  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 

of  Ardea,  Imstened  to  Rome  with  liis  army,  for  the  purpose  of  suppress- 
ing the  tumult ;  but  he  found  the  gates  closed  against  him,  and  being 
deposed  from  the  throne  by  a  vote  of  the  popular  assembly,  and  finding 
himself  deserted  by  his  army,  he  and  his  sons  were  obliged  to  retire  into 
banishment. 


2.    ROME   AS    A   REPUBLIC    UNDER   THE    PATRICIANS. 
C.   HORATIUS    COCLES.       THE    TRIBUNES.        CORIOLANUS. 

§  99.  After  the  banishment  of  the  royal  family,  the  sup^gpie  power  in 
Rome  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  senate.  They  confirmed™e  laws  that 
were  passed  in  the  assemblies  of  the  people,  and  proposed  the  officers 
that  it  was  the  province  of  the  commons  to  elect.  Instead  of  a  king,  two 
consuls  were  chosen  every  year,  who  ruled  the  state,  superintended  the 
administration  of  justice,  and,  in  time  of  war,  led  the  army  to  the  field. 
The  patricians  alone  could  be  chosen  to  these  or  any  other  offices. 

The  young  republic  had  severe  conflicts  to  sustain  both  within  and 
from  without.  Under  the  first  consuls,  a  number  of  young  Romans  of 
patrician  family  entered  into  a  conspiracy,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
back  the  banished  royal  family.  When  this  was  discovered,  the  inflexible 
Brutus  punished  the  offenders,  among  wliom  were  two  of  his  own  sons, 
with  death.  From  without,  the  Romans  were  threatened  with  the  most 
imminent  danger,  by  the  Etruscan  king  Porsenna,  to  whom  Tarquin  had 
applied  for  help,  and  who  had  taken  possession  of  the  hill  Janiculum,  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Tiber.  The  Romans  were  repulsed  in  an  attempt 
to  drive  him  from  this  position,  and  were  only  saved  by  the  valor  of 
Iloratius  Codes,  who  defended  the  wooden  bridge  that  crossed  the  river. 
After  the  Romans  had  secured  themselves  and  destroyed  the  bridge, 
Codes  sprang  into  the  stream,  armed  and  weaponed  as  he  was,  and  swam 
safely  to  the  opposite  shore.  Another  Roman,  Miitius  Scai'vola,  pene- 
trated into  the  Etruscan  camp  for  the  purpose  of  killing  the  king.  lie 
made  a  mistake,  however,  and  stabbed  the  royal  secretary.  When  Por- 
senna, upon  this,  endeavored  by  threats  to  terrify  him  into  a  confession, 
JMutius,  to  show  that  he  feared  neither  pain  nor  death,  laid  his  right  hand 
in  the  midst  of  a  fire  that  was  burning  on  an  altar.  It  was  from  this  cir- 
cumstance that  he  received  the  name  of  Scoe'vola  (left  hand).  Astonished 
at  such  a  proof  of  courage  and  patriotism,  Porsenna  made  a  peace  with 
the  Romans,  and  withdrew  his  forces.  The  Romans  were  however 
obliged  to  relinquish  a  third  part  of  their  lands,  and  to  give  hostages.  The 
Veians  also,  and  the  confederation  of  the  Latins,  took  the  field  in  support 
of  the  Tarquins.     Brutus,  the  founder  of  the  republic,  and  Aruns  Tar- 


HISTORY   OF  ROME.  73 

qiiiniugffcncountered  in  the  battle,  and  fell  by  the  hands  of  each  other. 
It  was  in  the  war  against  the  Latins  that  the  Romans  for  the  first  time 
appointed  a  dictator,  an  officer  who  was  superior  to  the  consuls,  and  who 
possessed  unlimited  power  both  in  the  city  and  the  field.  It  was  only  in 
times  of  the  greatest  distress  and  danger  that  such  a  dictator  was  ap- 
pointed, and  he  relinquished  liis  extraordinary  office  as  soon  as  the  neces- 
sity  for  it  ceased  to  exist. 

§  100.  When  Tarquin  found  that  all  the  attempts  to  regain  possession 
of  his  throne  had  miscarried,  he  retired  to  Cuma3,  in  Lower  Italy,  where 
he  died.   •  The  patricians  now  goveraed  the  state,  and  op- 
pressed the  plebeians  by  their  severe  laws  of  debtor  and 
creditor.     They   (the  plebeians)   were  obliged  to  pay  ground-rent  for 
their  small  properties,  to  perform  military  service  without  pay,  and  to 
provide  their  own  arms  and  accoutrements.     When  they  were  engaged 
in  war,  their  lands  were  left  untilled  at  home :  bad  harvests  brought 
poverty,  and  for  the  sake  of  escaping  from  the  temporary  pressure,  they 
incurred  debts  with  the  wealthy  patricians.    If  the  plebeian  failed  in  pay- 
ing the  large  interest  (10  or  12  per  cent.)  the  moment  it  became  due,  his 
person  and  estate  were  seized  upon  by  his  creditor,  he  was  reduced  to 
the  condition  of  a  serf,  and  his  family  were  left  to  starve.     When  this 
state  of  things  became  intolerable,  and  there  was  no  law  to  protect  the 
unfortunate  debtor  a^jainst  his  merciless  creditor,  the  ple- 

B.  C.  494.  '  r 

beians  resolved  upon  quitting  Rome,  and  building  a  new 
town  upon  the  sacred  hill,  about  a  league  and  a  half  from  the  city.  The 
patricians  sent  Menenius  Agrippa  after  them,  to  induce  them  to  return. 
He  explained  to  them  the  disadvantages  that  were  likely  to  arise  from 
their  dissensions,  by  relating  the  fable  of  the  quarrel  between  the  stomach 
and  the  limbs,  and  the  danger  the  whole  body  was  reduced  to  in  conse- 
quence, and  promised  them  a  redress  of  their  grievances.  The  plebeians 
allowed  themselves  to  be  persuaded,  and  obtained  on  their  return  at  first 
five,  and  afterwards  ten,  tribunes.  These  were  accounted  sacred  and  in- 
violable M'hilst  they  were  in  office :  they  possessed  the  power  of  placing 
their  veto  upon  any  resolution  of  the  senate  or  decree  of  the  consuls, 
which  appeared  injurious  to  the  interests  of  the  people ;  and  if  this  was 
not  sufficient,  they  could  prevent  the  levies  of  troops  and  the  collection 
of  taxes. 

Shortly  after  this,  a  famine  broke  out  in  Rome  ;  and  when  at  last  ships 
arrived  from  Sicily  with  corn,  the  haughty  patrician,  Marcius  Corioliinus, 
proposed  that  none  should  be  yielded  to  the  people  till  they  had  consented 
to  the  dismissal  of  their  tribunes.     Upon  this  the  people,  in  their  as- 
sembly, passed  a  sentence  of  banishment  upon  Coriohinus. 
and  compelled  him  to  fly.     Thirsting  for  vengeance,  he  be- 
took himself  to  the  Volscians,  and  persuaded  them  to  make  an  inroad 
under  his  command  upon  the  Roman  territories.   They  had  already  pene- 
7 


74,  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 

trated  in  their  destructive  course  to  within  five  miles  of  Eonro,  when 
their  general  was  prevailed  upon  to  retreat  by  the  united  prayers  of  hia 
wife  and  mother.  Coriolanus  is  said  to  have  fallen  a  victim  to  the  rage 
of  the  Volscians,  who  nevertheless  retained  possession  of  the  towns  they 
had  conquered. 

h.       THE    FABII.       CINCINNATUS.       THE    DECEMVIRS. 

§  101.  Rome  was  so  weakened  by  the  dissensions  between  the  diffe- 
rent classes,  that  her  foreign  foes  were  able  to  possess  themselves  of  one 
provincial  town  after  another,  and  gradually  to  diminish  her  territory. 
The  plebeians,  whose  arms  were  to  win  the  battle,  had  little  pleasure  in 
shedding  their  blood  to  increase  the  wealth  and  power  of  their  oppres- 
sors ;  they  even  Avillingly  allowed  themselves  to  be  defeated,  when  they 
were  under  the  command  of  one  of  the  rigorous  patvicians.  Such  an 
event  took  place  in  a  war  against  the  people  of  Veii,  when  one  of  the 
Fabii  was  general.  The  disgrace  was  so  severely  felt  by  the  high-spirit- 
ed fiimily  of  Fabius,  that  they  deserted  their  own  party,  and  making 
common  cause  with  the  plebeians,  proceeded  together  to  attack  the  Vei- 
ans,  but  were  all  ensnared  in  an  ambuscade,  and  died  like  heroes.  One 
only,  who  had  not  arrived  at  years  of  maturity,  survived  the  destruction 
of  his  race.  Whilst  the  Veians  were  attacking  the  Roman  territory  on 
the  north,  the  Volsci  and  TEqui  made  inroads  no  less  destructive  on  the 
south.  The  latter  of  these  tribes,  whose  possessions  extended  as  far  as 
Pra^neste,  but  a  few  miles  from  Rome,  once  attacked  the  Romans  at 

mount  Algidus,  with  such  success,  that  the  latter  were 
B.  c.  458.  T    1  •       1     .  1  ,  ,  1 

surrounded  in  their  camp,  and  must  have  been  taken  prison- 
ers if  Cincinnatus  had  not  come  to  their  rescue.  When  the  senate  were 
informed  of  the  danger  the  army  was  in,  they  appointed  the  patrician 
Cincinnatus  dictator.  Cincinnatus  was  so  reduced  in  his  circumstances 
by  misfortunes,  that  he  possessed  nothing  but  a  small  estate  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  Tiber,  which  he  was  tilling  with  his  own  hands,  when  the 
summons  of  the  senate  was  brought  to  him.  He  at  once  quitted  the 
ploigh,  hastened  to  the  place  of  danger  with  the  Roman  youth  that 
assembled  themselves  about  him,  and  surrounded  the  ^qui  in  the  night. 
When  these,  awakened  in  the  following  morning  by  a  great  shout,  saw 
the  situation  they  were  in,  they  were  compelled  to  surrender  themselves 
prisoners  of  war,  and,  after  giving  up  their  arms,  to  pass  under  a  yoke 
formed  of  three  spears. 

§  102.  The  plebeians  waged  a  hot  contest  with  the  patricians  for  an 
equality  of  rights.  They  demanded,  above  all,  an  agrarian  law,  a  writ- 
ten code,  and  a  share  of  the  public  offices. 

The  Roman  state  was  in  possession  of  large  tracts  of  land,  which 
were  not  the  exclusive  property  of  any  one,  but  the  use  of  which  had 
been  granted  to  the  patricians,  upon  condition  that  a  tenth  part  of  tha 


HISTORY  OF  ROME.  75 

produce  should  be  paid  to  the  state.  This  common  lan4  {ager  puUicus) 
the  patricians  looked  upon  as  their  own,  had  it  cultivated  by  their  clients, 
and  mutually  overlooked  each  other's  remissness  when  the  stipulated 
duty  did  not  find  its  way  to  the  treasury.  The  plebeians  demanded  from 
time  to  time  an  agrarian  law,  by  which  a  portion  of  these  common 
lands  should  be  surrendered  to  them.  But  as  often  as  the  application 
was  made,  it  was  encountered  by  a  most  decided  resistance.  The  consul 
Sp.  Cassius,  who  moved  the  first  agrarian  law,  was  thrown  from  the 
Tarpeian  rock  of  the  capitol,  and  the  place  where  his  house  had  stood 
remained  empty  and  desolate. 

§  103.  The  administration  of  the  law  was  exclusively  in  the  hands 
of  the  patricians,  who  gave  judgment  and  pronounced  decisions  according 
to  custom  and  unwritten  traditionary  rules,  and  were  thus  frequently 
guilty  of  arbitrariness  and  partiality.  .  The  plebeians,  to  escape  from 
these  evils,  demanded  a  fixed  and  written  code,  but  experienced  a  violent 
resistance  from  the  patricians.  After  many  stormy  debates,  the  tribunes 
of  the  people  were  at  last  successful  in  having  envoys  sent  to  Graecia 
Ma^na  and  Athens,  to  examine  the  laws,  and  to  select  those 

B.  c.  452. 

that  should  appear  suitable.  When  these  envoys  returned, 
both  parties  agreed  that  all  the  officers  of  government  (consuls,  tribunes, 
&c.)  should  give  up  their  places;  and  that  ten  patricians  should  be 
appointed  with  absolute  power,  and  commissioned  to  draw  up  fresh  laws. 
At  first,  the  new  officers,  who,  from  their  number,  were  called  "  decemvirs,'* 
performed  the  task  committed  to  them  in  an  exemplary  manner,  and  at 
the  end  of  the  year,  their  laws  gave  so  much  satisfaction  to  the  assembly 
of  the  people,  that  the  decemvirate  was  allowed  to  continue  another 
year,  for  the  completion  of  its  work.  But  now  the  ten  patricians  abused 
tlieir  authority  by  violent  and  arbitrary  measures;  they  proceeded 
against  their  plebeian  opponents  by  fine,  imprisonment,  banishment,  and 
the  axe  of  the  executioner ;  when  a  war  broke  out  with  the  JEqui  and 
Volscians,  they  put  to  death  an  ancient  plebeian  hero  in  the  field ;  and 
continued  themselves  in  office  by  their  own  power,  after  the  second  year 
had  passed,  and  the  compilation  of  the  laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables  had 
been  completed.  The  general  discontent  was  fanned  into  revolt  by  a 
licentious  outrage  of  Appius  Claudius,  the  most  illustrious  of  the  decem- 
virs. This  man  had  conceived  a  passion  for  the  beautiful  Virginia, 
daughter  of  one  of  the  plebeian  leaders,  and  the  betrothed  of  another. 
In  order  to  gain  possession  of  her,  he  instructed  one  of  his  adherents  to 
declare  the  maiden  to  be  one  of  his  runaway  slaves,  and  to  claim  her  as 
his  property  before  the  judgment-seat  of  the  decemvirs.  Appius  Clau- 
dius heaixi  the  claim  in  the  forum,  in  the  presence  of  a  great  multitude  of 
the  people ;  but  scarcely  had  he,  by  his  decision,  put  Virginia  into  the 
power  of  the  appellant,  when  her  father  hastened  to  the  spot  and  plung- 
ed a  knife  into  her  heart.     The  plebeians  now  seized  upon  the  Aventina 


76  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 

hill,  and  insisted  with  threats  upon  the  expulsion  of  the  decemvirs  and 
the  restoration  of  the  old  system.  They  obtained  both :  Appius  Claudius 
destroyed  himself  in  prison,  another  of  the  decemvirs  was  executed,  and 
the  rest  expiated  their  crimes  by  perpetual  exile.  The  laws  of  the 
Twelve  Tables,  however,  remained  in  operation,  and  became  the  basis  of 
the  Roman  code. 

§  104.      Shortly   after   this,   the   plebeians    succeeded   in   having   it 
enacted,  that  the  two  classes  midit  contract  lawful  marriages 

B.  C.  444.  . 

witli  each  other,  without  the  children  of  such  unions  forfeit- 
ing any  of  the  privileges  of  their  class  ;  and  they  at  length  proceeded  to 
claim  a  participation  in  the  consulate.  But  this  demand  was  resisted  by 
the  patricians  with  their  whole  strength  ;  and  when,  at  last,  the  plebeians 
prevented  the  raising  of  levies  for  military  service,  they  declared  that 
they  would  rather  have  no  more  consuls  than  agree  to  the  admission  of 
the  plebeians  to  the  office.     At  length  it  was  arranged,  that  three  or  four 

military  tribunes,  with  the  authority  of  consuls,  should  be 

B.  C.  442.  >/  '  J  ■) 

chosen  every  year  from  both  classes,  as  leaders  of  the  army 
and  chief  magistrates.  This  arrangement  lasted  nearly  eighty  years.  But 
it  occasionally  happened  that  the  patrician  party  gained  the  upper  hand, 
and  then  consuls  would  be  again  elected  for  a  few  years,  or  the  office  of 
military  tribune  would  remain  unfilled.  To  make  amends  for  their  loss,  the 
patricians  instituted  the  office  of  censors.  These,  two  in  number,  had  the 
keeping  of  the  lists  in  which  every  Boman  was  entered,  according  to  his 
property,  as  senator,  knight,  or  citizen ;  they  superintended  the  building  of 
temples,  streets,  and  bridges,  and  exercised  a  censorial  supervision,  by  virtue 
of  which  they  might  deprive  men  of  vicious  lives  of  the  privileges  of  their 
class.  The  office  of  military  tribune  with  consular  power  was  abolished  by 
the  Licinian  laws.  (^  107.) 

C.    THE    TAKING    OF   ROME    BY    THE    GAULS     (b.    C.   389),    AND    THE 
LAWS    OF    LICINIUS    STOLO    (b.    C.    366). 

§  105.  Whilst  these  struggles  were  going  on  within  the  city,  the 
Eoman  army  was  successfully  engaged  against  the  enemy.  Since  the 
regulation  that  the  citizens  should  receive  pay  during  war,  the  troops 
could  continue  longer  in  the  field.  After  extending  their  territories  on 
the  south,  they  turned  their  whole  force  against  the  Etruscans,  and,  under 
the  command  of  Camillus,  subdued,  after  a  siege  of  ten 
years,  the  hostile  city  of  Veil,  the  inhabitants  of  which  were 
either  killed  or  reduced  to  slavery.  The  haughty  general,  who  had  drawn 
upon  himself  the  hatred  of  the  plebeians  by  his  splendid  triumph  and  une- 
qual distribution  of  the  booty,  withdrew  voluntarily  into  exile  when  sum- 
moned by  the  tribunes  of  the  people  to  answer  for  his  conduct,  and  by 
this  means  deprived  the  state  of  his  aid  at  the  very  moment  it  was  most 
required. 

§  106.  For  it  was  about  this  time  that  the  Gauls,  in  the  neighborhood 


HISTORY   OF  ROME.  77 

of  the  Po,  crossed  the  Apennines  and  laid  siege  to  the  Etruscan  ^ty  of 
Cliisium.  The  inhabitants  turned  for  assistance  to  the  Romans,  who, 
however,  contented  themselves  with  sending  an  embassy  to  etfect  a  re- 
conciliation. When  this  failed  of  success,  the  ambassadors  took  part  in  the 
contest,  and  killed  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Gallic  army.  This  outrage 
upon  the  rights  of  nations  inflamed  the  anger  of  the  Gauls.  They  left 
Cliisium,  advanced  by  rapid  marches  upon  Rome,  and  gave  the  force 
sent  to  oppose  them  so  complete  an  overthrow  at  the  river  Allia,  that 
only  a  few  fugitives  saved  themselves  across  the  Tiber  in  Veil ;  and  the 
day  of  the  battle  was  ever  after  distinguished  by  a  black  mark  in  the 
Roman  Calendar,  and  observed  as  a  time  of  fasting  and  prayer.  Rome 
itself,  after  being  deserted  by  the  women  and  children,  fell  without 
resistance  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  The  Gauls  burnt  the  empty 
city  to  the  ground,  slaughtered  about  eighty  old  men  in  the  forum,  who 
were  desirous  of  devoting  themselves  as  expiatory  sacrifices,  and  then 
laid  siege  to  the  Capitol,  whither  those  who  were  capable  of  bearing 
arms  had  withdrawn  themselves.  The  garrison,  however,  under  the 
command  of  the  heroic  Marcus  Manlius,  making  a  gallant  resistance,  and 
the  ranks  of  the  Gauls  being  thinned  by  sickness  and  hunger,  a  treaty 
was  entered  into,  after  the  siege  had  continued  seven  months,  by  which 
the  Gauls  consented  to  withdraw  themselves  upon  being  paid  a  ransom 
of  a  thousand  pounds  weight  of  gold.  It  is  well  known  how  their  inso- 
lent leader,  Brennus,  increased  the  stipulated  amount  by  the  •  weight  of 
his  swoixi,  which  he  cast  into  the  scale.  The  story  of  tlie  banished 
Camillus  pursuing  the  retreating  enemy  with  a  troop  of  fugitive  Romans, 
and  again  recovering  the  spoil  from  them,  is  doubted,  and  may  be 
attributed,  not  without  reason,  to  Roman  vanity. 

§  107.  After  the  retreat  of  the  enemy,  the  Romans  were  so,  dispirited 
that  th^  had  not  courage  to  rebuild  their  city,  but  wished  to  settle  them- 
selves in  the  empty  town  of  Veii.  It  was  only  with  difficulty  that  the 
patricians  prevented  the  execution  of  this  project,  and  that  no  similar 
purpose  might  again  be  entertained,  the  houses  in  Veii  were  given  up  to 
the  people  to  be  pulled  down.  Scarcely  had  Rome  been  hastily  rebuilt 
with  narrow  and  crooked  streets,  and  small  dwelling-houses,  when  the 
patricians  again  asserted  the  whole  of  their  claims,  and  in  particular  re- 
vived the  ancient  laws  of  debtor  and  creditor  in  all  their  ancient  severity. 
The  preserver  of  the  capitol,  M.  Manlius  (Capitolinus),  took  the  part  of 
the  oppressed  and  impoverished  plebeians  ;  but  incurred  the  enmity  of 
those  of  his  own  order  to  such  an  extent  by  doing  so,  that,  under  the 
frivolous  pretext  that  he  was  attempting  to  gain  the  kingly  power,  he 
was  condemned  to  death,  and  thereupon  cast  from  the  Tarpeian  rock,  his 
house  levelled  with  the  ground,  and  his  memory  declared 
infamous.  But  this  severity  against  the  friend  of  the  peojile 
roused  the  plebeians  from  their  apathy.  Two  bold  and  able  tribunes, 
7* 


78  THE   ANCIENT  WORLD. 

Liciiiius  Stolo  and  Sextiiis  Lateranus,  proposed  the  following  laws  :  — 
1.  Consuls  shall  be  again  chosen,  but  one  of  them  shall  always  be  a  ple- 
beian. 2.  No  citizen  shall  hold  more  than  500  jugera  of  public  land  in 
lease;  the  remainder  shall  be  distributed  in  small  portions,  among  the  ple- 
beians as  their  own  property.  3.  The  interest  already  paid  upon  debts 
shall  be  deducted  from  the  capital  sum,  and  the  residue  shall  be  paid  in 
the  course  of  three  years. 

These  proposals  were  resisted  to  the  utmost  by  the  patricians,  for  the 
space  of  ten  years  ;  but  all  their  efforts  proved  unavailing  against  the 
firmness  of  the  tribunes,  who  prevented  the  election  of  officers  and  the 
military  levies.  The  proposals  became  laws,  and  the  privileges  of  the 
patricians  received  a  severe  shock.  Ic  is  true  that  they  still  retained 
exclusive  possession  of  the  priesthood  and  certain  other  dignities;  but  in 
the  course  of  a  few  decades,  the  plebeians  were  admitted  to  these  offices 
also,  so  that  a  perfect  equality  between  the  two  classes  shortly  followed. 
This  civil  concord,  to  wdiich  Camillus  a  short  time  before  his  death 
dedicated  a  temple,  brought  w^ith  it  a  period  of  civic  virtue  and  heroic 
greatness. 


11.   HOME'S   HEKOIC  PERIOD. 

1.    THE    TIME    OF    THE    WAR    WITH    THE    SAMNITES,    AND    THE    BATTLES 

WITH   PYRRHUS. 

§  108.  After  the  Eomans  had  exercised  their  military  pro w^ess  in  some 
successful  engagements  with  the  wandering  hordes  of  the  Gauls,  they 
attempted  to  subdue  the  neighboring  tribes.  Among  these  the  ^warlike 
and  freedom-loving  Samnltes,  who  dwelt  amidst  the  lofty  ridges  of  the 
Apennines,  gave  them  the  greatest  trouble,  and  they  were  forced  to  carry 
on  the  war  against  them,  almost  without  intermission,  for  more  than 
seventy  years.  The  inhabitants  of  Capua  and  the  Campanian  plain,  who 
were  unable  to  withstand  the  hostile  attacks  of  the  w^arlike  Samnltes,  and 
who  turned  to  the  Romans  for  assistance,  were  the  occasion  of  the  war. 
At  first,  the  Romans  refused  them  assistance ;  but  the  Capuans  having 
recognized  their  authority,  and  placed  themselves  entirely  under  their 
protection,  they  marched  into  the  field  and  defeated  the  enemy  with 
great  courage,  at  Cumoe,  near  Mount  Gaurus. 

§  109.  Shortly  after  this,  the  Romans  found  themselves 

B.  C.  342.  . 

menaced  wath  a  w^ar  by  the  Latins,  who  had  hitherto  been 
their  allies.  These  w^ere  no  longer  disposed  to  recognize  Rome  as  the 
head  of  the  confederation,  but  required  a  share  in  the  senate,  the  consul- 
ate, and  all  offices.     Upon  this,  the  Romans,  who  were  not  inclined  to 


HISTORY   OF   ROME.  79 

yield  to  these  demands,  concluded  a  hasty  peace  and  alliance  with   the 

SamnTtes,  that  they  might  turn  .their  arms  against  the  nearer 

enemy.     When   the  army  was  at  the  foot  of  Vesuvius,  the 

consul  Manllus  Torquutus  forbade  any  skirmishing.     In  defiance  of  this 

command,  his  valiant  son  engaged  one  of  the  enemy  In  single  combat,  and 

slew  him,  but  was  condemned  to  death  for  disobedience  by  his  inflexible 

father.     The  battle  of  Vesuvius  was  determined  In  favor  of 

B    c    338 

the  Romans  by  the  patriotism  of  the  plebeian  consul,  Decius 
JIus,  who,  having  had  himself  devoted  to  death  by  a  priest,  enveloped 
himself  in  a  white  robe,  and,  mounting  on  horseback,  plunged  among 
the  thickest  of  the  enemy;  whereupon  the  Latins,  together  with  their 
neighbors,  the  Volsci,  ^qul,  and  Ht'rnlcl,  submitted  themselves,  and  were 
received,  with  different  privileges,  as  the  allies  of  the  Romans.  In  this 
capacity,  they  were  obliged  to  perform  military  service  in  the  Roman 
army.  ' 

§  110.  The  success  of  the  Romans  awakened  the  jealousy  of  the  Sdm- 

nltes.     Quarrels  respecting  boundaries  led  to  a  renewal  of 

hostilities,  In  which  the  Romans  at  first  had  the  advantage, 
till  the  imprudent  advance  of  the  consuls,  Vetiirius  and  Posthumius,  into 
the  Caudine  passes,  brought  the  army  into  such  a  desperate  position, 
that  it  was  obliged  to  surrender  to  the  hostile  general,  Pontius,  who  had 
surrounded  it  on  every  side,  and  after  giving  up  its  weapons,  to  pass 
ignominiously  under  the  yoke.  The  senate,  however,  with  an  unworthy 
equivocation,  declared  the  treaty  that  their  generals  had  concluded  in 
their  necessity  with  Pontius  to  be  invalid,  and  delivered  up  the  consuls, 
at  their  own  request,  in  chains  to  the  Samnites.  The  generals  who  suc- 
ceeded them,  especially  the  vigorous  Papirius  Cursor  and  Fabius  Maxi- 
mus,  strained  every  nerve  to  wipe  away  the  disgrace ;  and  their  endeavors 
were  crowned  wuth  such  success,  that,  after  a  few  years,  the  Stimnltes, 
being  no  longer  able  to  resist  the  attacks  of  the  Romans,  were  obliged  to 
look  around  them  for  assistance.  They  united  themselves  with  the  Um- 
brians,  the  Gauls,  and  Etruscans,  who  were  also  threatened  by  Rome's 
love  of  conquest ;  and,  for  the  sake  of  being  closer  to  their  new  allies, 

they  quitted  their  own  country  and  marched  into  Umbria. 

But  the  battle  of  Sentinum,  which  was  decided  in  favor  of 
the  Romans  by  the  self-oblation  of  the  younger  Decius  Mus,  destroyed 
the  last  hopes  of  the  allies.  Their  great  general,  Pontius,  fell  shortly 
afterwards  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans,  and  was  put  to  a  violent  death. 
It  was  in  vain  that  the  sacred  band  of  the  Samnites  once  more  tried 
their  strength  and  their  swords  against  the  Romans ;  Curius  Dentatus 
gave  them  a  second  overthrow,  in  which  the  Samnite  youth,  the  pride  of 
the  nation,  moistened  the  field  of  battle  with  their  blood.     The  Samnites 

and  their  confederates,  the  Umbrlans,  Etruscans,  and  the  Se- 

B.  C.  290. 

ndnlan  Gauls,  were  compelled  to  acknowledge  the  supremacy 
of  Rome,  and  to  serve  as  allies  in  her  army. 


80  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD 

§  111.  During  the  war  with  the  Samnltes,  the  rich,  effeminjite,  and 
cowardly  Tarentines  had  behaved  in  an  equivocal  manner,  and  insulted 
a  Roman  ambassador.  Scarcely  therefore  had  the  Eomans  completely 
mastered  their  enemies,  than  they  turned  their  arms  against  Lower  Italy. 
Hereupon,  the  Tarentines  called  the  warlike  Pyrrhus,  king  of  Epirus,  to 
their  assistance,  who  eagerly  seized  this  opportunity  for  conquest  and 
military  renown,  and  embarked  with  his  forces  for  Italy.  Pyrrhus  was 
victorious  in  two  engagements,  partly  from  the  admirable 
disposition  he  made  of  his  army,  and  partly  by  means  of  his 
elephants,  an  animal  with  which  the  Romans  were  unacquainted ;  and 
the  senate  seemed  not  unwilling  to  conclude  a  disadvantageous  peace 
with  the  conqueror,  who  was  marching  upon  Rome.  But  the  blind  Ap- 
pius  Claudius  opposed  this  design,  and  induced  the  assembly  to  reply, 
that  no  proposals  for  peace  could  be  entertained  till  Pyrrhus  had  quitted 
Italy.  The  admiration  of  the  king,  who  had  hitherto  only  been  acquainted 
with  the  degenerate  manners  of  the  Greeks,  was  not  less  excited  by  the 
wisdom  and  dignified  demeanor  of  the  senate,  and  the  civic  virtues, 
honesty,  and  simplicity  of  the  Roman  generals,  Fabricius  and  Curius 
Dentatus,  than  by  the  heroism,  the  bravery,  and  the  warlike  skill  of  the 
legions. 

A  short  time  after,  Pyrrhus  was  called  into  Sicily  by  the  Syracusans, 
to  assist  them  against  the  Carthaginians.     A  love  of  adventure  and  con- 
quest induced  him  to  accept  the  invitation ;  but  he  failed  in  his  plan  of 
making  himself  master  of  the  beautiful  island,  and  was  compelled  by 
the  Sicilian   Greeks   to  return.     He  again  marched  towards  Tarentum, 
but  suffered  such  a  defeat  at  Maleventum  (afterwards  called 
Beneventum),  from  Curius  Dentatus,  that  he  found  himself 
obliged  to  make  a  hasty  retreat.     Pyrrhus  fell,  a  few  years  afterwards, 
before  Argos,  a  city  of  Peloponnesus ;  and  about  the  same 
B.  c.  w  u.         time,  the  Tarentines  lost  their  fleet,  and  a  portion  of  their 
treasures  of  art,  and  were  made  tributaries  by  the  Romans.     The  fall  of 
Tarentum  was  followed  by  the  subjugation  of  the  whole  of  Lower  Italy, 
in  the   course  of  which  the   Greek  states  were  treated  with  peculiar 
severity. 


2.   THE    TIME    OF   THE   PUNIC    WARS. 
a.   THE   FIRST   PUNIC    WAR.    (b.  C.    263-241.) 

§  112.  Many  centuries  before,  some  Phoenician  emigrants  had  founded 
the  trading  city  of  Carthage,  on  the  north  coast  of  Africa  (§  14),  which 
soon  attained  to  power  and  opulence  by  the  skill  and  enterprising  spirit 
of  its  inhabitants.  The  Carthaginians  carried  on  an  extensive  traffic 
with  all  the  lands  on  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  established  tributary 


HISTORY  OF  ROME.  81 

colonial  cities  in  Sicily  and  the  south  of  Spain,  and  acquired  such 
wealth,  that  they  laid  out  the  land  in  the  vicinity  of  their  own  city 
after  the  manner  of  a  garden,  and  embellished  it  with  innumerable  mag- 
nificent villas.  But  civic  freedom,  mental  cultivation,  and  nobility  of 
mind  were  possessions  foreign  to  the  Carthaginians.  The  government 
was  in  the  hands  of  a  purse-proud  aristocracy,  art  and  literature  were 
little  esteemed,  their  religious  system  was  so  barbarous  as  to  permit  the 
eacrifice  of  human  victims,  and  their  cunning  and  falsehood  so  notorious, 
(hat  the  "  Punic  faith  "  was  proverbial.*  Long  was  the  contest  between 
the  Carthaginians  and  Syracusans,  for  the  possession  of  the.  island  of 
Sicily.  At  the  time  that  the  gallant  adventurer  Agathocles  had  raised 
himself  from  the  humble  condition  of  a  potter  to  the  empire  of  Syra- 
cuse, this  contest  was  carried  on  wi\h  such  changes  of  fortune, 
B.  c.  317.  .   . 

that  Syracuse  was  besieged  by  the  Carthaginians,  and  Car- 
thage by  the  army  of  Agdthocles,  at  the  same  time.  The  latter  made 
himself  master  of  the  north  coast  of  Africa,  and  assumed  the  title  of  king. 
But  a  change  soon  took  place  :  his  army  was  destroyed,  and  he  himself 
obliged  to  fly  secretly  to  Syracuse,  where  his  vital  powers  were  so  wasted 
by  a  poison  that  was  administered  to  him,  that  the  hoary  tyrant  consented 
to  his  own  death  by  fire.  His  death  gave  rise  to  a  state  of  lawless  vio- 
lence in  Sicily,  owing  to  his  Campanian  soldiers  (Mamer- 
tlnes)  having  seized  upon  the  town  of  Messina  on  their  way 
home,  slaughtered  or  driven  away  the  male  part  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
then  filled  the  island  "with  robbery  and  devastation.  In  this  distress,  the 
Syracusans  elected  the  valiant  Iliero  for  their  king.  He  marched,  in  con- 
junction with  the  Carthaginians,  against  the  Miimertines,  defeated  them, 
and  laid  siege  to  their  city  Messina.  The  Mamertines  were  shortly  re- 
duced to  such  extremities  that  they  applied  to  the  Romans  for  assist- 
ance. 

§  113.  The  Romans  did  not  long  hesitate  to  enter  into  a  defensive 
alliance  with  the  rapacious  Mamertines,  and  to  gain  by  this  means  an  op- 
portunity of  subjecting  the  rich  and*beautiful  island,  although  they  saw 
plainly  that  the  jealous  Carthaginians,  who  were  already  in  possession  of 
the  citadel  of  Messina,  would  oppose  them  with  all  their  strength.  A 
Roman  army  shortly  after  succeeded  in  driving  back  the  disunited  enemy 
from  the  walls  of  the  city,  in  bringing  Iliero  into  an  alliance  with  Rome, 
and  depriving  the  Carthaginians  of  the  important  town  of  Agrig^ntum. 
Upon  this,  the  Romans  built  a  fleet  after  the  model  of  a  shipwrecked 
Punic  vessel,  and  won  the  first  naval  eno;anjement,  by  means 

B.  C.  261.  o   o  '     ./ 

of  the  consul  Duillius,  at  Mylae,  near  the  Liparian  islands. 
Encouraged  by  this  success,  they  now  determined  to  deprive  the  Cartha* 

*  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  especially  in  reference  to  this  charge  of  bad  faith, 
that  most  of  our  knowledge  of  the  Carthaginians  is  derived  froii  their  ancient  and  invete- 
rate enemies,  the  Eomans.    Am.  Ed. 


82  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 

ginians  of  their  supremacy  at  sea,  and  passed  over  to  Africa  with  a  fleet 
and  a  large  army,  under  the  command  of  the  heroic  consul  Regulus. 
Regulus  gradually  approached,  conquering  and  devastating,  to  the  gates 
of  Carthage.  The  terrified  Carthaginians  sued  for  peace,  but  when  they 
found  the  conditions  offered  them  by  the  haughty  conqueror  too  severe, 
they  prepared  for  resistance,  increased  the  number  of  their  mercenary 
troops,  and  committed  the  conduct  of  the  defence  to  an  experienced  gene- 
ral, the  Spartan  Xantippus.  This  leader  gave  the  Romans  so  severe  a 
defeat  at  the  seaport  town  of  Tunes,  that  only  2,000  of  their  splendid 
army  escaped ;  the  others  were  either  killed  or  made  prisoners  of  war, 
together  with  the  consul  Regulus. 

§  114.  This  blow  was  followed  by  a  succession  of  misfortunes:  two 
fleets  were  destroyed  by  tempests,  so  that,  for  some  years,  the  Romans 
renounced  all  thoughts  of  success  by  sea ;  on  land,  they  only  ventured 
upon  trifling  engagements,  from  fear  of  the  elephants,  of  which  they 
themselves  never  made  use,  though  the  battle  at  Tunes  had  been  decided 
by  them.  In  a  few  years,  however,  they  recovered  themselves ;  they 
made  a  successful  sally  from  Panormus  (Palermo),  drove 
back  the  Carthaginians,  and  took  possession  of  all  their  ele- 
phants. Hereupon  the  Carthaginians  sent  Regulus  to  Rome  to  negotiate 
an  exchange  of  prisoners,  after  they  had  obtained  from  him  an  oath,  that, 
if  not  successful,  he  would  return  to  captivity.  Regulus  advised  the 
senate  not  to  consent  to  the  exchange,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  be 
disadvantageous  to  their  country ;  and  then,  true  to  his  oath,  returned  to 
Carthage.  Upon  this,  the  Carthaginians  were  greatly  enraged,  and  put 
Regulus  to  death  in  a  most  barbarous  manner. 

Victory  remained  for  some  years  dubious.  '  At  length,  the  admirable 
Carthaginian  general,  Hamilcar  Barcas,  made  himself  master  of  the  cita- 
del Eryx,  and  overlooked  from  a  lofty  rock  all  the  movements  of  the 
Romans.  But  this  was  only  possible  so  long  as  there  was  no  Roman 
fleet  to  prevent  the  communication  with  the  sea.  As  soon  as  200  ships 
had  been  fitted  out  at  Rome,  by  private  contributions,  and  by  employing 
the  treasures  in  the  temples,  and  the  consul  Lutatius  Catulus 

B   C  242. 

had  defeated  the  enemy's  fleet  at  the  ^gatian  islands,  the 
Carthaginians  were  compelled  to  cc^sent  to  a  peace,  in  which  they 
renounced  their  claims  upon  Sicily,  and  promised  to  pay  a  large  sum  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  the  war. 

h.    THE    SECOND    PUNIC    WAR.       (b.  C.  218-202.) 

§  115.  Whilst  the  Carthaginians,  after  the  peace,  were  engaged  for 
three  years  in  a  frightful  war  with  their  rebellious  mercenaries,  the 

Romans  were  enlarging  their  territory  in  every  direction. 

They  transformed  Sicily  into  the  first  Roman  province ;  took 
possession  of  Corsica  and  Sardinia  after  a  severe  struggle  with  the  semi 


HISTORY  OF  ROME.  83 

barbarous  inhabitants ;  and  wrested  the  island  of  Corcyra  (Corfu)  and  a 
few  maritime  towns  from  the  piratical  Illyrians.     But  the  hardest  con- 
flict they  had  to  sustain  was  with  the  Cisalpine  Gauls,  who,  supported  by 
their  brethren  in  the  Alps,  had  made  a  destructive  inroad 

B  C.  222. 

upon  Etruria.  After  the  Romans  had  overthrown  their 
brave,  but  badly-armed  enemies,  in  two  bloody  engagements,  the  fertile 
regions  on  either  side  of  the  Po  were  erected  into  a  Roman  province, 
under  the  name  of  Gallia  Cisalpi'na,  and  connected  with  Rome  by  two 
military  roads. 

§  1 1 6.  In  the  mean  while,  the  Carthaginians,  at  first  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  brave  Ilamilcar  Barcas,  and  after  his  death  under  that  of 
the  prudent  Hdsdrubal,  extended  their  conquests  into  the  richly  metal- 
liferous region  of  South  Spain,  and  established  an  admirable  military  sta- 
tion in  New  Carthage  (Carthagena).  This  aroused  the  fear  and  envy  of 
the  Romans,  and  induced  them  to  enter  into  a  defensive  alliance  with  the 
Greek  colony  of  Saguntum,  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Spain.  Ililsdrubal 
eoon  died,  and  his  place  was  supplied  by  Hamilcar's  son,  Hannibal,  who 
was  then  twenty -five  years  of  age,  and  who  joined  the  courage  and  mili- 
tary talents  of  his  father  to  the  prudence  of  his  predecessor,  and  who, 
whilst  yet  a  boy,  had  sworn  eternal  hatred  against  the  Romans  upon  the 
paternal  altar.  Eager  to  measure  himself  against  the  Romans,  he  laid 
siege  to  the  confederate  town  of  Saguntum.  It  was  in  vain  that  the 
Roman  envoys  warned  him  to  desist ;  he  referred  them  to  the  Cartha- 
ginian senate,  but  in  the  mean  while  pressed  the  town  so  closely,  that  he 
took  it  in  eight  months.  The  most  resolute  of  the  inhabitants  collected 
their  goods  together  in  the  market-place,  set  them  on  fire,  and  threw 
themselves  into  the  flames ;  the  others  died  by  the  sword  of  the  enemy, 
or  beneath  the  ruins  of  their  houses.  Saguntum  was  reduced  to  a 
heap  of  rubbish.  The  Roman  embassy,  when  too  late,  declared  war  in 
Carthage. 

§  117.  It  was  in  the  spring  of  the  year  218  b.  c.  that  Hannibal  crossed 
the  Ebro,  subjected  the  tribes  in  that  neighborhood ;  and  then,  with  an 
army  of  60,000  men,  and  thirty-seven  elephants,  penetrated  across  the 
Pyrenees  into  Gaul,  Avhilst  his  brother  Ilasdrubal,  with  an  equal  number 
of  troops,  held  Spain  in  subjection.  After  Hannibal  had  forced  a  passage 
through  South  Gaul  and  over  the  Rhone,  he  commenced  his  ever-memo- 
rable passage  of  the  Alps  (probably  by  the  way  of  Mount  Cenis.)  In  the 
midst  of  perpetual  contests  with  the  savage  inhabitants,  the  soldiers 
climbed  over  lofty  mountains  covered  with  snow  and  ice,  without  road 
and  without  shelter,  —  over  precipices  and  gulfs.  Nearly  half  the  troops 
and  the  whole  of  the  beasts  of  burden  were  destroyed.  But  these  losses 
were  soon  replaced,  when,  after  a  march  of  fourteen  days,  Hannibal 
arrived  in  Upper  Italy.  For  no  sooner  was  the  consul  Cornelius  Scipio 
defeated  and  severely  wounded,  in  an  affair  of  cavalry  on  the  Tici'nus,  and 


84  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

his  fellow-consul,  the  imprudent  Sempronius,  completely  routed  at  the 

rashly-undertaken  battle  of  the  Trebia,  than  the  Cisalpine  Gauls   joined 

Hannibal's   standard.     After  a   short   rest   in    Li"ruria,  he 
B.  c.  217.  ° 

crossed  the  rugged  Apennines,  a  most  toilsome  march,  (in 

the  course  of  which  he  lost  an  eye  from  inflammation),  and  continued 
his  devastating  course  into  Etruria.  The  consul  Flammius  encountered 
him  at  the  Lake  Trasimenus,  but  by  his  inconsiderate  rashness  sustained 
a  total  defeat,  in  which  he  himself  lost  his  life,  and  his  soldiers  were  either 
killed  or  drowned  in  the  waters  of  the  lake.  The  road  to  Rome  was 
now  open  to  the  victor ;  but  he  determined  upon  marching  into  Apulia, 
for  the  purpose  of  inducing  the  inhabitants  of  Lower  Italy  to  revolt. 

§  118.  It  was  at  this  time,  that  a  man  opposed  himself  to  the  Cartha- 
ginian general,  who,  by  his  prudence  and  circumspection,  occasioned  him 
many  difficulties,  —  the  dictator  Fabius  Maximus,  the  Delayer.  He 
avoi(Jed  an  open  engagement,  but  followed  the  hostile  army  foot  by  foot, 
and  turned  every  unfortunate  movement  to  his  own  advantage.  He 
reduced  it  to  such  a  perilous  position  in  Campania,  by  taking  possession 
of  the  mountain  heights,  that  Hannibal  was  only  able  to  save  himself  by 
an  artifice,  —  driving  oxen,  with  bundles  of  lighted  brushwood  tied  to 
their  horns,  up  the  hill,  by  which  means  he  deceived  the  enemy.  But 
the  discontent  of  the  imprudent  people  at  this  lingering  mode  of  warfare, 
induced  the  consul  Terentius  Varro,  in  the  following  year,  again  to 
hazard  an  engagement,  against  the  advice  of  his  colleague,  Paulus 
^milius.  Hereupon  followed  the  dreadful  defeat  of  the 
Romans  at  Cann^,  where  the  number  of  the  slain  was  so 
great,  that  Hannibal  is  said  to  have  sent  three  bushels  of  rings  to  Car- 
thage, which  were  stripped  from  the  hands  of  the  Roman  knights.  The 
high-minded  Paulus  JEmi'lius  was  found  among  the  slain.  The  day  of 
the  battle  of  Cannae,  like  that  of  the  defeat  at  the  AUia,  (§  105,)  was 
marked  in  the  Roman  calendar  as  a  time  of  prayer  and  fasting.  The 
immovable  senate,  however,  preserved  its  courage  and  composure ;  all 
who  fled  at  Cannae  were  declared  infamous,  and  expelled  from  the 
army. 

§  119.  Hannibal  did  not  consider  it  advisable  to  advance  at  once  upon 
Rome  with  his  shattered  forces,  but  established  his  winter  quarters  in 
the  rich  and  luxurious  city  of  Capua.  But  it  was  here  that  his  rugged 
warriors  were  rendered  effeminate  and  lost  their  love  of  war.  The 
Romans,  on  the  other  hand,  made  new  preparations  with  extraordinary 
rapidity,  so  that,  in  the  spring,  they  were  able  to  send  fresh  troops  into 
the  field,  whilst  in  the  mean  time  Hannibal's  army  had  received  no  re- 
inforcements from  Carthage.  Two  successful  engagements 
restored  the  courage  of  the  Romans,  and  put  them  in  a  posi- 
tion to  chastise  the  towns  of  Sicily  and  Lower  Italy,  which,  after  the 
battle  of  Cannae,  had  revolted  to  Hannibal.     Marcellus  went  over  to 


% 


HISTORY   OF   ROME.  85 

Gicily  and  laid  siege  to  Syracuse ;  which  defended  itself  with  so  much 

coura^re  and  success,  by  the  aid  of  the  in;;enious  mathema- 
b.  C.  214.  .  r 

tician    and  philosopher,  Archimedes,  that  it  was  only  by  the 

greatest  efforts,  and  after  a  siege  of  three  years,  that  Mar- 
cellus  could  make  himself  master  of  the  place.  The  revenge 
of  the  Romans  was  fearful :  the  soldiers  plundered  and  slaughtered ; 
Archimedes  was  slain  at  his  studies,  the  finest  works  of  art  were  sent  to 
Rome,  and  the  glory  of  Syracuse  was  gone  forever.  Capua  experienced 
a  similar  fate.  The  place  was  closely  besieged  by  two  Roman  legions ; 
the  terrified  inhabitants  implored  the  assistance  of  Hannibal,  who  ad- 
vanced upon  Rome,  in  the  hope  that  the  Romans  would  hasten  to  the 
relief  of  their  capital,  and  relinquish  the  siege.  But  one  legion,  in  con- 
junction with  a  few  other  troops,  was  sufficient  to  compel 
Hannibal  to  retreat,  and  the  Capuans,  reduced  by  hunger, 
were  obliged  to  surrender  to  the  other.  Twenty-seven  senators  died  1 7 
their  own  hands,  and  fifty -three  by  the  axe  of  the  executioner ;  the  citi- 
zens were  reduced  to  slavery,  and  their  property  bestowed  upon  foreign 
colonists.  The  treasures  of  Capua  were  sent  to  Rome,  all  her  privileges 
were  destroyed,  and  from  henceforth  the  city  was  governed  by  a  Roman 
prefect.  Two  years  later,  Tarentum  fell  again  into  the  hands  of  the 
Romans.  Fabius  Maximus  reduced  the  inhabitants  to  slavery,  and  took 
possession  of  the  treasures,  but  suffered  the  statues  of  the  "Angry  Gods  " 
to  remain.  Fear  soon  brought  all  the  revolted  states  back  to  the 
Romans,  and  Hannibal's  position,  without  money,  without  reinforce- 
ments, and  without  supplies,  became  every  day  more  precarious. 

§  120.  Spain  was  now  Hannibal's  only  hope,  since  he  was  deserted  by 
his  ungrateful  country.  It  was  there,  that  Hannibal's  brother,  Hasdru- 
bal,  after  having  opposed  the  Romans  for  a  long  time  with  success,  was 
at  length  reduced  to  such  straits  by  the  young  and  high-spirited  Cornelius 
Scipio,  that  he  was  unable  to  remain  in  the  country  any  longer,  and  con- 
sequently resolved  upon  uniting  himself  with  his  brother,  who  had  sum- 
moned him  into  Italy.  Following  Hannibal's  passage  across  the  Alps, 
he  marched  into  Upper  Italy,  and  then  directed  his  co^Btee 
*  ^  towards  the  coast  of  the  Adriatic  Sea,  with  the  purpose  of 

joining  his  brother,  who  was  encamped  in  Lower  Italy,  opposite  the  con- 
sul Claudius  Nero.  But  the  daring  resolution  of  this  consul  to  effect  a 
secret  junction  with  his  colleague,  Livius  Salinator,  by  a  rapid  march 

upon  Umbria,  led  to  the  death  of  Ilasdrubal  and  the  destruc- 
B.  C.  207.  . 

tion  of  his  army,  at  the  river  Metaurus,  before  Hannibal  had 

received  notice  of  his  approach.    In  the  bloody  head  of  Ilasdrubal,  which 

the  consul,  on  his  return,  threw  into  the  enemy's  camp,  the  dispirited 

general  recognized  the  "  fearful  fate  of  Carthage." 

§  121.  It  was  in  misfortune  that  Hannibal  displayed  the  real  greq^tnesa 

of  his  military  talents.     Without  help  from  without,  and  without  allies 

8 


86  ^  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

in  Italy,  he  still  maintained  himself,  with  the  remains  of  his  army,  for 
some  years,  in  the  extreme  south,  against  the  superior  force  of  the  ene- 
my. But  when  the  victorious  Scipio  returned,  after  the  subjugation  of 
Spain,  passed  over  from  Sicily  into  Africa,  with  some  fugitives  and 
volunteers,  and,  setting  fire  in  the  neighborhood  of  Utica  to 
the  enemy's  camp,  which  consisted  of  tents  made  of  straw 
and  reeds,  attacked  them  during  the  confusion,  Hannibal  was  recalled  to 
defend  his  country.  Sorrowful  and  angry  he  quitted  the  land  of  his 
renown.  It  was  in  vain  that  he  endeavored,  during  a  conference,  to 
persuade  his  opponent  to  conclude  a  treaty,  by  representing  the  instability 
of  fortune.  Scipio  would  not  listen  to  the  proposal ;  where- 
upon the  battle  of  Zama  followed,  and  ended  in  the  defeat 
of  the  Carthaginians.  Hannibal  himself  now  advised  a  peace,  hard  as 
the  conditions  were.  The  Carthaginians  were  obliged  to  take  an  oath 
never  to  commence  war  without  the  consent  of  the  Romans,  they  were 
compelled  to  renounce  their  claims  upon  Spain,  to  give  up  their  ships  of 
w^ar,  and  to  pledge  themselves  to  pay  an  enormous  sum  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  the  contest.  After  burning  the  Carthaginian  fleet,  and 
investing  Masinissa,  a  friend  of  the  Romans,  with  the  kingdom  of 
Numidia,  Scipio,  (afterwards  called  Africanus),  returned  to  Rome,  where 
a  splendid  triumph  awaited  him.  Hannibal,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
obliged,  a  short  time  after,  to  leave  his  home,  a  persecuted  refugee,  and 
carried  his  hatred  of  the  Romans  to  the  court  of  the  Syrian  king, 
Antiochus. 

C.   MACEDONIA  CONQUERED  ;  CORINTH  AND  CARTHAGE  DESTROYED. 

§  122.  About  this  time.  King  Philip  II.  reigned  over  Macedonia  and  a 
part  of  Greece.  He  had  entered  into  an  alliance  with  Hannibal,  and 
made  war  on  the  Romans  and  their  confederates  in  Greece  and  Asia 
Minor.  It  was  for  this  reason  that  the  Romans  now  turned  their  arms 
against  him.  They  sent  their  general,  Flamininus,  a  clever  man,  and  one 
who  took  an  interest  in  Greek  art  and  literature,  into  Greece ;  he  sum- 
molied  the  states  to  freedom,  and  then  gave  the  Macedonians  an  over- 
throw at  the  Dogsheads  (Cynoscephalae)  a  range  of  hills  in 
Thessaly.  By  this,  Philip  saw  himself  compelled  to  a 
peace,  by  which  he  acknowledged  the  independence  of  Greece,  gave  up 
liis  fleet  and  a  great  sum  of  money,  and  renounced  the  right  of  making 
Avar  on  his  own  account.  To  gratify  the  vanity  of  the  Greeks,  the 
subtle  Flamininus  caused  the  deliverance  of  Greece  from  the  Macedonian 
yoke  to  be  proclaimed  with  magnificent  ceremonies  at  the  Isthmian 
games.  But  it  was  soon  evident  that  the  Romans  were  quite  as  eager 
to  assume  the  government  of  Greece  as  ever  the  Macedonians  had  been. 
It  was  for  this  reason  that  many  of  the  Greek  tribes,  and  in  particular 
the  warlike  iEtolians,  who  had  united  themselves  in  a  confederation 


HISTORY   OF  ROME.  87 

Bimilar  to  that  of  the  Achaians,  applied  to  the  Syrian  king,  Antiochus  III. 
for  aid,  (§  90).  Antiochus,  at  whose  court  Hannibal  was  living,  yielded 
to  the  demand ;  but  instead  of  joining  Philip  II.  and  attacking  the  Romans 
with  united  forces,  he  squandered  his  time  idly  in  feasting  and  luxury, 
and  gave  offence  to  the  Macedonian  king ;  whilst  the  Romans  marched 
rapidly  into  Thessaly,  and  after  storming  the  pass  of  Thermdpyloe  under 
Porcius  Cato,  compelled  the  Syrian  king  to  retreat  into  Asia.  But  he  was 
immediately  followed  thither  by  a  Roman  army,  under  the  command  of 
Cornelius  Scipio,  with  his  brother  Africanus  at  his  side,  for  counsellor. 

A  murderous  engagement  took  place  at  Magnesia,  near  mount 
Sipj^lus,  which  terminated  to  the  disadvantage  of  Antiochus,  who  was 
compelled  to  purchase  a  peace  by  the  cession  of  Western  Asia,  this  side 
of  the  Taurus,  and  by  the  payment  of  an  enormous  sum  for  the  expenses 
of  the  war.  The  rapacious  JFAdlmns  were  also  subdued  and  punished 
in  their  purses  and  their  treasures  of  art. 

Hannibal,  threatened  with  being  delivered  up  to  the  Romans,  fled  to 
Prusias,  king  of  Bithynia ;  but  when  this  prince  could  no  longer  venture 
to  defend  him,  he  swallowed  poison  on  a  lonely  hill,  to  escape 
falling  into  the  hands  of  his  mortal  enemies.  At  the  same 
time,  his  great  antagonist,  Scipio,  died  at  his  estate  in  Lower  Italy,  far 
away  from  Rome,  whence  he  had  been  driven  by  the  malice  of  his 
enemies.  To  make  this  year  thoroughly  fatal,  Philopoc'men  was  also 
compelled  to  drink  the  cup  of  poison  (§  88). 

§  123.  Perseus,  the  wicked  son  of  Philip  II.,  made  his  way  to  the 
Macedonian  throne  by  crimes,  inasmuch  as  he  provoked  the  suspicious 
father  to  murder  his  younger  son  Demetrius,  a  noble  prince,  and  well 
disposed  to  the  Romans.  Perseus  was  scarcely  in  possession,  of  his 
crown,  before  his  hatred  to  the  Romans  induced  him  to  begin  a  new  war. 
Ilis  enormous  wealth  enabled  him  to  make  vast  preparations,  but  avarice 
and  perverse  measures  soon  occasioned  his  fall.  After  the  victory 
obtained  by  the  expert  tactician  and  accomplished  man, 
Paulus  JEmilius,  at  Pydna,  Perseus  fell  into  the  power  of 
the  Remans,  was  led  in  triumph,  together  with  his  treasures  tind  his  cap- 
tive children  and  friends,  through  the  streets  of  the  mistress  of  the 
world  ;  and  shortly  after,  ended  his  life  in  solitary  confinement.  Mace- 
donia was  divided  into  four  provinces,  and  placed  under  a  republican 
form  of  government ;  1000  noble  Achaians,  among  whom  was  the  great 
historical  writer,  Polybius,  were  conveyed  to  Rome  as  hostages,  on  the 
plea  of  a  secret  understanding  with  Perseus.  Twenty  years  later,  a 
pretended  son  of  Perseus  raised  the  standard  of  rebellion.  This  gave  the 
Romans  the  wished-for  opportunity  of  converting  Macedonia 
into  a  Roman  province,  after  the  subjection  of  the  impostor 
by  Metellus.  Metellus  had  not  yet  quitted  the  conquered  territory^ 
when  the  AcMian  league  also  took  up  arms  to  rid  themselves  of  Rome's 


88  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

oppressive  authority.  iMetellus  overtiirew  tlie  Acliaians  who  marched 
against  him  in  two  engagements ;  but  was  obliged  to  leave  the  termina- 
tion of  the  war  to  his  rude  successor,  Miimmius,  who 
stormed  Corinth,  and  burnt  it  to  the  ground.  The  inhabit- 
ants were  either  slain  or  reduced  to  slavery,  the  treasures  of  art  destroyed 
or  sent  to  Rome,  and  Greece  was  converted  into  a  Roman  province, 
under  the  name  of  Achaia.  The  prosperity  of  the  once  flourishing  states 
disappeared  beneath  the  pressure  of  Roman  taxation,  and  every  spark 
of  the  patriotism  and  love  of  liberty  of  a  former  age  was  extinguished. 
The  Spartans  continued  their  rude  trade  of  war  as  mercenaries,  whilst 
the  Athenians  sought  a  subsistence  among  the  Romans,  as  artists  and 
men  of  learning,  as  players  and  dancers,  as  poets  and  heaux  esprits,\  but 
they  were  treated  with  little  respect. 

§  124.  In  the  mean  while,  Carthage  had  again  recovered  a  portion  of 
her  prosperity.  This  reawakened  the  envy  of  the  Romans,  and  gave 
emphasis  to  Cato's  expression,  "that  Carthage  must  be  destroyed." 
Masim'ssa,  king  of  Numidia,  relying  upon  Roman  protection,  enlarged 
his  own  territories  at  the  expense  of  those  of  the  Carthaginians ;  and  at 
last,  irritated  them  so  much  by  perpetual  quarrels  about  boundaries,  that 
they  took  up  arms  to  defend  their  own  possessions.  This  was  looked 
upon  in  Rome  as  an  infringement  of  the  peace,  and  occasioned  a  declara- 
tion of  war.  The  Carthaginians  implored  indulgence,  and  delivered  up, 
at  the  demand  of  the  Romans,  first,  300  respectable  hostages,  and  after- 
wards, their  ships  and  weapons.  But  wdien  this  was  followed  by  a  de- 
cree that  Carthage  should  be  burnt  to  the  ground,  and  a  new  city  erected 
farther  from  the  coast,  the  inhabitants  determined  rather  to  perish 
beneath  the  ruins  of  their  houses  than  submit  to  such  a  disgrace.  A 
spirit  of  courage  and  patriotism  took  possession  of  all  sexes  and  condi- 
tions. The  town  presented  the  appearance  of  a  camp ;  the  temples  were 
converted  into  smithies  for  forging  arms,  and  every  thing  was  made  sub- 
servient to  the  lofty  purpose  of  saving  the  state.  Even  the  veteran 
legions  of  Rome  were  unable  to  withstand  such  enthusiasm  as  this. 
They  were  fepeatedly  repulsed  and  reduced  to  a  precarious  condition, 
until  the  younger  Seipio,  the  able  son  of  Paulus  iEmiHus,  who  had  been 
adopted  into  the  family  of  Seipio  during  childhood,  was  appointed  to  the 
consulate  before  the  lawful  age,  with  dictatorial  power.  After  a  most 
desperate  resistance,  and  a  murderous  conflict  for  six  days  in  the  streets, 
it  was  he  who  at  length  succeeded  in  reducing  the  city,  after  it  had 
suflered  all  the  extremities  of  famine.  The  rage  of  the  soldiers,  and  a 
conflagration  that  lasted  for  seventeen  days,  converted  Carthage,  the  once 
proud  mistress  of  the  Mediterranean,  into  a  heap  of  ruins;  50,00^ 
inhabitants,  whom  the  sword  had  spared,  were  carried  into  slavery  by 
the  conqueror,  who  from  this  time  bore  the  name  of  the  younger 
/Ifricanus.       The  territory  of   Carthage    was   turned    into    a    Roman 


HISTORY  OF  ROME.  89 

province,  called  Africa,  and  the  rebuilding  of  the  city  denounced  witli  a 
curse. 

d.   THE  MANNERS  AND  CULTURE  OP  THE  ROMANS. 

§  125.  The  acquaintance  of  the  Romans  with  Greece  was  attended 
with  the  most  important  consequences  to  their  civilization,  manners,  and 
mode  of  living.  The  works  of  Greek  art  and  literature  that  had  been 
taken  from  the  conquered  towns,  produced,  in  the  more  susceptible  part 
of  the  nation,  a  taste  for  cultivation,  and  awakened*  a  fresh  class  of  feel- 
ings. A  powerful  party,  at  the  head  of  which  stood  the  Scipios,  Mar- 
cellus,  Flamininus,  and  many  others,  patronized  the  Greek  philosophy, 
poetry,  and  art ;  cherished  and  supported  the  learned  men,  philosophers, 
and  poets,  of  that  nation  ;  and  sought  to  transport  the  spirit  and  language 
of  the  conquered  people  to  Rome,  together  with  their  works  of  art. 
Under  the  protection  of  the  Scipios,  Roman  poets  wrote  verses  in  imita- 
tion of  their  Greek  prototypes.  This  was  the  case  with  their  writers  of 
comedy,  Plautus  and  Terence,  the  latter  of  whom  is  said  to  have  been 
assisted  in  his  compositions  by  the  younger  Scipio  and  his  friend  Lcelius. 
Since,  however,  the  minds  of  the  Romans  were  directed  entirely  to  the 
practical,  to  the  conduct  of  war,  the  government  of  the  state,  and  the 
administration  of  justice,  intellectual  culture  never  could  attain  to  the 
same  height  among  them  as  with  the  Greeks :  the  people  found  more 
pleasure  in  spectacles  addressed  to  the  senses,  rough  gladiatorial  com- 
bats, and  the  contests  of  wild  animals,  than  in  the  productions  of  the 
mind. 

But  literature  and  the  arts  were  not  the  only  things  that  were  borrow- 
ed ;  elegance  and  refinement  in  the  arrangement  of  dwellings,  luxury 
and  extravagance  in  meals  and  dress,  politeness  and  suavity  in  social 
intercourse,  sensual  enjoyment^ind  luxurious  pleasures,  were  copied  by 
the  Romans  from  the  Greeks  Sd  Orientals.  The  victors  inherited  the 
vices  and  excesses  of  the  conquered  people,  along  with  their  wealth  and 
civilization.  An  opposite  party,  with  Porcius  Cato  at  its  head,  earnestly 
combated  the  new  system  that  threatened  to  destroy  the  ancient  manners, 
discipline,  simplicity,  moderation,  and  hardihood.  The  severity  with 
which  this  remarkable  man,  in  his  office  of  censor,  opposed  the  new 
direction  of  things,  has  made  his  name  proverbial.  By  his  aid,  the 
Greek  philosophers  were  banished  from  Rome ;  the  schools  of  oratory 
closed ;  the  dissolute  festivals  of  Bacchus,  and  other  religious  customs 
derived  from  abroad,  interdicted ;  the  Scipios  punished  as  corrupters  of 
morals ;  and  laws  proclaimed  against  luxury  and  excess.  For  the  pur- 
pose of  counteracting  the  influence  of  the  new  literature,  he  himself 
WTote  works  upon  agriculture,  the  basis  of  Rome's  former  greatness,  and 
upon  the  people  of  ancient  Italy,  whose  simplicity  and  purity  of  morals 
he  wished  to  contrast  with  the  commencing  degeneracy  of  his  time.    But 

8* 


90  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

the  example  of  Cato,  who  learned  Greek  in  his  old  age,  shows  that  the 
rigid  attachment  to  the  ancient  and  traditional  invariably  gives  way  be- 
fore new  efforts  at  progress. 


III.   ROME'S   DEGENERACY. 
1.   NUMANTIA,    TIBERIUS,   AND    CAIUS    GRACCHUS. 

§  126.  In  proportion  as  the  Roman  territory  increased  in  extent,  the 
heroism,  the  civic  A^rtues,  and  the  patriotic  feelings  on  which  Rome's 
greatness  had  been  built,  disappeared.  Fresh  aristocratic  families  were 
formed  from  the  rich  and  the  illustrious,  who,  like  the  patricians  of  old, 
monopolized  all  honors  and  offices.  They  sought  perpetually  for  new 
wars,  the  conduct  of  which  was  given  to  them  alone,  for  the  purpose  of 
increasing,  by  victories  and  triumphs,  the  renown  they  had  inherited  from 
their  ancestors ;  and  the  provinces  were  exhausted  to  the  end  that  they 
might  give  themselves  up  to  all  kinds  of  pleasure  and  enjoyment,  with- 
out lessening  the  wealth  on  which  the  power  and  splendor  of  their  fami- 
lies were  founded.  As  proconsuls  and  propraetors,  they  conducted  the 
government  and  the  administration  of  justice  in  the  conquered  provinces, 
with  a  host  of  writers  and  subordinates,  and  kept  their  own  interest  more 
in  view  than  the  welfare  of  the  governed.  The  wealthy  members  of  the 
knightly  class  undertook,  as  farmers-general  of  the  revenue,  for  a  certain 
sum  they  paid  into  the  exchequer,  to  collect  all  taxes,  imposts,  and  tolls, 
and  then  sought,  by  the  most  shameless  exactions  practised  by  their  toll- 
collectors,  receivers,  and  under-farmers,  to  indemnify  themselves  for  their 
outlay  by  an  enormous  profit.  Whatitie  officials  and  revenue-farmers 
left,  was  appropriated  by  a  tribe  of  hungry  merchants  and  usurers,  so 
that  a  few  decades  sufficed  to  ruin  the  prosperity  of  a  Roman  colony. 
It  is  very  true,  that  there  existed  a  law  which  gave  the  abused  provin- 
cials the  right  of  impeaching  their  oppressors  on  the  expiration  of  their 
term  of  office  ;  but  as  the  judges  all  belonged  to  the  same  wealthy  and 
noble  families,  the  criminal  generally  escaped  free,  or  was  fined  in  a 
small  amount,  for  the  sake  of  appearances. 

Single  provinces  would  occasionally  attempt  to  shake  off  this  oppres- 
sive }oke,  and  to  regain  their  freedom  by  dint  of  arms.  The  first  ex- 
ample of  such  a  revolt  was  given  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  Pyrenean 
peninsula,  and  above  all  others,  by  the  heroic  race  of  Spain,  whose  chief 
city  was  Numantia.  For  five  years,  they  set  all  the  efforts  of  the  Ro- 
mans at  defiance,  and  extorted  a  treaty  of  peace  and  an  acknowledgment 
of  their  independence,  from  a  consul  whom  they  had  inclosed  in  the  hol- 
lows of  their  mountains.    But  the  senate  did  not  confirm  the  treaty,  and 


HISTORY   OF  ROME.  91 

behaved  aa  they  had  done  in  the  affair  of  the  Caudinian  passes  (§  110). 
It  was  only  when  the  younger  Scipio,  the  conqueror  of  Carthage,  put 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  army,  and  restored  the  abandoned  energy  and 
discipline  of  the  camp,  that  Numantia,  after  a  desperate  de- 
fence, was  compelled  by  hunger  to  surrender.  The  citizens 
escaped  from  the  insults  of  the  victors,  by  heroically  killing  themselves. 
Scipio  destroyed  the  empty  town,  the  ruins  of  which  still  look  admonish- 
ingly  down  upon  posterity,  a  memorial  of  a  magnanimous  struggle  for 
freedom. 

§  127.  The  new  family  aristocracy  not  only  filled  all  the  offices,  and 
excluded  men  of  inferior  birth  from  posts  of  honor,  but  they  also  pos- 
sessed the  whole  of  the  arable  land,  inasmuch  as  they  again  claimed  an 
exclusive  right  to  the  common  lands,  and  got  the  smaller  farms  into  their 
hands  by  purchase,  usury,  chicanery,  and  sometimes  even  by  violence. 
By  these  means,  the  greatest  inequality  of  property  was  produced.  The 
class  of  free  husbandmen,  upon  which  the  ancient  strength,  honesty,  and 
military  virtue  of  Rome  was  established,  disappeared  entirely;  whilst 
the  nobles  got  possession  of  immense  estates,  which  they  had  cultivated 
by  hosts  of  slaves,  who  bad  been  made  prisoners  in  war.  Numbers  of 
impoverished  tenants,  who  had  been  driven  from  their  houses  and  farms 
by  hard-hearted  landlords,  wandered  through  the  land,  a  picture  of  misery 
and  distress. 

In  the  midst  of  this  state  of  things,  the  noble  tribune  of  the  people, 
Tiberius  Gracchus,  (son  of  Cornelia,  daughter  of  the  great 
Scipio  Africdnus,)  presented  himself  as  the  defender  of  op- 
pressed poverty,  by  proposing  a  renewal  of  the  agrarian  law  of  Lici'nius 
Stolo  (§  107),  which  enacted  that  no  one  should  possess  more  than  500 
acres  of  tlie  public  land,  and  that  the  remainder  should  be  distributed  to 
necessitous  families  in  small  lots,  as  their  own  propety.  Upon  this,  the 
nobles  raised  a  dreadful  storm,  and  prevailed  upon  another  tribune  to  op- 
pose the  measure.  According  to  the  Roman  code,  no  proposal  could 
become  law  unless  all  the  ten  tribunes  were  unanimous.  It  was  owing  to 
this,  that  Gracchus  allowed  himself  to  be  seduced  into  the  illegal  course 
of  getting  his  refractory  colleague  deposed  by  the  people,  and  thus  vio- 
lating the  sanctity  of  the  tribunitial  office.  This  afforded  his  adversaries 
ground  for  the  suspicion  that  Gracchus  was  meditating  the  overthrow  of 
the  constitution,  for  the  purpose  of  assuming  the  kingly  authority.  He 
lost  the  favor  of  the  misguided  people,  and  was  killed  in  the  Capitol, 
together  with  300  of  his  adherents,  during  a  new  election  of  tribunes. 
The  people  discovered  their  delusion  when  it  was  too  late,  and  erected  a 
statue  in  honor  of  their  high-spirited  champion. 

§  128.  This  result  did  not  deter  the  younger  and  more 

U.  C.  123. 

able  brother,  Caius  Gracchus,  ten  years  afterwards,  from 
agitating  anew  for  the  agrarian  law,  and,  in  connection  with  it,  for  a  corn 


92  THE   ANCIENT  WORLD. 

law,  (by  wliicli  deliveries  of  corn  were  to  be  made  to  the  poorer  citizeng 
for  a  moderate  price),  and  other  popular  measures.  His  great  eloquence 
and  his  philanthropic  exertions  gained  him  a  powerful  party  among  the 
lower  class  of  the  people,  whose  immediate  distress  he  sought  to  alleviate 
by  the  making  of  roads  and  public  works.  But  when,  at  the  instigation 
of  his  impetuous  friend,  Fulvius  Flaccus,  he  proposed  that  the  right 
of  Roman  citizenship  should  be  extended  to  the  allies,  the  nobles  be- 
came alarmed  and  tried  to  destroy  him.  A  dreadful  combat  took  place 
at  one  of  the  popular  assemblies  between  the  aristocratic  party,  with  the 
consul  Opi'mius  at  their  head,  and  the  adherents  of  Gracchus  and  Ful- 
vius. The  latter  w^ere  defeated  :  Fulvius,  with  3,000  of  his  companions, 
was  killed,  and  their  bodies  thrown  into  the  Tiber.  Gracchus  fled  into 
a  wood  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and  commanded  a  slave 

B   C    121. 

to  thrust  a  sword  into  his  bosom.  Their  laws  and  institutions 
were  annulled,  and  their  adherents  punished  with  death,  imprisonment, 
and  banishment.  The  aristocracy  were  now,  more  than  ever,  the  rulers 
of  the  republic. 


2.    THE    TIMES    OF   MARIUS    AND    SYLLA. 
THE   JUGURTHINE    WAR.     B.  C.  112-106. 

§  129.  The  aristocrats  disgraced  their  government  by  avarice  and  cor- 
ruption, and  renounced  all  sentiments  of  honor  and  justice.  Jugurtha, 
the  grandson  of  Masinissa  of  Numidia,  a  cunning  and  ambitious  man, 
and  experienced  in  war,  trusting  to  the  depravity  of  morals  and  the  cor- 
ruption prevalent  in  Rome,  put  to  death  the  two  sons  of  his  uncle,  who 
had  been  made  co-heirs  with  himself,  seized  upon  their  states,  which  had 
been  conferred  upon  them  by  the  Romans,  and  succeeded,  by  dint  of 
bribing  the  most  influential  senators,  in  retaining  possession  of  his  plun- 
der, and  heaping  crime  upon  crime  with  impunity.  When  at  length  the 
senate  were  compelled,  by  the  indignation  of  the  people,  to  send  an  army 
into  Africa,  the  Numidian  king  actually  succeeded  in  producing  such 
enervation  and  looseness  of  discipline  among  the  troops,  by  bribery  and 
seduction,  that  they  were  defeated  at  the  first  attack,  and  obliged  to  pass 
under  the  yoke.  This  disgrace  produced  the  greatest  exasperation  in 
Rome,  so  that  the  senate  were  compelled  to  adopt  more  stringent  mea- 
sures, in  order  to  appease  the  discontent  of  the  people,  and  conciliate  the 
outraged  sentiment  of  justice,  by  the  punishment  of  the  offender.  They 
accordingly  despatched  the  upright  Metellus,  with  fresh  troops 
into  Africa.  Metellus  restored  the  discipline  of  the  army, 
and  brought  back  the  military  renown  of  the  Romans  by  successful  en- 
gagements and  conquests.     But  the  people  were  so  embittered  against 


HISTORY   OF  ROME.  93 

the  aristocracy,  that  they  resolved  to  deprive  them  of  the  gOT  emment  bv 

any  means.    For  this  purpose,  they  required  an  intrepid  leader ;  and  til 

aspiring  and  ambitious  C.  Marius  presented  himself,  a  man  of  obscure 

condition,  who  was  at  that  time  serving  as  lieutenant  in  the  army  of  Me- 

tellus,  and  who  joined  courage,  the  talents  of  a  general,  and  rude  military 

virtue,  to  rough  manners,  hatred  of  the  nobles,  and  contempt  for  their 

cultivation  and  refinement.     Disgusted  at  the  aristocratic  haughtiness  of 

his  commander,  Marius  returned  to  Rome,  where  he  was 
B.  c.  107.  .  . 

chosen  consul  by  the  popular  party,  and  intrusted  with  the 

conduct  of  the  Jugurthine  war.  Jugurtha,  with  all  his  cunning  and  in- 
ventive genius,  was  unable  long  to  withstand  the  energetic  Marius  and 
his  army,  now  hardened  by  severe  discipline.  He  was  conquered,  and 
fled  to  the  faithless  Bocchus,  king  of  Mauritania ;  but  was  delivered  up 
by  him  to  the  shrewd  and  dexterous  qugestor  Cornelius  Sylla,  and  led 
in  triumph  to  Rome,  where  he  was  starved  to  death  in  prison. 

§  130.  CiMBRi  AND  Teutones.  —  Marius  had  not  yet  concluded  the 
Jugurthine  war,  when  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones  appeared  on  the  borders 
of  the  Roman  empire.  They  were  a  northern  people,  of  Germanic  ori- 
gin, and  gigantic  stature  and  strength,  who  had  left  their  country  with 
their  wives,  children,  and  all  their  property,  to  seek  for  a  new  habitation. 
They  were  clad  in  iron  coats  of  mail  and  the  skins  of  beasts ;  they  bore 
shields  the  height  of  a  man,  with  long  swords  and  heavy  maces.  They 
first  defeated  the  Romans  in  a  bloody  battle  inNoricum,  passed 
through  Rhajtia,  devastating  and  plundering,  and,  within 
four  years,  cut  to  pieces  five  consular  armies  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhone 
and  the  lake  of  Geneva.  Marius,  whom  the  Romans,  against  the  law, 
had  elected  five  successive  times  to  the  consulate,  came  forward  as  de- 
liverer. With  his  army,  hardened  by  the  labors  of  digging  and  hewing, 
he  defeated  the  Teutones  in  a  bloody  engagement  at  Aquai 
Sextiaj,  (Aix  in  Provence),  in  South  Gaul.  In  the  mean 
time,  the  Cimbri,  in  a  separate  body,  had  penetrated  through  the  Tyrol 
and  the  valley  of  the  Adige,  into  Upper  Italy ;  but  when  there,  had  care- 
lessly given  themselves  up  to  the  pleasures  afforded  by  the  rich  country, 
till  they  suffered  a  similar  frightful  overthrow  on  the  plains  near  Ver- 
cellae,  from  Marius,  who  had  joined  forces  with  his  colleague  Lutatius 
Catulus.  The  courage  of  these  Germans,  who  killed  themselves  and 
their  children,  to  prevent  their  being  reduced  to  slavery,  made  the  Ro- 
mans tremble. 

§  131.  The  social  war.  —  A  sixth  consulate  rewarded 

B.  C.  100. 

Marius,  the  savior  of  Italy,  the  pride  and  hope  of  the  popular 
party.  By  his  assistance,  this  party  again  gained  the  superiority,  which 
induced  the  aristo(;racy  to  array  themselves  around  Cornelius  Sylla,  a 
politic  and  ambitious  man,  and  versed  in  war,  who  united  in  himself  the 
cultivation  and  love  of  art  of  the  nobles,  with  their  vices  and  excesses. 


94  THE  ANCIEXT  WORLD. 

From  this  time,  two  powerful  parties,  the  democrats  under  Marius,  and 
tte  aristocrats  under  Sylla,  stood  opposed  in  arms  to  each  other.  The 
former  endeavored  to  strengthen  their  ranks  by  attracting  thither  the 
allies,  and  for  this  purpose  held  out  to  them  the  prospect  of  the  Roman 
citizenship.  When  this  was  not  conceded,  the  disappointed  party  took  up 
arms  for  the  purpose  of  freeing  themselves  from  Rome,  or  of  compeUing 
the  cession  of  the  refused  privileges.  This  occasioned  the 
perilous  Social  war.  All  the  tribes  of  Sabellian  origin,  the 
warlike  Samnites  and  Marsians  at  their  head,  renounced  allegiance  to 
the  Romans,  formed  an  Italian  confederation,  and  declared  Corfmium, 
which  was  also  called  Italica,  chief  city  of  the  new  alliance.  Veteran 
armies  marched  into  the  field.  In  Rome,  the  people  put  on  mourning, 
armed  the  manumitted  slaves,  and  conferred  the  privileges  of  Roman 
citizenship  upon  the  Latins,  Etruscans,  and  Umbrians,  who  had  remained 
faithful,  to  prevent  their  joining  with  the  others.  The  Romans  were 
successful,  after  many  changes  of  fortune  and  many  bloody  engagements, 
in  gradually  mastering  their  opponents.  But  the  ferment  was  still  so 
dangerous,  that  they  thought  it  advisable  to  prevent  a  fresh  insurrection, 
by  conferring  the  rights  of  citizenship  upon  the  whole  of  the  allies.  They 
nevertheless  restricted  the  elective  rights  of  the  new  citizens. 

§  132.  The  first  war  against  Mithridates.  —  The  allies  were 
scarcely  appeased,  before  the  Romans  were  threatened  from  the  East, 
by  an  enemy  as  sagacious  as  he  was  bold,  —  Mithridates,  king  of  the 
Pontus,  on  the  Black  Sea.  Like  Hannibal,  an  enemy  of  the  Romans, 
this  warlike  prince,  who  was  a  good  linguist,  endeavored  to  unite  the 
Grecian  and  Asiatic  states  in  a  vast  confederacy,  and  to  free  them  from 
the  Roman  dominion.  By  his  orders,  all  the  Roman  subjects  (togati)  in 
Western  Asia,  80,000  in  number,  were  put  to  death  in  one  frightful  day 
of  slaughter.  At  the  same  time,  he  seized  upon  some  countries  in 
alliance  with  the  Romans,  and  sent  an  army  into  Greece  to  protect 
Athens,  Boedtia,  and  other  states  that  had  joined  him.  Hereupon  the 
Roman  senate  gave  the  command  against  Mithridates  to 
Sylla,  who  had  distinguished  himself  in  the  social  war,  and 
been  rewarded  by  the  consulate.  But  Marius  envied  his  opponent  this 
Asiatic  campaign,  and  procured  a  resolution  of  the  people  by  which  he 
himself  was  appointed  to  conduct  the  Mithridatic  war.  Sylla,  who  was 
with  his  army  in  Lower  Italy,  now  marched  upon  Rome,  had  Marius 
and  eleven  of  his  confederates  outlawed  as  traitors  to  their  country,  and 
•  adopted  proper  measures  for  the  preservation  of  peace.  He  nevertheless 
behaved  with  moderation,  that  he  might  be  able  to  commence  the  cam- 
paign against  Mithridates  as  soon  as  possible.  Marius,  after  multitu- 
dinous dangers  and  adventures,  escaped  over  the  marshes  of  Mintiirnas 
into  Africa. 

§  133.  The  first  civil  war.  —  Sylla  now  passed  over  into  Greece, 


HISTORY  OF  ROME.  93 

fitormed  Athens,  that  expiated  its  revoll^y  a  frightful  effusion  of  blood, 
seized  upon  the  treasures  in  the  temple  of  Delphi,  and 
overthrew  the  generals  of  the  king  of  Pontus  in  two  engage- 
ments. He  then  marched  through  Macedonia  and  Thracia  into  Asia 
Minor,  and  compelled  Mithridates  to  a  peace,  biyvhich  Rome  not  only 
recovered  her  dominion  over  the  whole  of  Wed^^B^sia,  but  was  indem- 
nified for  the  expenses  of  the  war  by  the  paJHp  of  a  large  sum  of 
money,  and  the  cession  of  the  Pontic  fleet.  The  revolted  towns  and  dis- 
tricts were  severely  punished  in  tlieir  property. 

In  the  mean  time,  Marius  had  returned  from  the  ruins  of  Carthage 
again  into  Italy;  and  surrounding  himself  with  a  band  of  desperate 
men,  had  marched  to  the  gates  of  Rome  in  conjunction  with  the  demo- 
cratic leaders,  Cinna  and  Sertdrius.  The  city,  weakened  by  famine  and 
dissension,  was  compelled  to  surrender ;  upon  which,  Marius  gave  free 
course  to  his  thirst  for  vengeance.  Troops  of  rude  soldiers  marched, 
plundering  and  slaughtering,  through  the  streets  of  the  capital ;  the  heads 
of  the  aristocratic  party,  including  the  most  renowned  and  respected  sena- 
tors and  consuls,  were  murdered,  their  houses  plundered  and  destroyed, 
their  estates  confiscated,  and  their  dead  bodies  given  to  the  dogs  and  the 
fowls  of  the  air.  After  this  gratification  of  his  vengeance, 
Marius  had  himself  chosen  consul  for  the  seventh  time, 
but  died  about  two  weeks  after,  from  the  effects  of  excitement  and  a  dis- 
solute life. 

§  134.  In  the  year  83  b.  c,  Sylla  landed  in  Italy  after  the  termina- 
tion of  the  first  Mithridatic  war,  and  marched,  with  the  support  of  the 
aristocracy,  upon  Rome.  In  Lower  Italy,  he  defeated  the  democratic 
consuls  in  numerous  engagements,  drove  the  younger  Marius  to  self-* 
destruction  in  the  strong  city  of  Praeneste,  by  the  close  siege  he  laid  to 
the  place,  and  in  a  murderous  battle  before  the  gates  of  Rome,  annihilated 
the  Marian  party  and  the  rebellious  Samnltes,  8,000  of  whom  he  slaugh- 
tered before  the  eyes  of  the  trembhng  senate.  The  civil  war  had  already 
cost  the  lives  of  100,000  men,  when  Sylla  (surnamed  the  Fortunate),  for 
the  purpose  of  completing  his  triumph,  made  public  his  proscriptions, 
upon  which  were  written  the  names  of  the  Marian  party  who  were  to  be 
killed  and  plundered.  Hereupon  all  the  ties  of  blood,  of  friendship,  of 
dependence  and  piety,  were  torn  asunder :  sons  were  armed  against  their 
parents,  and  slaves  against  their  masters  ;  informations  were  rewarded ; 
terror  and  corruption  of  morals  were  everywhere  prevalent.  Upon  this 
Sylla,  who  was  named  dictator  for  an  indefinite  period,  proclaimed  the 
Cornelian  law,  by  which  the  whole  power  of  the  government  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  aristocracy,  and  the  influence  of  the  tribunes  was  destroyed. 
After  the  conclusion  of  these  arran^i^ements,  Sylla  retired  to 

B.  C  78.  .  G  7      J 

his  estate,  where  he  shortly  after  died  of  a  frightful  dis- 
temper. 


96  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

3.    THE    TIMES    OF     CNiEUS     POMPET,   AND    M.    TULLIUS    CICERO. 

§  135.  Sylla's  death  did  not  bring  back  repose  to  the  disturbed  state. 
The  outlawed  and  persecuted  Marians  assembled  themselves  around  the 
brave  and  upright  democratic  leader,  Sertdrius,  and  fought  against  the 
Koman  armies  in  Sj^Bfcith  fortune  and  success.  It  was  not  until  Ser- 
tdrius had  been  assasSBRed  by  his  envious  associates,  that  Pompej,  who, 
whilst  yet  a  youth,  had  joined  himself  to  Sylla,  and  was  now  regarded  as 
the  head  of  the  aristocratic  party,  succeeded  in  overpowering 
^*  ^'     '  the  rebels.     His  mild  and  placable  character,  and  his  courte- 

ous and  popular  bearing,  rendered  him  an  admirable  mediator  between 
contending  factions. 

§  136.  When  Pompey  returned  to  Italy  from  Spain,  he  encountered  a 
new  enemy  —  the  rebellious  slaves.     Seventy  gladiators  had 
fled,  in  Capua,  from  the  scourge  of  their  task-masters,  broken 
open  the  slave  prisons  in  Lower  Italy,  and  exhorted  the  inmates  to  fight 
for  their  liberties.    Their  numbers  soon  increased  to  70,000.    The  valiant 
Thracian,  Spartacus,  was  at  their  head.     Their  intention  at  first  was  to 
return  to  their  homes ;  but  after  they  had  overthrown  two  Roman  armies 
that  opposed  their  passage,  they  entertained  the  hope  of  destroying  the 
Koman  power,  and  revenging  themselves  for  the  injuries  they  had  re- 
ceived.    The  danger  of  the  Romans  was  great.     But  dissension  and 
want  of  military  discipline  produced  a  division  among  the 
slaves,  and  led  to  uncombined  movements,  so  that  the  consul, 
M.  Crassus,  succeeded  in  subduing  their  ill-armed  bands  in  detail.    After 
the  bloody  fight  on  the  banks  of  the  Silarus,  in  which  Spartacus  fell  after 
an  heroic  contest,  the  remainder  marched  into  Upper  Italy,  where  they 
were  utterly  destroyed  by  Pompey. 

§  137.  Pompey  rendered  his  name  even  more  illustrious  in  Asia, 
B.  c.  67.  where  he  brought  the  war  against  the  pirates,  and  the  second 

B.C.  74-65.  Mithridatic  war,  to  a  conclusion,  than  in  the  expedition 
against  the  slaves.  In  the  sterile  mountain  regions  on  the  south  of  Asia 
Minor,  lived  a  daring  race  of  freebooters,  who  disturbed  the  whole  Medi- 
terranean by  piracy,  visited  the  coasts  and  islands  with  plunder  and  deso- 
lation, dragged  off  noble  Romans  as  prisoners,  for  the  purpose  of  exact- 
ing a  heavy  ransom,  and  interrupted  trade  and  commerce.  Hereupon, 
Pompey  was  invested  with  the  most  unlimited  dictatorial  power  over  all 
seas,  coasts,  and  islands.  With  a  splendidly-equipped  fleet  and  army,  he 
cleared  in  three  months  the  whole  Mediterranean  from  the  pirates,  sub- 
dued the  towns  and  fortresses  in  their  own  country,  and  settled  many  of 
the  inhabitants  in  the  newly-built  town,  Pompeidpolis. 

^  138.  In  the  mean  time,  Mithridates,  encouraged  by  Rome's  internal 
disturbances,  had  begun  a  fresh  war.  LucuUus  was  besieging  the  rich 
island   town   of  C;f zicus,  and  Mithridates  attempted  to  relieve  it ;   but 


HISTORY    OF   ROME.  97 

Lucullus  fell  upon  him  and  gave  him  such  an  overthrow  that  he  retreatecl 

in  haste  to  his  kingdom  of  Pontus  ;  and  when  this  also  fell  a  prej  to  the 

victor,  he  sought  aid  and  protection  from  his  son-in-law,  Tigranes,  king  of 

Armenia.     But  Lucullus  defeated  the  enormous  host  of  the 

B.  C.  69. 

Armenian  king  in  the  neighborhood  of  his  capital,  Tigrano- 
cdrta,  jind  was  already  making  preparations  for  overthrowing  the  whole 
empire,  and  extending  the  Koman  dominions  as  far  as  Parthia,  when  the 
legions  refused  obedience  to  their  general.  Upon  this,  Lucullus  retired 
to  his  wealth  and  his  pleasure-gardens,  and  Pompey  united  the  command 
of  the  Armenio-Pontic  army  to  his  other  dignities.  He  con- 
quered Mithridates,  who  had  assembled  fresh  forces,  in  a 
night  engagement  on  the  Euphrates,  reduced  the  Armenian  king  to 
homage  and  submission,  and  then  put  an  end  to  the  rule  of  the  Seleucidae 
in  Syria.  Mithridates,  deprived  of  the  greater  part  of  his  territories,  and 
despairing  of  a  successful  issue,  destroyed  himself.  After  Pompey,  at  his 
own  pleasure,  had  disposed  of  the  conquered  lands  in  Asia,  in  such  a  way 
that  the  Roman  empire  was  enlarged  by  three  provinces,  and  some  of  the 
more  distant  lands  had  been  ceded  to  tributary  kings,  he  returned  to 
Rome,  where  he  held  a  public  entry  of  two  days,  and  filled  the  treasury 
with  enormous  wealth. 

§  139.  A  short. time  before  this,  M.  TuUius  Cicero,  Pompey*s  friend 
and  the  companion  of  his  thoughts,  had  acquired  the  honorable  title  of 
father  of  his  country.  Cicero,  born  in  a  provincial  town,  and  of  citizen 
parents,  had  so  distinguished  himself  by  his  talents,  his  industry,  and  his 
irreproachable  life,  that  although  ignoble  (novus  homo)  he  obtained  the 
consulate.  He  had  devoted  himself  in  Athens  and  Rhodes  with  such  zeal 
and  success  to  the  sciences  of  the  Greeks,  and  especially  to  eloquence  and 
philosophy,  that  he  might  be  compared,  both  as  a  statesman  and  an  ora- 
tor, to  Demosthenes,  and  had  composed  profound  works  on  rhetoric  and 
philosophy.  Though  vain,  boastful,  and  weak,  he  possessed  civic  virtue, 
patriotism,  and  a  strong  sense  of  justice. 

During  his  consulate,  Catiline,  a  man  of  noble  family,  but  disgraced 
by  an  infamous  life,  and  loaded  with  debts,  formed  a  conspiracy  with 
certain  other  Romans  of  desperate  fortunes,  the  objects  of  which  were, 
to  murder  the  consuls,  to  set  fire  to  the  city,  to  overthrow  the  consti- 
tution, and  in  the  confusion  to  seize  upon  the  government  by  the  aid  of 
the  soldiers  of  Sylla  and  the  populace.  But  the  vigilant  consul  Cicero 
had  baffled  this  atrocious  project.  By  his  orations  against  Catiline,  he 
unmasked  the  dissembling  villain  in  the  senate,  and  compelled  him  to  fly 
into  Etruria,  where  he  met  with  his  death  in  a  courageous  defence  against 
the  consular  army.  His  confederates  were  put  to  a  violent  death  in 
prison. 


98  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 


4.    THE    TIMES    OF   JULIUS    CiESAR. 

§  140.  The  triumvirate. —  Sylla's  fortune  excited  ambitious  men  to 
imitate  it.  Every  one  sought  to  be  first,  and  to  rule  the  state  at  his  plea- 
sure. But  whilst  Pompey,  who  was  now  in  possession  of  almost  kingly 
authority,  was  reposing  upon  the  laurels  of  his  renown,  in  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  his  happiness  and  prosperity,  he  was  gradually  overtaken  by  his 
great  competitor,  Julius  Cassar.  This  man  united  talents  of  the  most 
varied  character,  so  that  he  was  not  less  distinguished  as  a  Avriter  and 
orator,  than  as  a  general  and  soldier.  His  liberality  gained  him  the  favor 
of  the  people,  and  his  ambition  urged  him  to  great  deeds.  To  make  him- 
self a  match  for  the  old  republican  party,  at  the  head  of  which  stood  the 
eccentric  M.  Porcius  Cato,  Caisar  fornied  an  alliance  with 
Pompey  and  Crassus,  called  the  triumvirate  (league  of  three 
men),  in  which  they  pledged  themselves  to  assist  each  other.  From  this 
time,  these -three  men  ruled  the  state  without  troubling  themselves  farther 

about  the  senate.  In  a  short  time,  Oiesar  had  the  trovern- 
B.  c.  58.  .  . 

ment  of    Gaul,   in  which    he    had    a    long  Avar    to    conduct, 

transferred  to  himself.  That  he  might  not  be  disturbed  in  his  under- 
takings, he  renewed  the  triumvirate  in  a  meeting  that  was  held  at  Lucca. 
By  this  means,  the  government  of  Gaul  was  continued  to  him  for  five 
years.  Pompey  received  Spain  as  his  province,  but  governed  it  by  means 
of  his  legates,  whilst  he  himself  exercised  a  dictatorial  power  in  Ptome. 
Crassus,  the  richest  man  in  Home,  to  gratify  his  avarice,  chose  Syria  with 
its  riches ;  but  was  overthrown  by  the  Parthians  in  the  plains  of  Mesopo- 
tamia, and  killed  in  the  flight.  His  more  valiant  son,  and  almost  the  whole 
of  the  army,  died  on  the  field  of  battle.  The  Boman  ensigns  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemy. 

§  141.  Caesar's  wars  in  Gaul. — The  Celts,  a  people 

B.  C.  58-50.      ,..,,.  ^       .,  ,  .  .  \     /. 

divided  into  many  states  and  tribes,  were  the  ancient  inhabit- 
ants of  Gaul  (France)  and  Helvetia  (Switzerland).  The  southern  part 
of  this  Gaul  had  already  become  a  Roman  province  (hence  Provence), 
when  the  Helvetii  embraced  the  project  of  leaving  their  sterile  mount- 
ains, and  settling  themselves  in  its  south-western  portion.  The  Romans 
would  not  permit  this,  and  Cassar  in  consequence  marched  into  Gaul. 
He  overthrew  the  Helvetii  in  a  battle,  compelled  them  to  return  to  their 
burnt  villages  and  desolated  country,  and  reduced  them  to  pay  tribute.  He 
then  subdued  the  German  leader,  Ariovistus,  who  by  means  of  his  hardy 
troops  had  severely  oppressed  the  Sequani  and  iEdui,  who  were  dwell- 
ing in  eastern  Gaul,  and  obliged  him  to  return  again  to  his  trans-Rhenish 
country.  After  Caesar  had  subdued  the  Belgse  and  other  Gaulish  tribes, 
he  twice  crossed  the  Rhine  for  the  purpose  of  terrifying  the  warlike  in- 
habitants of  the  rude  and  woody  Germany,  and  preventing  their  hostile 
attacks  upon  Gaul.     It  is  to  this  undertaking  that  we  owe  the  first  short 


HISTORY   OF  ROME.  99 

description  of  Germany,  in   Caesar's   commentaries   on   the   Gallic  war. 

But  the  Roman  general  never  thought  of  making  permanent  conquests, 

either  in  Germany,  or  Britain  on  the  coasts  of  which  he  twice  landed. 

After  a  few  enfjagements  with  the  skin-clad  inhabitants  of  the  British 

islands,  he  sailed  back  again  for  the  purpose  of  completely  subjecting  the 

Gauls.     For  this  restless  and  fickle   people  were   perpetually  revolting 

and  taking  up  arms,  when  Caesar  was  employed  in  another  quarter.     It 

was  not  till  he  had  put  down  the  last  general  insurrection,  at 
B    c    52. 

Alesia,  in  Burgundy,  that  ho  succeeded  in  reducing  the  whole 

country  as  far  as  the  Rhine,  and  converting  it  into  a  province  of  tho 

Roman  empire. 

§  142.    The  second   civil  war.  —  In  the  meanwhile, 

B.  C.  49  —  48. 

the  rage  of  party  had  grown  in  Rome  to  the  greatest  excess, 
and  murder  and  plunder  were  matters  of  daily  occurrence.  This  induced 
the  senate  and  the  old  republicans  to  attach  themselves  entirely  to  Pom- 
pey,  and  to  place  the  consulate  at  his  disposal.  Porapey  employed  this 
vast  power  to  depress  Cajsar,  of  whose  military  renown  he  had  become 
jealous.  At  his  instigation,  an  order  was  sent  to  Cassar  from  the 
senate,  at  the  termination  of  the  w;ar  in  Gaul,  to  lay  down  his  command 
and  to  quit  his  army.  Two  tribunes  of  the  people  (Ciirio  and  Antdnius) 
who  opposed  this  resolution,  and  denninded  that  Pompey  should  also  give 
np  his  power,  were  driven  out  of  the  city ;  they  fled  to  Caesar's  camp, 
and  summoned  him  to  step  forward  as  the  defender  of  the  outraged  privi- 
leges of  the  people. 

After  a  little  hesitation,  Cassar  crossed  the  boundary  stream 

of  the  Rubicon,  and  advanced  upon  Rome.  Pompey,  aroused 
when  it  was  too  late  from  his  indolence  and  careless  security,  did  not  ven- 
ture to  await  his  approach  in  the  city :  he  hastened  to  Brundusium  with 
a  few  troops  and  a  great  train  of  senators  and  nobles ;  and  when  the  vic- 
tor approached  that  place,  he  escaped  across  the  Ionian  Sea  into  Epi'rus. 
Cxsar  did  not  pursue  him,  but  fell  back  upon  Rome,  where  he  took  pos- 
session of  the  treasury,  and  then  proceeded  to  Spain.  Here  he  com- 
pelled the  army  of  Pompey  to  a  capitulation,  the  result  of  which  was, 
that  the  generals  and  otficers  were  allowed  to  depart,  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  common  soldiers  joined  the  victor.  AVhen  Caesar  on  his  re- 
turn, after  a  close  siege,  had  reduced  Massilia,  a  town  that  wished  to 
remain  neutral,  and  punished  it  severely  in  its  possessions  and  liberties, 
he  again  marched  to  Rome,  had  himself  appointed  dictator  and  consul 
for  the  following  year,  and  adopted  many  serviceable  measures.  He  then 
passed  over  the  Ionian  Sea,  for  the  purpose  of  making  head  against 

Pompey.     The  decisive  battle  of  Pharsalus,  in  the  plains  of 

Thessaly,  was  soon  fought,  in  which  Caesar's  veteran  troops 
gained  a  aplendid  victory  over  an  army  of  double  their  numbers.  Pom- 
pey, with  a  few  faithful  followers,  fled  to  Asia  Minor  and  thence  to  Egypt, 


too  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

where,  instead  of  a  hospitable  reception,  he  met  his  death  by  assassi- 
nation. Ptolemy,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  the  favor  of  Csesar,  ordered 
the  conquered  Pompey  to  be  killed  on  his  landing  at  Pelusium,  and  his 
dead  body  to  be  cast  unburied  upon  the  shore. 

§  143.  Cesar's  triumphs. —  Shortly  after,  Ccesar  arrived  in  Italy, 
He  shed  tears  of  compassion  over  Pompey's  death,  and  refused  the 
instigator  of  the  murder  his  promised  reward.  For  when  he  was 
chosen  umpire  between  Ptolemy  and  his  beautiful  sister  Cleopatra, 
in  a  dispute  concerning  the  throne,  he  decided  in  favor  of  the  latter, 
and  by  this  means  got  involved  in  a  war  with  the  king  and  the 
people  of  Egypt,  that  retained  him  for  nine  months  in  Alexandria, 
and  reduced  him  to  great  peril.  It  was  only  when  fresh  troops  had 
arrived,  and  Ptolemy  had  been  drow^ned  after  an  unsuccessful  engage- 
ment on  the  Nile,  that  he  could  place  the  government  in  the  hands 
of  Cleopatra  (by  whose  charms  he  had  been  enchained),  and  proceed  to 
fresh  conquests.  The  rapid  victory  that  he  gained  by  the  terror  of  his 
name  over  the  son  of  Mithridates  has  been  rendered  immortal  by  the 
memorable  letter  that  announced  the  event :  "  I  came,  saw,  conquered  ** 
(Veni,  vidi,  vici).  After  a  short  delay  in  Rome,  he  passed  over  into 
Africa,  where  the  friends  of  republican  government  and  the  adherents 
of  Pompey  had  collected  a  vast  army.  Here  Caesar  gained 
the  bloody  battle  of  Thtpsus,  where  the  hopes  of  the  repub- 
licans were  destroyed.  Thousands  fell  in  the  field;  many  of  the  survivors 
perished  by  their  own  hands,  and  among  them,  the  high-spirited  Cato 
the  younger,  who  put  himself  to  death  in  Utica  with  calm  composure.  A 
magnificent  triumph  of  four  days  awaited  the  victor  on  his  return  to 
Pome,  which  he,  however,  soon  quitted,  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  the 
last  of  his  enemies,  who  had  assembled  themselves  around  the  sons  of 
Pompey.  The  last  remnants  of  the  friends  of  Pompey  and  the  republic 
were  destroyed  in  the  frightful  battle  near  Munda,  where  they 
fought  with  the  courage  of  desperation.  One  of  the  sons  was 
killed  in  the  flight,  and  the  survivor  follow^ed  the  life  of  a  pirate,  till  he 
fell  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin. 

§  144.  Cesar's  death. —  Ca3sar  now  returned,  as  chief  and  ruler  of 
the  Roman  empire,  to  the  capital,  where  he  was  saluted  as  "  Father  of 
the  country,"  and  elected  dictator  for  life.  He  sought  to  win  the  sol- 
diers and  people  by  liberality,  and  the  nobles  by  offices :  he  encouraged 
trade  and  agriculture,  embellished  the  city  with  temples,  theatres,  and 
public  places,  improved  the  calendar,  and  forw^arded  all  kinds  of  good  and 
useful  projects ;  but  his  evident  attempts  to  gain  the  title  and  dignity  of 
king  induced  some  fanatical  friends  of  liberty  to  engage  in  a  conspiracy. 
His  friend  and  flatterer,  Marc  Antony,  off'ered  hira  the  kingly  dia- 
dem during  a  feast;  and  despite  the  feigned  distaste  with  which 
C99sar  rejected  it,  his  secret  satisfaction  was  discernible.     At  the  head  of 


inSTORT   OF   HOME.  ,  101 

the  conspiracy  stood  the  high-minded  enthusiast  for  liberty,  M.  Junius 

Brutus,  the  friend  of  Coesar,  and  the  severe  republican,  Caius  Cassius. 

In  despite  of  every  warning,  Coesar  held  a  meeting  of  the  senate  on 
the  ides  of  March,  in  the  hall  of  Pompey.  It  was  here 
that,  with  the  exclamation,  "  Et  in  Brute  1 "  he  fell,  pierced 

by  twenty-three  daggers,  at  the  feet  of  the  statue  of  his  former  opponent. 

5.  THE  LAST  YEARS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

§  145.  It  was  soon  apparent  that  the  idea  of  freedom  only  existed 
among  a  few  men  of  cultivated  minds,  but  was  quenched  in  the  hearts 
of  the  populace.  The  first  enthusiasm  for  the  newly-acquired  freedom 
was  soon  changed  into  hatred  and  invectives  against  the  murderers  of  the 
dictator,  when  Marc  Antony,  in  an  artful  speech  at  the  funeral  of 
Caesar,  extolled  his  merits  and  services,  and  ordered  presents  of  money 
to  be  distributed  among  the  poor.  The  senate,  on  the  other  hand,  were 
for  the  most  part  favorable  to  the  conspirators,  and  conferred  upon  some 
ot  them  the  government  of  provinces ;  and  when  Antony  attempted  to 
take  possession  of  one  of  these  provinces  by  force,  Cicero  obtained,  by 
his  Philippic  Orations,  that  the  senate  declared  him  an  enemy  of  the 
country.  The  senate,  at  the  same  time,  gave  offence  to  Octavius,  the  grand- 
son of  Caesar's  sister,  who  was  then  nineteen  years  of  age,  and  who,  as 
heir  of  his  uncle's  name,  (Caesar  Octavianus,  afterwards  Augustus),  had 
all  the  old  soldiers  on  his  side.  Octavius,  in  consequence,  raised  the 
standard  of  CiBsar's  venpjeance,  and  formed  a  second  triumvi- 

B.  C.  43. 

rate  with  Antony  and  Lepidus,  on  a  little  island  of  the  river 
Reno,  near  Bologna.  New  proscriptions  took  place,  which  proved  par- 
ticularly fatal  to  the  knightly  and  senatorial  ranks.  The  most  deserving 
and  illustrious  men  fell  beneath  the  blows  of  assassins,  the  dearest  rela- 
tions of  blood,  of  friendship,  and  of  piety  were  torn  asunder.  Among  the 
victims  of  Antony  was  Cicero,  who  was  killed  during  an  attempt  at  flight. 
His  head  and  his  right  hand  were  placed  upon  the  rostrum. 

§  146.  After  the  possessors  of  power  in  Italy  had  satiated  their  ven- 
geance,   they  marched  against    the    republicans,   who   had  established 
their  camp  in  Macedonia,  under  the  command  of  Brutus  and   Cassius. 
It  was  here,  in  the  plains  of  Philippi,  that  a  decisive  double 
engagement  took  place,  in  which   Cassius  was  obliged  to 
yield  to  Antony,  whilst  Brutus  repulsed  the  legions  of   Octavius.      But 
when  Cassius,  deceived  by  false  intelligence,  had  over-hastily  fallen  upon 
his  own  sword,  and  the  triumvirs,  twenty  days  afterwards,  renewed  the 
fight  with  united  forces,  Brutus,  "the  last  of  the  Romans,"  was  forced  to 
succumb,  and  fell,  like  Cassius,  upon  his  own  sword.      His  wife,   Portia 
(Cato's  daughter),  destroyed  herself  with  live  coals,  and  many  champi- 
ons of  liberty  died  by  their  own  hands ;  so  that  Philippi  became  the 
grave  of  the  republic.     Henceforth,  the  contest  was  no  longer  for  free- 
9* 


102  THE  ANCIENT  WORLD. 

dom,  but  for  empire.  The  victors  divided  the  Roman  territory  between 
them ;  Antony  chose  the  east,  Octavius  the  west ;  the  feeble  Lepidus, 
who  at  first  received  the  province  of  Africa,  but  who  never  possessed 
much  influence,  was  soon  robbed  of  his  share. 

§  147.  But  whilst  the  luxurious  Antony  was  leading  a  voluptuous  life 
at  Cleopatra's  court  in  Alexandria,  the  shrewd  Augustus  and  his  high- 
spirited  admiral,  Agrippa,  were  winning  the  affections  of  the  Roman 
people  by  liberal  donations  and  diversions,  rewarding  the  soldiers  by  a 
distribution  of  lands,  and  keeping  up  the  discipline  of  the  fleet  and  army. 
At  length,  when  Antony  lavished  Roman  blood  and  Roman  honor  in  an 
unsuccessful   campaign  against  the   Parthians,  married   Cleopatra,  and 
gave  the  provinces  of  Rome  to  her  son,  the  senate,  at  the  instigation  of 
Octavius,  deprived  him  of  all  his  honors,  and  declared  war  against  Cleo- 
patra.    East  and  west  stood  opposed  in  arms.     But  the  sea- 
fight  of  Actium,   despite  the  superiority  of  the   Egyptians, 
was  decided  in  favor  of  Octavius.      Antony  and   Cleopatra  fled.      But 
when  the  victor  approached  the  gates  of  Alexandria,  the  former  fell  on 
his  sword,  and  Cleopatra,  finding  that  her  charms  produced  no  impression 
on  the  new  potentate,  destroyed  herself  by  the  poison  of  an 
asp.    Egypt  became  the  first  province  of  the  Roman  Empire. 


IV.    THE  KOMAN  EMPIRE. 

1.    THE    TIMES    OP    C^SAR    OCTAVIANUS    AUGUSTUS. 

Augustus,  §  148.  The  bloody  civil  war  had  swept  away  all  the  men 

from  30  b.  c.  of  ability  and  patriotism ;  and  the  crowd  that  was  left  de- 
manded nothing  but  food  and  entertainment,  and  forgot  free- 
dom and  civil  virtue  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  moment.  This  rendered  it 
easy  to  the  dexterous  Augustus  to  change  the  Roman  republic  into  a 
monarchy;  but  he  yielded  so  far  to  the  prejudices  of  the  Romans,  as  not 
to  assume  the  title  of  king,  or  master,  and  to  retain  the  republican  names 
and  forms,  with  the  appellation  of  Caesar,  whilst  he  gradually  got  all  the 
offices  and  privileges  of  the  senate  and  people  placed  in  his  own  hands, 
and  had  them  renewed  from  time  to  time.  He  united  a  profound  under- 
standing and  talents  for  government,  with  clemency,  temperance,  and 
constancy ;  and  as  he  was  a  master  in  the  art  of  dissimulation,  and  knew 
how  to  turn  the  failings  of  men  to  advantage,  he  gained  his  ends  more 
surely  than  his  greater  uncle,  Caesar.  It  was  under  Augustus  that  the 
Roman  empire  possessed  the  greatest  power  abroad,  and  the  highest  cul- 
tivation at  home.  It  extended  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  Euphrates, 
and  from  the  Danube  and  Rhine  to  the  Atlas  and  falls  of  the  j^ik ;  art 


HISTORY   OF  ROME.  103 

Bnd  literature  flourished  to  such  a  degree,  that  the  reign  of  Augustus 
was  called  the  golden  age.  Vast  military  roads,  provided  with  mile- 
stones, connected  the  twenty-five  provinces  with  Rome,  and  facilitated 
intercourse;  magnificent  aqueducts  and  canals  attested  the  enterprising 
spirit  of  the  Roman  people;  Rome  itself  was  adorned  with  temples, 
theatres,  and  baths,  and  so  much  changed,  that  Augustus  was  able  to  say 
that  be  found  Rome  brick,  and  left  it  marble.  The  temple  which  Agrippa 
consecrated  to  all  the  gods  (the  Pantheon),  is  still  one  of  the  greatest 
ornaments  of  the  eternal  city.  Augustus  and  his  friend  Ma3cenas,  Pollio, 
and  others,  were  the  favorers  of  art  and  literature,  and  the  patrons  of 
poets  and  authors.  The  first  public  library  was  founded  on  the  Palatine 
hill ;  the  citizens,  who  now  no  longer  marched  to  the  wars,  and  Avho  had 
relinquished  the  conduct  of  state  affairs  to  Ciesar  and  his  ministers, 
employed  their  leisure  in  reading  and  writing,  left  actions  for  words,  and 
performing  for  thinking ;  it  was  by  this  means  that  polished  manners 
soon  prevailed  among  all  classes. 

§  149.  Roman  literature.  —  Virgil,  Horace,  and  Ovid  claim  the 
first  place  among  the  poets  that  adorned  the  Augustan  age.  The  first 
composed  the  ^neid,  an  heroic  poem  on  the  model  of  Homer  (§  38), 
pastoral  poetry,  and  a  didactic  poem  on  agriculture ;  Horace,  to  whom 
his  patron  Maecenas  presented  a  small  Sabine  farm,  wrote  odes,  satires, 
and  humorous  epistles,  in  which  he  exhibits  his  cheerful  views  of  life  in 
a  witty  and  engaging  manner ;  Ovid,  the  clever  writer  of  mythological 
stories  (Metamorphoses),  was  banished  by  Augustus  to  the  rude  shores 
of  the  Black  Sea,  whence  he  wrote  letters  of  complaint  to  his  distant 
home. 

Among  historians,  the  most  celebrated  are  Sallust,  who,  in  his  account 
of  the  wars  against  Jugurtha  and  Catiline,  gives  a  true  but  frightful 
picture  of  the  corrupt  times ;  and  Titus  Livius,  the  tutor  of  the  grand- 
nephew  of  Augustus,  who  wrote  a  complete  history  of  Rome,  in  142  books ; 
of  which  only  thirty-five  are  preserved.  We  possess  a  biography  of 
distinguished  men,  by  his  contemporary,  Cornolius  Nepos.  The  Romans 
took  the  Greeks  for  their  models  in  art  and  literature,  but  fell  far  short 
of  their  masters. 

2.    THE    STRUGGLES    OF   THE    GERMANS   FOR    LIBERTY. 

§  150.  About  the  time  that  the  Saviour  of  the  world  was  brought 
forth  in  lowliness  and  humility  in  Bethlehem,  in  the  land  of  Judoe'a,  to 
bring  the  joyful  news  of  salvation  to  the  lost  race  of  man,  the  Germans 
were  engaged  in  a  severe  struggle  with  the  Romans  for  the  preservation 
of  their  liberties  and  national  customs.  Drusus,  the  brave  step-son  of 
Augustus,  was  the  first  Roman  who  made  any  conquests  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  Rhine.  He  undertook  many  successful  campaigns  against 
the  tribes  in  alliance  with  the  Suevi,  between  the  Rhine  and  the  Elbe, 


104  THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 

and  attemi:)ted  to  secure  the  land  bj  intrencliments  and  fortifications. 
Being  killed  in  the  flower  of  his  years,  by  a  fall  from  his  horse  during 
his  return  home,  his  brother  Tiberius  completed  the  conquest  of  western 
Germany,  rather  by  dint  of  skilfully-conducted  negotiations  w^ith  the 
disunited  Germans,  than  by  force  of  arms ;  whereupon  the  country  be- 
tween the  Rhine  and  the  Weser  was  erected  into  a  Roman  province. 
Foreign  customs,  language,  and  laws  already  threatened  to  destroy  Ger- 
man nationality ;  German  soldiers  already  fought  in  the  ranks  of  the 
Romans,  and  prided  themselves  on  foreign  marks  of  distinction  ;  when  the 
insolence  and  indiscretion  of  the  governor,  Quintilius  Varus,  aroused  the 
slumbering  patriotism  of  the  people.  Several  tribes  united  themselves 
in  a  confederacy,  under  the  guidance  of  Hermann  (Arminius),  the  va- 
liant prince  of  the  Cherusci,  for  the  purpose  of  throwing  off  the  foreign 
yoke.  It  w^as  in  vain  that  Sege$tus,  w^hose  daughter  Thusnelda  had  been 
carried  off  and  married  by  Hermann,  against  the  consent  of  her  father, 
warned  the  careless  governor.  Varus  marched  with  three  legions  and 
several  auxiliaries,  through  the  Teutoburger  forest,  for  the  purpose  of 
quelling  an  insurrection  that  had  been  purposely  raised ;  but  suffered 
such  a  defeat  from  the  Germans  under  Hermann's  command,  that  the 
defiles  of  the  wood  w^ere  covered  far  and  wide  with  the 
corpses  of  the  Romans.  The  eagles  were  lost,  and  Varus 
died  by  his  own  hands.  Augustus,  when  he  heard  the  news,  exclaimed 
in  despair,  "  Varus,  give  me  back  my  legions  I" 

§  151.  Upon  the  death  of  Augustus,  in  his  76th  year,  at 
Nola,  in  Lower  Italy,  Germanicus,  tlfe  valiant  son  of  Drusus, 
again  crossed  the  Rhine,  ravaged  the  lands  of  the  Catti  (Hesse), 
buried  the  bleaching  remains  of  the  Romans  in  the  Teutoburger  forest, 
and  carried  off  into  captivity  Thusnelda,  the  high-spirited  wife  of  Her- 
mann, whom  her  treacherous  father  had  given  up  to  the  enemy.  But 
although  he  defeated  the  Cherusci  and  their  allies  in  two  engagements, 
and  at  the  same  time  pressed  Germany  closely  by  sea,  the  Roman  do- 
minion was  never  firmly  or  permanently  established  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Rhine.  Storms  destroyed  the  fleet,  and  a  pathless  country  and  the 
swords  of  the  Germans  brought  the  army  to  the  brink  of  destruction  ; 
and  when  at  length  Germanicus,  (to  whose  noble  wife,  Agrippina,  the 
town  of  Cologne  owes  its  prosperity),  was  recalled  by  his  jealous  uncle, 
Tiberius,  and  shortly  after,  met  with  his  death  by  poison  in  Syria,  the 
Germans  were  no  longer  disturbed  by  the  ambition  of  the  Romans.  But 
the  Lower  German  confederation  of  the  Cherusci  now  turned  its  arms 
against  the  Upper  German  confederation  of  the  Marcomanni,  at  the 
head  of  which  stood  Marbodius.  This  gave  the  Romans  an  opportunity 
of  embroiling  Germany  from  the  south.  Marbodius  fell  into  the  power 
of  the  Romans,  who  kept  him  for  eighteen  years  at  Ravenna,  as  their 
pensioner;  Hermann  was  killed  by  envious  friends.     His  deeds  survived 


HISTORY   OF   ROME.  105 

in  song,  and  our  own  age  has  erected  a  colossal  statue,  on  the  Ten  thill 
at  Detmold,  in  joyful  commemoration  of  the  deliverer  of  Germany. 

TACITUS  ON  THE  MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS  OF  THE  GERMANS. 

§  152.  About  100  years  after  Augustus,  the  great  historian  Tacitus, 
after  having  portrayed  the  events  of  tlie  Roman  empire  in  his  History 
and  Annals,  embraced  the  resolution  of  describing  the  manners  and  cus- 
toms of  the  German  tribes,  and  presenting  them  as  models  to  his  degene- 
rate countrymen.  Although  the  work  remained  a  mere  sketch,  it  is  tc 
this  resolution  that  we  are  indebted  for  the  first  accurate  information 
respecting  this  region.  We  learn  from  it,  that  Germany  was  inhabited 
by  numerous  independent  tribes,  sometimes  united  and  sometimes  at  war 
with  each  other,  who  were  perpetually  changing  their  places  of  residence 
in  obedience  to  an  innate  wandering  impulse. 

War  and  the  chase  were  their  chief  employments  ;  they  built  neither 
towns  nor  strong-holds ;  their  huts  and  farms  were  scattered  about  ia  the 
midst  of  their  grounds  ;  a  peaceful  life  behind  stone  walls  agreed  neither 
with  their  love  of  liberty  nor  their  passion  for  war.  They  united  purity 
of  morals,  hospitality,  good  faith,  and  honeslj',  respect  for  women,  and 
reverence  for  the  marriage  tie,  to  the  external  advantages  of  lofty 
stature,  beauty  of  person,  strength,  and  courage.  The  only  vices  attribu- 
ted to  them  are  a  disposition  to  drunkenness  and  gambling. 

3.     THE  C^SARS    OF   THE    AUGUSTAN    RACE. 

§  153.  Domestic  misfortunes  disturbed  the  happiness  of  Augustus. 
The  promising  sons,  who  sprung  from  the  marriage  of  his  daughter 
Julia  with  Agrippa,  died  in  their  youth  ;  Julia  herself  occasioned  her 
father  such  distress  by  her  profligate  life  that  at  length  he  banished  her. 
By  the  intrigues  of  the  ambitious  Livia,  the  emperor's  third  wife,  the 
Tiberius,  empire  descended  to  Tiberius,  the  adopted  step-son  of 
A.  D.  14  —  37.  Augustus.  The  clemency  kt  first  displayed  by  this  hypo- 
critical prince  soon  gave  way  to  his  natural  malevolence,  pai'ticulax'ly 
when  his  crafty  and  vicious  favorite,  Sejanus,  assisted  him  in  establish- 
ing a  military  despotism.  He  advised  him  to  unite  the  praetorian  body- 
guard in  a  permanent  camp  before  Rome.  Here  they  soon  became  the 
oppressors  of  the  people,  raised  and  dethroned  emperors,  and  introduced 
a  military  despotism.  The  assemblies  of  the  people  were  no  longer  held, 
and  the  dastardly  senate  sank  into  a  mere  tool  of  the  despot.  The  fright- 
ful court  which  took  cognizance  of  cases  of  high  treason,  was  a  means  of 
destroying  every  man  of  ability,  inasmuch  as  it  inflicted  the  punishment 
of  death,  and  imposed  fines,  not  only  for  actions,  but  even  for  words  and 
thoughts.  ■  Pensioned  spies  undermined  all  faith  and  trust  among  the 
people,  and  destroyed  every  spark  of  freedom  by  terror.  The  misan- 
thropical Tiberius,  tortured  by  fear  and  the  reproaches  of  his  conscience, 


106  THE   AXCIENT   WORLD. 

passed  the  last  years  of  his  life  in  the  island  of  Capreae  (Capri),  in  Lowei 
Italy,  where  he  abandoned  himself  to  luxury  and  the  most  infamoug 
pleasures,  whilst  Sejdnus  was  practising  every  vice  in  Rome.  When  the 
latter  at  length  attempted  to  possess  himself  of  the  throne,  the  emperor 
sent  an  order  to  the  senate  to  put  him  to  death.  Tiberius,  sick  and 
advanced  in  years,  perished  by  a  violent  death  on  his  estate  in  Lower 
Italy.  During  his  reign,  a  dreadful  earthquake  destroyed  many  of  the 
richest  and  most  beautiful  cities  in  Asia  Minor. 

CaligiiLi,  §  154.  His  successor,  Caius  Caligula,  the  unworthy  son  of 

A.  D.  37-41.  the  noble  Germanicus  and  the  high-minded  Agrippina,  was 
a  blood-thirsty  tyrant,  who  took  delight  in  signing  sentences  of  death  and 
having  them  executed;  a  frantic  spendthrift,  who  lavished  money  in 
buildings  without  a  purpose ;  an  insolent  boaster,  who  caused  divine 
honors  to  be  paid  to  himself,  and  celebrated  magnificent  triumphs  over 
the  Germans  and  Britons,  whom  he  scarcely  ever  saw ;  and  a  glutton,  by 
whose  riotous  table  enormous  sums  were  swallowed  up.  The  Prastorians 
Claudius,  '^^  length  killed  the  crazy  tyrant,  and  raised  his  uncle,  the 
A.  D.  41-54.  imbecile  Claudius,  to  the  throne.  This  emperor  was  led  by 
women  and  favorites ;  th%  latter  especially  the  freedmen  Narcissus  and 
Pallas,  were  in  possession,  of  all  the  offices,  and  enriched  themselves  at 
the  expense  of  the  people,  whilst  his  wife  Messalina  yielded  herself  up  to 
every  lust,  and  trampled  morality  and  decency  under  foot.  At  length, 
the  emperor  commanded  her  to  be  put  to  death,  and  married  his  ambi- 
tious and  profligate  niece  Agrippina,  who,  however,  soon  got  rid  of  her 
weak  and  uxorious  husband  by  poison,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  the 
depraved  Claudius  Nero,  her  son  by  a  former  marriage,  to  the  throne. 
Nero,  §  155.  The  clemency  which  Nero  displayed  in  the  com- 

A.  D.  54  -  68.  mencement  of  his  reign,  soon  gave  place  to  the  most  ex- 
quisite cruelty.  He,  who  once,  when  he  had  to  sign  an  order  for  an 
execution,  wished  that  he  could  not  write,  now  not  only  persecuted,  put 
to  death,  and  confiscated  the  property  of  every  man  who  displayed  the 
virtues  of  a  citizen  or  the  mind  of  a  Roman,  but  exercised  his  tyranny 
at  the  expense  of  his  nearest  relations.  His  step-brother,  Britannicus, 
died  by  poison  from  the  imperial  table ;  his  mother  was  first  sunk  at  sea 
in  a  ship,  and  when  she  succeeded  in  saving  herself,  was  put  to  death  by 
assassins  despatched  for  the  purpose ;  his  virtuous  wife,  Octavia,  the 
daughter  of  Claudius,  found  a  violent  death  in  an  overheated  bath.  A 
conspiracy,  in  which  the  republican  poet  Lucan  (whose  heroic  poem 
Pharsalia  still  breathes  the  old  Roman  spirit)  was  implicated,  was  made 
use  of  by  the  emperor  to  destroy  not  only  Lucan,  but  his  uncle  Seneca, 
the  Stoic  philosopher,  who  had  been  Nero's  own  preceptor.  Seneca 
opened  his  own  veins.  Nero,  at  the  instigation  of  his  courtiers  and 
mistress  (Poppse'a  Sabina),  perpetrated  the  most  shameful  folhes  and 
crimes.     Spectacles  and  riotous  processions,  in  which  the  emperor  him- 


HISTORY   OF  EOME.  107 

self,  disguised  as  a  singer  and  harp-player,  took  a  share  along  with  the 
companions  of  his  pleasures,  luxurious  feasts  and  banquets,  and  extrava- 
gances of  evfery  description,  consumed  the  revenues  of  the  state.  The 
despot,  in  the  plenitude  of  his  insolence  and  wickedness,  ordered  Rome 
to  be  set  on  fire,*  that  he  might  sing  the  destruction  Of  Troy  from  the 
battlements  of  his  palace.  To  divert  the  hatred  of  his  subjects  from  him- 
self, he  afterwards  attributed  the  crime  to  the  Christians,  who  were  sub- 
jected, in  consequence,  to'the  most  frightful  persecutions.  The  rebuilding 
of  the  city,  and  Nero's  "  Golden  House,"  on  the  Palatine  hill,  increased 
the  oppression,  till  at  length,  repeated  enormities  induced  the  Spanish 
legion  to  revolt.  As  the  troops  under  the  command  of  Galba  approached 
the  capital,  Nero  fled  to  a  country  house,  where  he  caused  himself  to  be 
Stabbed  by  one  of  his  freedmen. 

§  156.  The  house  of  Augustus  became  extinct  with  Nero.  Galba  was 
Galba  Otho  ^^^  successor.  But  as  the  avaricious  old  man  would  not 
Vitellius,  gratify  the  rapacity  of  the  Prajtorians,  they  proclaimed  Otho 
A.  D.  68-70.  emperor,  and  put  Galba  and  the  successor  he  had  appointed 
to  death.  At  the  same  time,  Vitellius  raised  his  standard  on  the  Rhine, 
marched  with  his  legions  into  Italy,  and  defeated  the  army  of  his  oppo- 
nent on  the  banks  of  the  Po.  Otho,  and  several  of  his  adherents,  died 
by  their  own  hands.  Vitellius  was  a  mere  glutton,  who  found  pleasure 
in  nothing  but  luxurious  banquets.  Accordingly,  when  Vespasian,  whom 
the  Syrian  legions  had  proclaimed  emperor,  approached  the  gates  of 
Rome,  Vitellius  was  "killed  by  a  troop  of  rude  soldiers,  and  his  body 
dranr^red  with  hooks  into  the  Tiber. 


•CO' 


4.    THE    FLAVII   AND    ANTOXINES. 

Vespasian,  §  1^7.  Vespasian,  the  first  in  tlie  succession  of  good  empe- 

A.  D.  70-79.  rors,  restored  the  discipline  of  the  army  and  the  Proetoriaus 
by  severe  measures,  improved  the  administration  of  justice  after  abolish- 
ing the  court  of  high  treason,  and  by  economy  and  good  management 
gucceeded  in  replenishing  the  treasury.  At  the  same  time,  he  embel- 
lished the  city  by  building  the  Temple  of  Peace  and  the  Amphitheatre, 
the  gigantic  remains  of  which  (Coliseum)  still  excite  the  admiration  of 
travellers,  and  enlarged  the  boundaries  of  the  empire  by  the  conquest  of 
Judce'a  and  Britain. 

§  158.  The  tyranny  of  the  Roman  governor  who  ruled  over  the  land 
of  Judoe'a  had  at  last  driven  the  people  to  rebellion.  They  fought  with 
the  courage  of  despair  against  the  advancing  legions,  but  were  forced  to 
yield  to  Roman  superiority  and  take  refuge  in  their  capital,  where  they 

*  This  is  an  exaggerated  account  of  Nero's  guilt.  It  is  not  probable  that  he  was  the 
author  of  the  conflagration,  and  Tacitus  says  there  was  no  authority  but  a  vague  rumor 
among  the  populace  for  the  story,  that  Nero  showed  his  indifference  or  exultation  at  th« 
event  by  playing  and  singing  while  the  flames  still  raged.    Am.  Ed. 


103  THE   AXCIENT   WORLD. 

were  now  besieged  hy  Vespjisian's  son,  Titus.  Thousands  were  soon 
carried  off  by  famine  and  pestilence  in  the  over-crowded  city.  It  was  in 
vain  that  the  compassionate  general  made  offers  of  pardon:  rage  and 
fanaticism  urged  the  Jews  to  a  desperate  resistance.  They  defended 
themselves  in  tlioir  temple  with  an  utter  contempt  for  death,  till  that 
magnificent  structure  was  destroyed  by  fire  on  the  taking  of  the  city,  and 
death  raged  in  every  shape  among  the  conquered.  The 
complete  destruction  of  JerUvSalem  then  took  place.  Among 
the  prisoners,  who  followed  the  triumphal  car  of  the  conqueror,  was 
Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian  of  this  war.  The  triumphal  arch  of  Titus 
in  Rome  displays,  to  this  day,  representations  of  the  sacred  vessels  of  the 
Jews  that  were  at  this  time  conveyed  to  the  metropolis  of  the  world. 
Those  who  were  left  behind  were  exposed  to  grievous  oppression  under 
the  Roman  yoke.  But  when  a  heathen  colony,  fifty  years  after  the 
destruction  of  the  city,  was  transplanted  by  the  emperor  Adrian  to  the 
sacred  soil  of  Jerusalem,  (which  from  this  time  was  called  JElia  Capi- 
tolina),  and  a  temple  erected  to  Jupiter  on  the  eminence  once  occupied 
by  Solomon's  temple  to  Jehovah,  the  Jews,  deceived  by  a  false  Messiah, 
took  up  arms  once  more  to  prevent  this  outraf^e.  After  a 
"  "  "  *  murderous  war  of  three  years'  duration,  in  which  upwards 
of  half  a  million  of  the  natives  were  slaughtered,  the  Jews  submitted  to 
the  military  skill  of  the  Romans.  The  survivors  left  the  country  in 
crowds,  the  land  resembled  a  desert,  and  the  Jewish  state  was  at  an  elid. 
Since  then,  the  Jews  have  been  scattered  abroad  6ver  the  whole  earth, 
but  without  mingling  with  other  people,  and  faithful  to  their  own  customs, 
religion,  and  superstitions. 

§  150.  It  was  during  the  reign  of  Vespasian,  that  the  high-spirited 
Agricola,  father-in-law  to  the  historian  Tacitus,  by  whom  his  life  has 
been  written,  subdued  Britain  as  far  as  the  highlands  of  Caledonia  (Scot- 
land), and  introduced  the  Roman  language,  manners,  and  institutions. 
Britain  remained  subject  to  the  Romans  for  nearly  four  hundred  years. 
The  warlike  energy  of  the  people  was  destroyed  by  civilization,  so  that 
they  were  afterwards  as  little  able  to  resist  the  attacks  of  the  rude  Cale- 
donians (Picts  and  Scots)  as  the  wall  erected  by  Adrian  proved  a  defence 
against  their  inroads. 

Titus,  §  160.  The  simple  ^nd  energetic  Vespasian  was  succeeded 

A.  D.  79-81.  by  his  son  Titus,  who  cast  off  the  failings  and  crimes  of  his 
youth  when  he  ascended  the  throne,  and  became  so  admirable  a  prince 
that  he  was  justly  called  "  the  delight  of  mankind."  It  was  during  his 
reign  that  a  frightful  eruption  of  Mount  Vesuvius  destroyed  the  towns 
of  Ilerculaneum,  Pompeii,  and  Stabias.  The  inquisitive  natural  philoso- 
pher, the  elder  Pliny,  lost  his  life  by  the  vapor  produced  by  this  eruption, 
us  we  learn  from  two  letters,  written  by  his  nephew,  Pliny  the  younger, 
the  friend  and  encomiast  of  the  emperor  Trajan,  to  the  historian  Tacitus. 


HISTORY   OF  ROME.  109 

TLe  exlmmation  of  these  buried  towns,  which  was  begun  about  a  hundred 
years  ago,  more  especially  that  of  Pompeii,  has  been  of  the  utmost  im*- 
portance  to  the  knowledge  of  antiquity  and  to  the  artistic  taste  of  our 
own  day. 

§  161.  The  noble  Titus  was  unfortunately  followed  by  his  brother,  the 
Doraitiaii,  cruel  Domitian,  a  gloomy  and  misanthropical  tyrant,  who 
A.  D.  81-98.  took  pleasure  in  nothing  but  the  contests  of  wild  beasts  and 
gladiatorial  combats.  When  he  was  at  length  murdered  at  the  instiga- 
Nerva,  tion  of  his  wicked  wife,  the  throne  was  taken  possession  of 

A.  D.  OG-98.  by  Nerva,  an  old  senator.  Nerva  adopted  the  energetic 
Trajan,  Spaniard,  Trajan,  who,  by  his  government  at  home,  and  his 

A.  0.98-117.  victories  abroad,  deserved  the  surname  of  the  best,  and  the 
glory  of  the  greatest,  of  the  Caesars.  He  provided  for  the  proper  admin- 
istration of  justice,  facilitated  trade  and  commerce  by  making  new  roads 
and  harbors  (Ci'vita  Vecchia),  and  embellished  Rome  with  public  build- 
ings, temples,  and  a  new  forum,  in  which  he  ordered  the  beautiful  column 
of  Trajan  to  be  erected.  He  at  the  same  time  reduced  the  turbulent 
Dacians  on  the  Danube,  and  established  the  province  of  Dacia  (Walla- 
chia  and  Transylvania),  which  was  soon  peopled  by  Roman  settlers,  on 
the  northern  bank  of  the  river.  In  the  east,  he  made  war  on  the  Par- 
thians,  conquered  Babylon,  Seleucia,  and  other  cities,  and  converted 
Armenia  and  Mesopotamia  into  Roman  provinces.  The  country  between 
the  sources  of  the  Danube  and  the  Upper  Rhine,  (Black  Forest),  was 
surrendered  to  settlers  from  Gaul  and  Germany,  and  was  afterwards 
protected  from  hostile  attacks  by  a  ditch  fortified  with  stakes.  It  was 
called  Decumatian  land,  and  the  ruins  of  numerous  towns,  and  the  anti- 
quities that  are  dug  up  there,  show  that  it  must  have  shared  in  the  civili- 
zation of  its  conquerors. 

§  1G2.  Trajan's  relative  and  successor,  jJElius  Adrianus  (Hadrian) 
was  more  intent  upon  defending  than  enlarging  the  bounds  of  his  em- 
Hadrian  P^^'65  ^"^  found  greater  pleasure  in  art  and  literature  than 
A,  D,  117 -138.  in  war.  He  was  a  man  of  great  cultivation  of  mind,  but 
vain,  and  open  to  flattery.  His  eagerness  for  knowledge,  and  love  of 
art,  induced  him  to  take  journeys  of  many  years'  duration,  both  into 
the  East,  where  he  lingered  in  Greece,  Asia,  and  Egypt,  and  into 
the  "West,  where  he  visited  Gaul,  Spain,  Britain,  and  the  Rhine-land. 
Among  the  many  writers,  artists,  and  interpreters  who  surrounded  the 
brilliant  court  of  Hadrian,  the  most  distinguished  was  the  Greek  Plu- 
tarch, the  author  of  numerous  writings.  His  biographies,  in  which  he 
compares  together  the  Greek  and  Roman  statesmen  and  generals,  are 
especially  calculated  to  excite  admiration  for  the  heroic  deeds  of  anti- 
quity. Hadrian's  love  of  art  is  borne  witness  to  more  particularly,  by 
the  ruins  of  his  villa  at  Tivoli ;  his  magnificent  mausoleum,  now  the  castle 
10 


110  THE   AXCIEXT   WORLD. 

of  St.  Angelo  at  Rome^  and  innumerable  remains  of  sculpture  and 
building. 

Antoninus  §  ^^^*  H^^Irian's  adopted  son,  the  simple  and  benevolent 

Pius,  Antoninus  Pius,  was  an  ornament  of  the  throne.   He  avoided 

A.  D.  138-161.  ^yaj.  ijjr^i;  i^Q  might  devote  all  his  care  to  the  arts  of  peace. 
Marcus  His  successor,  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus,  the  philosopher, 

Aurelius,  was  as  much  distinguished  in  war  as  in  peace.  lie  conquered 
A.  D.  1-1  .^j^g  Marcomanni  on  the  frozen  Danube,  and  drove  back  over 
the  frontiers,  after  a  long  war,  the  German  tribes  who  were  their  confede- 
rates. He  died  at  Vindobona  (Vienna),  during  a  campaign.  Marcus 
Aurelius  was  a  man  of  simple  and  hardy  habits,  who,  when  on  the 
throne,  remained  true  to  his  stoic  virtue  and  severity  of  morals  (§  91). 
He  promoted  civilization  and  useful  institutions,  and  the  collection  of 
reflections,  which  he  composed  knd  dedicated  to  himself,  bears  witness  to 
his  noble  principles  and  efforts. 

§  164.  Cultivation  and  morals.  —  During  this  period,  the  highest 
civilization  prevailed  in  the  Roman  empire,  along  with  the  greatest  de- 
pravity of  morals.  Arts  and  sciences  were  encouraged  in  the  courts  of 
the  Caesars  and  the  palaces  of  the  wealthy,  and  were  shared  in  by  per- 
sons of  all  conditions.  Trades  and  commerce  flourished,  and  prosperity 
and  refinement  were  visible  in  the  populous  cities  and  elegant  dwelling- 
houses  ;  establishments  for  education  sprang  up  in  Rome  and  the  more 
considerable  provincial  towns.  The  ruins  of  buildings,  military  roads,  and 
bridges  that  we  admire  even  at  this  day,  not  only  in  Italy,  but  in  many  pro- 
vincial towns  (Treves,  Nimes),  the  statues,  sarcophagi,  and  altars  with 
bas-reliefs  and  inscriptions,  the  vases  of  clay  and  bronze  of  elegant  forms 
that  are  dug  out  of  the  earth,  all  bear  testimony  to  the  cultivation  and 
feeling  for  art  existing  among  the  people  in  the  times  of  the  Csesars. 
But  this  refinement  was  but  a  superficial  polish  ;  morality,  nobility  of 
soul,  and  strength  of  character,  were  held  in  no  estimation.  The  people, 
no  longer  invigorated  by  war,  or  the  labors  of  the  field,  sank  into  luxury 
and  effeminacy ;  they  sought  their  gratification  in  the  barbarous  sports 
of  the  amphitheatre,  gladiatorial  combats,  and  the  contests  of  wild  beasts, 
and  gave  themselves  up  to  a  relaxing  enjoyment  of  the  luxurious  baths, 
with  which  the  city  was  am^ly  provided  by  the  emperors,  for  the  pur- 
j)Ose  of  withdrawing  the  citizens  from  the  consideration  of  graver  mat- 
ters. It  is  in  vain,  that  Persius  angrily  shakes  the  scourge  of  his  stern 
satire  over  the  degenerate  race,  and  endeavors  to  bring  back  the  ancient 
vigor,  simplicity,  and  morality;  —  it  is  in  vain,  that  the  witty  Juven<il 
unveils  in  his  sportive  satire  the  frightful  depths  of  crime  and  wicked- 
ness, and  lashes  his  degenerate  contemporaries  ;  it  is  in  vain,  that  the 
waggish  Greek,  Lucian,  in  his  witty  and  satirical  writings,  jests  at  all  the 
existing  conditions  of  life  and  religion,  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  what 
is  old,  and  thereby  making  room  for  something  new  and  better  ;  —  human 


HISTORY  OF  ROME.  Ill 

counsel  came  too  late  ;  nothing  but  a  higher  power  could  save  tlie  per- 
ishing world ;  the  help  had  already  appeared,  but  the  blinded  Romans 
did  not  recognize  it,  because  it  came  not  in  the  pomp  of  authority,  but  in 
the  garment  of  humility. 

5.    ROME    UNDER   MILITARY    GOVERNMENT. 

Commodus,  §  1^5.  Rome's  downward  course  commences  with  C<5m- 
A.  D.  180-192.  modus,  tlie  unworthy  son  of  Aurelius.  He  was  a  barbarous 
tyrant,  who  delighted  in  nothing  but  the  combats  of  gladiators  and  wild 
beasts,  and  who  distressed  the  people  in  every  way,  till  at  length  he  was 
Pertinax,  put  to  death  by  those  around  him.  Pertinax,  his  valiant 
A.  D.  193.  successor,  had  a  similar  fate.  After  his  death,  the  insolence 
of  the  praetorians  rose  to  such  a  height,  that  they  put  up  the  crown  to  the 
Septlmius  highest  bidder.  Septimius  Severus  first  restrained  their  inso- 
Sevcrus,  lence  by  his  inexorable  severity,  and  reestablished  the  impe- 

A.D.  193-211.  rial  power.  He  was  a  rude  soldier,  and  enlarged  the  empire 
by  his  conquests  in  the  East,  where  he  took  Mesopotamia  from  the  Par- 
thians;  and  he  secured  Britain  by  new  defences  against  the  turbulent 
Picts  and  Scots.  But  he  deprived  the  senate  of  their  last  remains  ot 
power,  and  placed  his  whole  reliance  on  the  army,  so  that  he  was  the 
actual  establisher  of  the  military  government. 

§  1G6.  The  death  of  Septimius  Severus  at  Eb(jracum  (York)  wi  Bri- 
Ciiracalla,  tain,  placed  his  cruel  son,  Caracalla,  on  the  throne,  who,  true 
A.  D.  211-217.  to  his  father's  teaching,  honored  the  soldiery,  but  treated 
other  men  with  contempt.  He  killed  his  brother,  Geta,  in  the  arms  of 
his  mother,  and  then  put  his  preceptor,  the  great  jurist  Papinian,  to 
death,  for  refusing  to  justify  the  fratricide.  For  the  purpose  of  augment- 
ing the  revenue,  he  gave  the  right  of  Roman  citizenship  to  all  the  free- 
born  men  in  the  empire.  After  the  murder  of  this  profligate  tyrant  by 
his  own  soldiers,  in  a  campaign  against  the  Parthians,  his  relative,  Helio- 
Heliogabalus,  gabalus,  a  priest  of  the  Syrian  sun-god,  succeeded  to  the 
A.  D.  218-222.  throne.  Heliogabalus  was  a  weak  and  cruel  epicure,  who, 
by  the  introduction  of  the  sensual  worship  of  Baal  from  Syria,  destroyed 
the  last  remnants  of  the  ancient  Roman  discipline  and  morality.  The 
praetorians  at  length  put  the  effeminate  debauchee  to  death,  and  raised 
Alexander  ^^*  cousin,  Alexander  Severus,  to  the  throne.  Severus  was 
Severus,  a  man  of  respectable  character,  who  adopted  many  excellent 
A.  D.  222 - 235.  measures,  and  listened  to  the  advice  of  his  sagacious  mother: 
but  his  powers  were  inferior  to  the  conduct  of  such  difficult  affairs  of 
state.  The  prastorians  killed  the  great  jurist,  Ulpian,  before  his  eyes, 
with  impunity;  and  on  the  eastern  boundary,  Ardshir  (Artaxerxes) 
overthrew  the  Parthian  government,  and  established  the  new  Persian 
empire  of  the  Sassanida3,  who  soon  pursued  their  conquests  into  the  Ro- 
man territory. 


112  THE   ANCIEXT   WORLD. 

§  167.  The  death  of  the  emperor  and  his  mother,  by  an  insurrection 
of  the  soldiers  at  Mayence,  reduced  the  empire  to  such  confusion,  that 
twelve  emperors  were  raised -and  dethroned  within  the  space  of  twenty 
years.  Philip  the  Arab,  who,  like  Alexander  Severus,  was  a  friend  to 
Philip  the  Christians,  sought  to  signalize  his  reign  by  a  magnificent 

ofo'o.n  celebration  of  the  thousandth  anniversary  of  Rome.      His 

A.  D.  243  -  249.  ,  ^     / 

Deoius  successor,  Decius,  persecuted  the   Christians,  but  found  an 

A.  D.  249-251.  early  death  in  battle  against  the  Goths,  a  German  tribe  who 
had  established  themselves  on  the  Lower  Danube,  and  made  preda- 
tory excursions  thence,  both  by  land  and  sea,  into  the  Roman  territory. 
After  his  death,  the  empire  seemed  on  the  point  of  dissolution.  The 
generals  in  the  different  provinces  caused  themselves  to  be  proclaimed 
Gallienus  emperors,  so  that  the  historians  of  the  period,  during  which 
A.  D.  259-268.  Gallienus  reigned  in  Rome,  and  his  father.  Valerian,  was 
pining  in  captivity  in  Persia,  call  this  the  age  of  the  thirty  tyrants.  In 
the  mean  time,  the  empire  was  attacked  on  the  east  by  the  New  Per- 
sians, under  the  command  of  the  valiant  Sapor,  whilst  the  German  tribes 
threatened  the  other  quarters. 

§  168.  At  this  juncture,  Aurelian,  a  man  imbued  with  the  old  Roman 
Aurelianus,  courage  and  military  discipline,  was  the  restorer  of  the  em- 
A.D.  270-275.  pire.  He  subdued  the  rebellious  generals,  and  marched 
against  the  kingdom  of  Palmyrene,  which  Odenatus  had  founded  on  an 
oasis  in  Syria,  and  which  was  governed,  after  his  death,  by  his  beautiful 
and  heroic  wife,  Zenobia.  Palmyra,  the  capital  city,  rich  in  arts,  philo- 
sophy, and  commerce,  was  taken  and  destroyed,  and  Zenobia  led  in 
triumph  to  Rome.  Her  preceptor  and  adviser,  the  gallant  philosopher 
Longinus,  died  a  violent  death.  At  first,  a  follower  of  the  new  Platonists, 
who  joined  the  Oriental  profundity,  superstition,  and  belief  in  miracles, 
to  the  doctrines  of  Plato,  and  put  the  inactive  contemplation  of  the  East 
in  place  of  the  practical  intelligence  of  ancient  Rome,  Longinus  had 
afterwards  relinquished  this  obscure  wisdom.  The  ruins  of  Palmyra  yet 
enchain  the  admiration  of  the  traveller.  Aurelian  again  restored  the 
boundary  of  the  Danube  on  the  north,  gave  up  the  province  on  the  far- 
ther side  of  the  river  to  the  enemy,  and  transplanted  the  inhabitants  to 
the  right  bank.  Lest  his  capital  should  be  endangered  by  any  sudden 
attack,  he  surrounded  Rome  with  a  wall. 

§  169.  After  Aurelian  had  been  killed  by  his  soldiers,  and  his  suc- 
Tacitus,  cesser,  Tacitus  (a  descendant  of  the  historian),  had  perished 

A.  D.  275  -  276.  in  an  expedition  against  the  Goths,  the  courageous  and  up- 
Probus,  right  Probus   was  raised  to  the  throne.     He  enlarged  and 

A.D.  276-282.  completed  the  boundary  wall  (Devil's  Wall),  from  the  Bava- 
rian Danube  to  the  Taunus,  and  secured  it  by  means  of  troops;  he 
planted  vineyards  on  the  Rhine  and  in  Hungary,  and  reformed  the  affairs 
of  the  army.     After  Probus  also  had  been  killed  by  his  troops,  and  his 


HISTORY   OF  ROME.  113 

successor,  Carus,  had  fallen  in  an  expedition  against  the  Persians,  either 
Cams,  by  a  stroke  of  lightning  or  the  hand  of  an  assassin,  the  throne 

A.  D.  282-284.  ■vvas  assumcd  by  the  sagacious  Diocletian. 

§  170.  Diocletian  increased  the  imperial  power,  and  lowered  the  dig- 
Diocletian,  nitj  of  the  senate  ;  he  projected  a  division  of  the  empire,  for 
A.  D.  284-305.  the  purpose  of  more  easily  resisting  the  enemy.  He  himself, 
with  the  title  of  Augustus,  governed  the  Eastern  region,  together  with 
Thrace,  whilst  his  assistant  in  the  empire  (Caesar),  Galerius,  was  at  the 
head  of  the  Illyrian  provinces ;  in  the  same  manner,  Maximian,  under 
the  title  of  Augustus,  ruled  over  Italy,  Africa,  and  the  islands ;  and  his 
son-in-law,  Constantius  (Chlorus),  governed  the  western  provinces, 
Spain,  Gaul,  and  Britain.  For  twenty  years,  Diocletian  governed  the 
empire  with  vigor  and  dexterity,  and  restored  its  former  strength  and 
stability.  But  when  he  allowed  himself  to  be  seduced  into  commanding  a 
bloody  persecution  against  the  Christians,  he  disturbed  the  evening  of  a 
most  active  life,  and  stained  his  name  and  government  with  an  indelible 
maVk  of  infamy.  The  sword  of  persecution  was  still  raging  among  the 
confessors  of  the  crucified  Jesus,  when  Diocletian  abdicated  his  throne,  to 
pass  his  remaining  years  in  rural  retirement  at  Salona,  in  Dalmatia,  and 
to  forget  the  bustle  of  the  world  in  the  arrangement  of  his  palace  and 
gardens. 

§  171.  The  abdication  of  Diocletian  was  followed  by  a  period  of  con- 
fusion and  sanguinary  civil  wars,  which  was  only  put  an  end  to,  when 
Constantinus,  the   brave   and    wise   son    of   Constantius,  assumed   the 
government  of  the  West,  and  marched  into  the  field  against  Maximian's 
hard-hearted  son,  Maxdntius.     Constantine,  who  had  been  Avon  over  to 
Christianity  by  his  mother,  Helena,  erected  the  banner  of  the  cross 
(labarum),  overthrew  the  cruel  Maxcntius  at  the  Milvian 
Bridge,  and  took  possession  of  Rome,  after  his  opponent  had 
been  drowned  in  the  waters  of  the  Tiber.     After  this  period,  Constantino 
ruled  over  the  West,  whilst  his  brother-in-law,  Liciuius,  govered  the  East. 
But  the  ambition  of  Constantine  soon  occasioned  another  war,  in  which 
Licinius  lost  his  kingdom  and,  at  last,  his  life.     It  was  thus  that'Constan- 
tine  became  sole  governor  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  showed 
favor  to  the  Christians.     But  that  the  doctrines  of  Jesus  had 
little  effect  upon  his  mind,  is  shown  by  the  cruelty  with  which  he  caused 
whole  troops  of  his  captured  enemies  to  be  thrown  to  wild  beasts,  by  the 
severity  he  displayed  in  the  execution  of  his  wife  and  his  noble  son,  Cris- 
pus,  and  by  the  love  of  vengeance  and  want  of  truth  displayed   in    hia 
character. 

10-^ 


BOOK    SECOND. 


MIGRATION  OF  NATIONS  AND  THE  MIDDLE  AGE. 


A.  MIGRATION  OF  NATIONS  AND  ESTABLISH- 
xMENT  OF  MONOTHEISM. 

I.  THE  TRIUMPH  OF  CHRISTIANITY  OVER  PAGANIS3^L 
1.  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH  OF  THE  FIRST  CENTURY. 

§  172.  The  Romans  were  very  tolerant  of  the  heathen  forms  of 
religion  amongst  other  nations,  as  is  apparent  at  once  from  the  fact,  that 
they  adopted  not  only  the  mythology  of  the  Greeks,  but  also,  by  degrees, 
the  theology  of  the  East,  of  the  Chaldeans,  Persians,  Egyptians,  and 
Syrians.  But  as  Christianity  forbade  any  combination  with  Paganism, 
the  Christians  carefully  avoided  all  participation  in  the  feasts  and 
religious  rites  of  the  heathen,  and  kept  themselves  separate  even  in  the 
daily  intercourse  of  life;  thus  the  hatred  of  the  people  and  the  mis- 
trust of  their  rulers  were  roused,  and  heavy  persecutions  arose  against 
them.  Ten  persecutions  of  Christians  are  recorded  from  the  days  of 
Nero,  when  Peter  and  Paul  are  said  to  have  met  their  death,  to  the  first 
decennium  of  the  fourth  century,  when  Diocletian  and  Galerius  drove 
the  confessors  of  the  crucified  Saviour,  by  rack  and  axe,  to  the  altar  of 
sacrifice,  burnt  down  the  churches,  and  gave  the  Holy  Scriptures  to  the 
flames.  Even  the  noble-minded  Marcus  Aurelius  thought  it  his  duty  to 
break  by  force  the  stubbornness  of  the  supposed  fanatics ;  and  the  short 
reign  of  Decius  has  become  memorable  for  one  of  the  most  violent  per- 
Becutions  of  the  Christians.  But  the  holy  joy  with  which  the  martyrs, 
bearing  witness  by  their  blood,  endured  torture  and  death,  multiplied  the 
number  of  believers,  so  that  the  blood  of  martyrs  is  justly  called  "the 
seed  of  the  Church."  The  objects  of  persecution  concealed  themselves 
hi  subterraneous  passages  (the  Catacombs),  near  the  graves  of  those  they 
loved,  and  in  caves  and  mountain  clefts.  Oppression  heightened  their 
trust  in  God ;  and  the  number  of  apostate  believers  who  delivered  up  tlie 
Bible  to  be  burned,  or  oifered  incense  before  the  statue  of  Jjie  emperor, 


CONSTANTINE  THE   GREAT  AND  JULIAN  THE  APOSTATE.       115 

was  small  when  compared  with  the  number  of  those  who  stood  finn  in 
their  faith.  During  the  years  of  persecution,  Christianity  continued  to 
spread,  by  the  indwelling  force  of  truth,  and  favorable  circumstances  from 
without,  to  all  quarters  of  the  heavens,  so  that,  as  early  as  the  third 
century,  before  Constantine  raised  it  to  a  state  religion,  it  ovei*stepped 
the  bounds  of  the  Roman  empire. 

2.  CONSTANTINE  THE  GREAT  AND  JULIAN  THE  APOSTATE. 

§  173.  CJonstantine,  as  sole  emperor,  transferred  his  residence  to 
Byzantium,  which  from  this  time  forward  was  called  Constantinople.  He 
fortified  the  city,  which  was  favorably  situated,  with  walls  and  towers, 
and  embellished  it  most  magnificently  with  palaces  and  churches,  race- 
grounds,  and  works  of  art.  He  then  abolished  the  antiquated  constitu- 
tion of  the  Koman  empire ;  vested  all  power  in  the  imperial  throne ; 
eurrounded  himself  with  a  brilliant  court  of  chamberlains,  ministers, 
ofiicials,  and  servants;  and  established  a  galling  system  of  taxation.  The 
better  to  conduct  the  management  of  his  vast  empire,  he  divided  it  into 
four  prefectures  or  lieutenancies :  the  East,  to  which  Thrace  and  Egypt 
were  assigned ;  lUyricum  with  Greece ;  Italy  with  Africa ;  the  West 
(containing  Gaul,  Spain,  Britain).  Each  of  these  he  divided  into  a 
greater  or  less  number  of  districts  (dioceses),  and  these  again  into  state? 
(provinces).  The  last  years  of  his  life  Constantine  devoted  principally 
to  religious  and  ecclesiastical  matters  ;  but  he  deferred  the  rite  of  baptism 
which  cleanseth  from  sin,  till  shortly  before  his  death.  He  founded 
many  churches,  and  endowed  them  with  landed  estates.  He  granted  to 
the  clergy  an  immunity  from  taxes,  and  other  privileges,  and  allowed 
legacies  to  the  Church.  From  this  time  forward,  the  constitution  of  the 
Christian  Church  took  a  new  shape ;  whereas  before,  the  Elders  and 
Bishops  were  chosen  from  the  whole  Church-community,  and  the  princi- 
ple of  brotherly  equality  amongst  all  Christians  was  held  in  honor,  now, 
the  priesthood  (clergy)  separated  from  the  people  (laity),  and  introduced 
degrees  of  rank,  so  that  the  Bishops  of  the  principal  cities  were  placed 
over  the  remaining  Bishops  as  metropolitans,  and  these  again  had  the 
Buperintendence  of  the  priests  in  their  immediate  neighborhood.  At  the 
same  time,  the  Church  services,  which  before  consisted  only  in  singing, 
prayer,  and  reading  the  Bible,  and  concluded  with  the  love-feasts,  were 
made  more  solemn  by  the  aid  of  music  and  other  arts. 

§  174.  Arianism.  —  Augustine.  —  Fathers  of  the  Church. — 
The  doctrine  (dogma),  also,  of  Christianity  did  not  long  remain  in  its 
original  simplicity  and  purity,  when  many  learned  men  made  it  the  sub- 
ject of  their  inquiry  and  meditation.  The  first  point  which  they  investi- 
gated was  the  relation  of  Christ  to  God,  and  the  mysterious  junction  of 
His  divine  and  human  natures.  On  this  question,  vehement  contentions 
arose  as  early  as   the   time  .of   Constantine,  between  the  Alexandrian 


116  THE  HISTORr  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE. 

ecclesiastics,  Arius  and  Atlianasius,  the  first  of  whom  maintained  that 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  was  inferior  to  God  the  Father,  and  dependent 
on  Him ;  while  the  latter  laid  down  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  in  Unity, 
through  the  principle  that  God  the  Son  was  of  the  same  substance  with 
God  the  Father.  The  first  general  Church  Council  (GEcumenical  Syn- 
od), which  Constantine  convened  at  Nice,  declared  the  opinion  of  Atha- 
nasius  to  be  the  true  (orthodox)  faith  of  the  Church ;  but  the  German 
nations,  the  Goths,  Vandals,  Longobards,  to  whom  Christianity  had  been 
brought  by  Arian  missionaries,  continued  in  Arianism  for  another  century, 
and  were  therefore  excommunicated  and  driven  out  as  heretics  from  the 
Catholic  (universal)  Church.  An  equally  important  dispute  arose  in  the 
fifth  century,  about  original  sin  and  predestination,  since  Augustine, 
Bishop  of  north  Africa,  laid  down  the  principle  that  the  nature  of  man, 
through  Adam's  fall,  has  become  unable  to  do  good  by  its  own  strength ; 
that  this  strength  is  produced  only  by  the  grace  of  God  in  one  portion  of 
mankind,  while  the  other  remains  abandoned  to  ruin ;  so  that  one  man 
may  be  from  the  beginning  appointed  (predestinated)  to  salvation,  ano- 
ther to  condemnation.  These  harsh  doctrines  were  disputed  by  Pela- 
gius,  a  monk  residing  in  Africa,  and  the  principle  maintained,  that  man 
can,  by  the  strength  of  his  own  free  will,  do  good,  and  become  a  partaker 
of  salvation.  —  The  Christian  writers  of  the  first  five  or  six  centuries 
were  called  Fathers  of  the  Church.  Their  works  are  the  more  im- 
portant, because  on  them  depend  the  traditional  doctrines  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  The  nearer,  therefore,  they  stand  to  the  time  of  the  Apostles, 
the  greater  is  their  authority,  as  we  assume  that  the  disciples  of  Jesus 
made  many  oral  communications  to  their  contemporaries,  which  are  not 
found  in  the  apostolic  writings,  but  might  wxll  be  known  from  the  works 
of  the  Fathers.  They  wrote  partly  in  Greek  and  partly  in  Latin. 
Constantius,  §  175.  Of  Constantine's  three  vicious  sons,  who,  according 
A.  D.  357-360.  to  their  father's  will,  divided  the  empire,  Constantius,  after 
long  years  of  bloody  struggles,  obtained  the  sole  sovereignty.  As  he 
was  himself  busied  in  Asia,  he  sent  his  cousin,  JuliaUy  to  Gaul,  to  protect 
the  frontiers  of  the  empire  against  the  Germanic  nations. 
Julian  besieged  the  Alleraanni  in  Strasburgh,  twice  passed 
the  Rhine,  repulsed  the  Franks  in  the  Netherlands,  and  restored  the  an- 
cient renown  of  the  Roman  arms.  Proclaimed  emperor  by 
his  soldiers  in  his  favorite  city,  Paris,  Julian  marched  against 
Constantius,  and  a  civil  war  would  have  ensued,  had  not  the  latter  died 
Julian  just  at  this   crisis.      Julian  now  without  hinderance  entered 

A.  D.  361-363.  the  imperial  castle  in  Constantinople,  as  sovereign  of  the 
vast  empire.  He  immediately  removed  all  the  superfluous  officers  of  the 
court,  reduced  the  imperial  household,  and  in  his  dress  and  mode  of  liv- 
ing studied  the  greatest  simplicity ;  he  provided  for  the  impartial  adminis- 
tration of  justice,  and  restored  discipline  and  military  virtue  in  the  army« 


THE  MIGRATION"  OF  XATIOXS.  117 

Strongly  as  he  worked  by  these  means  on  an  indolent  generation,  yet  his 
zeal  to  revive  paganism  hindered  the  success  of  his  efforts.  The  con- 
straint which  he  endured  in  his  youth  under  Christian  masters  had  pro- 
duced in  him  an  aversion  to  the  Gospel ;  whilst  his  hvely  imaginaticri^ 
and  his  love  for  Plato's  philosophy  (§  65,  72),  and  for  the  literature  and 
poetry  of  antiquity,  made  him  a  most  enthusiastic  admirer  of  paganism. 
For  this  reason  he  was  branded  by  Christian  writers  with  the  title  of 
Apostate.  Nevertheless,  he  was  too  just  and  too  wise  to  inflict  bloody 
persecutions  on  the  Christians.  He  contented  himself  with  removing 
them  from  his  presence,  and  from  public  and  professional  offices,  oppos- 
ing their  opinions  in  writings,  and  reestablishing  the  heathen  worship, 
with  its  feasts  and  sacrifices.  lie  himself  sometimes  offered  solemn 
hecatombs  of  100  bulls  to  the  god  of  the  sun.  Having,  however,  with 
the  heroism  of  old  Rome,  undertaken  an  adventurous  campaign  against 
the  New  Persians,  he  pressed  forward  victorious  over  the  Eui)hrates  and 
Tigris;  but  being  entrapped  into  an  inaccessible  mountainous  district, 
and  compelled  to  commence  a  difficult  retreat,  he  was  wounded  mortally 
Jovian,  by  an  arrow,  and  his  schemes  brought  to  nouglit.      His  suc- 

A.  D.  363-364.  (.(.ggQj.  J(5vian,  in  a  dishonorable  peace,  restored  the  conquer- 
Valens  ^^  territory,  and  made  Christianity  again  the  dominant  re- 

A.D.  364-878.  ligion.  After  his  death,  the  empire  was  divided,  the  Arian 
Valentinian  ^^l^^s  ruling  over  the  East,  whilst  his  brother,  the  rude  and 
A.  D.  364  -  376.  warlike  Valentinian  I.,  governed  the  West. 


n.  THE  MIGRATION  OF  NATIONS. 

1.    THEODOSIUS    THE    GREAT. 

§  176.  Wlien  Valens  was  ruling  the  East,  the  Huns,  a  wild,  hideous, 
well-mounted  nomad  people,  came  from  the*  steppes  of  Central  Asia  to 
Europe.  Tuey  overthrew  the  Alaui  and  the  brave  East  Goths  (whose 
gray-haired  king,  Ilerinanrich,  devoted  himself  to  death),  and  they  then 
fell  upon  the  West  Goths.  But  this  people  having  been  already  con- 
verted to  Arian  Christianity  by  Bishop  Ulfilas,  obtained  permission 
from  Valens  to  cross  the  Danube,  with  their  wives  and  children,  and  to 
occupy  new  abodes.  Through  the  venality  of  the  Ivoman  officers,  tlie 
West  Goths,  contrary  to  agreement,  remained  in  possession  of  their 
arms ;  and  as,  from  the  severity  and  avarice  of  the  governor,  they  soon 
fell  into  the  greatest  distress  from  hunger,  they  seized  the  accustomed 
sword,  stormed  the  city  of  Marcianopolis,  and  carried  robbery  and  deso- 
lation through  the  land.  Valens  marched  hastily  against  the  enemy; 
but  in  the  murderous  battle  of  Adrianople  he  lost  the  victory,  and  his 


118  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE. 

Kfe,  during  the  fliglit,  in  a  burning  Imt.  The  victors  now  roved  through 
the  defenceless  land  with  unrestrained  fury,  as  far  as  the  Julian  Alps, 
and  menaced  even  the  frontiers  of  Italy.  Then  was  the  brave  Spaniard 
Theoddsius  chosen  sovereign  of  the  East.  He  terminated  the  Gothic 
war,  by  settling  one  part  of  the  enemy  in  the  southern  Danubian  pro- 
vinces, and  enlisting  another  part  as  soldiers  in  the  Roman  armies.  After 
many  contests  and  military  exploits,  Theoddsius,  henceforth  called  the 
Great,  at  length  obtained  the  sovereignty  of  the  West  also,  and  so  united, 
for  the  last  time,  the  whole  world-wide  Roman  empire  under  one  sceptre. 
lie  was  a  powerful,  but  passionate  prince ;  and  on  one  occasion,  in  Thes- 
ealonica,  he  put  to  death  7,000  citizens,  because  they  had  slain  his  gover- 
nor. For  this,  the  Church's  penance  was  inflicted  on  him  by  the  un- 
daunted bishop,  Ambrose,  of  Milan, —  a  punishment  which  he  willingly 
underwent.  Theoddsius  was  a  zealous  champion  of  the  Catholic  faith. 
He  denounced  and  persecuted  Arianism,  interdicted  the  use  of  sacrifices 
and  divinations,  and  permitted  the  heathen  temples  to  be  plundered  and 
destroyed.  Now  was  extinguished  the  sacred  fire  of  Vesta  —  the  oracles 
and  sibyls  were  silent  —  and  the  pagan  pantheism  yielded  to  the  faith  in 
the  crucified  Saviour.  At  his  death,  Theoddsius  made  over  the  East,  with 
Illyria,  to  his  son,  Arcadius,  who  was  eighteen  years  old,  by  whose  side 
stood  the  Gaul,  Rufinus  ;  while  Hondrius,  then  in  his  eleventh  year, 
under  the  guidance  of  the  politic  and  warlike  Vandal,  Stilicho,  was  to 
be  lord  of  the  West.  From  this  time  forward  the  empire  remained 
divided. 

2.  WEST  GOTHS. BUKGUNDIANS. VANDALS. 

§  177.  Alaric,  king  of  the  West  Goths,  invaded  the  provinces  of  the 
Eastern  empire  immediately  after  the  death  of  Theodosius.     He  marched, 
murdering  and  plundering,  through  Thessaly,  Central  Greece,  and  Pelopon- 
^  nesus,  and  trod  under  foot  the  remains  of  Greek  civilization, 

until,  being  surrounded  by  Stilicho's  forces,  he  was  compelled  to 
retreat.  Eavy  of  Stilicho  now  led  Eutropius,  the  successor  of  Rufinus,  to 
induce  Alaric  to  invade  the  Western  empire.  He  accordingly  fell  upon 
Upper  Italy,  pursued  his  devastating  course  up  the  banks  of  the  Po,  but 

sufiered  so  much  loss  in  two  undecisive  battles  a2;ain3t  Stilicho, 
A.  D.  403.  .  ,  ° 

that  he  retreated  upon  Illyria,  to  wait  for  a  more  favorable  op- 
portunity. This  enemy  of  the  empire  had  scarcely  been  repulsed,  before  vast 
hordes  of  Vandals,  Alani,  Burgundians,  Suevi,  &c.,  burst  into  Italy,  under 
the  command  of  duke  Radagaisus,  destroyed  the  towns  and  villages,  and 
filled  every  place  with  cruel  slaughter  and  desolation.     But  these  also 

were  overcome  near  Florence,  by  the  military  skill  of  Stilicho. 

Their  leaders  were  killed  ;  thousands  fell  beneath  the  sworda 
of  the  victors,  or  perished  by  hunger  and  disease ;  others  entered  into  the 
"Roman  service.     The  remains  of  their  army  threw  themselves  into  Gaul, 


THE  MIGRATION  OF  XATIOXS.  119 

>vhere,  after  repeated  acts  of  devastation,  the  Burgundians  settled  on  the 
Rhine  and  the  Jura,  and  founded  ^he  kingdom  of  Burgundy,  which  ex- 
tended from  tlie  Jilediterranean  to  the  Yosges.  The  Vandals  and  Suevi, 
on  the  other  hand,  crossed  the  Pyrenees,  and  won  dwelling-places  for 
themselves  by  the  sword,  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  which  they  however 
gave  up  again  twenty  years  afterwards,  and  crossed  over  into  Africa  with 
the  Vandal  king,  Genseric. 

§  178.  The  brave  Stilicho,  in  his  necessity,  had  entered  into  a  friendly 
alliance  with  Alaric,-and  consented  to  pa/  him  a  yearly  tribute.  His 
enemies  founded  an  accusation  of  high  treason  upon  this,  and  procured 
his  execution  at  Ravenna.  Hereupon,  Alaric,  enraged  at  the  withdrawal 
of  the  tribute,  and  appealed  to  by  Stilicho's  adherents  for  protection, 
marched  into  Italy,  laid  siege  to  Rome,  and  compelled  the  terrified  in- 
habitants to  purchase  the  clemency  of  the  conqueror  with  gold,  silver,  and 
costly  apparel.  But  when  the  court  at  Ravenna  disdainfully  rejected 
Alaric's  proposals  of  peace,  the  Gothic  prince  again  appeared  before  the 
walls  of  the  former  mistress  of  the  world,  stormed  it  at  length 
during  the  night,  and  surrendered  it  to  be  plundered  for 
three  days  by  his  army.  The  hero  died  shortly  after,  in  the  flower  of  his 
age,  in  Lower  Italy.  There  is  a  legend  that  declares  that  his  coffin  and 
treasures  were  buried  in  the  bed  of  the  stream  Busento,  which  had  been 
diverted  from  its  course  for  the  purpose.  His  brother-in-law,  Adolf, 
concluded  a  treaty  with  IIon6rius,  by  virtue  of  which  the  West  Goths 
marched  into  Southern  Gaul.  It  was  here  that  they  founded 
the  kingdom  of  the  West  Goths,  which  at  first  extended  from 
the  Gardnne  to  the  Ebro,  and  had  Tolosa  (Toulouse)  for  its  principal 
city.  AVhen,  however,  the  Vandals,  some  years  later,  went  into  Africa, 
the  West  Goths  gradually  conquered  the  whole  of  Spain ;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  were  compelled  to  relinquish  the  territory  between  the 
Pyrenees  and  the  GaroQne  to  the  Franks. 

Valentiniau  §  ^'^*  ^'^alcntinian    III.,  followed  Honorius   with  iE'tius 

III.,  A.  D.  425  at  his  side,  for  general  and  influential  minister.  The  go- 
-455.  vernor  of  northern  Africa,  Bonifacius,  lived  in  enmity  with 

this  iE'tius ;  and  being  afraid  of  his  anger,  he  rebelled,  and  summoned 
the  Vandals,  under  their  bold  and  crafty  king,  Genseric,  out  of  Spain, 
to  his  assistai>ce.  Ii  is  true,  that,  upon  their  arrival,  he  repented  of 
this  rash  act,  and  opposed  them  with  his  forces.  But  the  warlike 
Vandals  overcame  hi  in,  and,  in  defiance  of  the  court  of  Ravenna,  made 
themselves  masters  of  northern  ATrica,  Avhere  they  established  the  empire 
of  the  Vandals,  with  its  capital,  Carthage,  conquered  Sicily  and  the 
Balearic  islands,  and  rendered  themselves  formidable  to  all  islands  and 
lands  near  the  coast  by  their  piracies.  The  kingdom  of  the  Vandalj 
existed  for  a  hundred  years  in  ncrth  Africa.     Genseric  died  in  477. 


120  THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

3.   ATTILA,    KING    OF   THE   HUNS    (a.    D.    450.) 

§  180.  About  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  AttiVd,  surnamed  the 
Scourge  of  God,  left  his  wooden  residence  on  the  banks  of  the  Theiss,  in 
Hungary,  for  the  purpose  of  conquering  the  western  empire  of  Rome  by 
the  sword.  More  than  half  a  milhon  savage  warriors,  partly  Huns  and 
partly  Germans,  who  were  their  subjects  or  allies,  marched  through 
Austria,  Bavaria,  and  Alemannia,  to  the  Rhine,  where  they  annihilated 
the  royal  house  of  Burgundy  in  Worms,  destroyed  the  Roman  towjis, 
und  then  carried  slaughter  and  desolation  into  Gaul.  It  was  here  that  the 
valiant  ^E'tius,  with  an  army  composed  of  Romans,  Burgandians,  West 
Goths,  and  Franks,  succeeded,  in  the  Cataluuiiian  plains  (Cha- 
Ions  on  the  Marne),  in  setting  a  limit  to  Attila's  victorious 
course.  102,000  dead  bodies,  and  among  them  that  of  Theodoric,  the 
brave  king  of  the  West  Goths,  covered  the  field  of  battle.  From  his 
camp,  fortified  with  wagons,  the  Hun  bade  defiance  to  the  attacks  of  the 
enemy,  and  then  retreated  into  Hungary  (Pannonia),  wdth 
the  purpose  of  invading  Italy  in  the  following  year.  Aqui- 
leia  was  destroyed ;  Milan,  Pa  via,  Verona,  and  Padua  taken  by  storm ; 
and  the  fertile  banks  of  the  Po  turned  into  a  desert.  The  unfortunate 
inhabitants  of  Aquileia  sought  for  refuge  on  the  rocks  and  sand-islands  of 
the  lagunes,  and  thus  laid  the  foundation  of  Venice.  Attila  was  already 
on  his  march  towards  Rome,  where  he  was  induced  by  the  prayers  of  the 
Roman  bishop,  Leo  I.,  to  conclude  a  peace  with  Valentinian,  and  to 
retreat.  Attila's  sudden  death,  either  by  haemorrhage,  or  the  vengeance 
of  his  Burgundian  bride,  checked  the  progress  of  the  Ilunnish  empire. 
The  Gstrogoths,  the  Gepidas,  and  the  Longobards  obtained  their  inde- 
pendence after  a  severe  struggle,  whilst  the  remains  of  the  nomadic  Huns 
were  lost  in  the  rich  pastoral  steppes  of  southern  Russia. 

4.    DESTRUCTION    OF    THE    WESTERN    ROMAN    EMPIRE. 

§  181.  The  Roman  power  was  now  rapidly  approaching  to  its  fall. 
Valentinian  with  his  own  hand  killed  ^'tius,  the  last  support  of  the  em- 
pire. Shortly  after,  the  luxurious  emperor  lost  his  ow^n  life  by  Petronius 
Maximus,  whose  wife  he  had  corrupted.  Petronius,  raised  to  be  Valen- 
tinian's  successor,  aspired  to  the  hand  of  the  imperial  widow,  which  in- 
duced tlie  latter  to  summon  the  Vandals  against  the  murderer  of  her 
husband.  Genseric  landed  at  Ostia,  took  Rome,  and  subjected  the  city 
for  fourteen  days  to  plunder,  during  wTiich  time  the  works  of  art  were 
ruthlessly  mutilated  (Vandalism).  Laden  with  plunder  and  prisoners 
(the  empress  and  her  two  daughters  among  the  number),  the  Vajidals 
returned  to  the  coast  of  Africa,  where  they  resumed  their  piratical  em- 
ployments with  more  audacity  than  before.  After  some  time,  the  Sueve, 
Eicimer,  a  bold,  crafty,  but  blood-stained  man,  acquired  such  power,  that 


THE   MIGRATION   OF   NATIONS.  121 

to  the  day  of  his  death,  he  managed  the  crown  and  empire  at  his  pleasure, 
without  even  assuming  the  imperial  title.  Three  years  after  Kicimer's 
death,  the  ambitious  general,  Orestes,  invested  his  son,  Romulus  Augiis- 
tulus,  w^ith  the  powerless  crown.  Upon  this,  the  German  troops  in  the 
pay  of  the  Romans  demanded  a  third  part  of  the  lands'  of  Italy ;  and 
when  this  was  not  granted,  the  valiant  Odoacer  commanded  the  captive 
Orestes  to  be  put  to  death,  and,  by  assuming  the  title  of  King  of  Italy, 
put  an  end  to  the  Western  empire  of  Rome.  Odoacer  be- 
stowed a  yearly  pension,  and  a  residence  in  Lower  Italy, 
upon  the  inoffensive  Romulus  Augustulus. 

5.    TIIEODORIC    THE    OSTROGOTH    (a.  D.  500). 

§  182.  Odoacer  had  reigned,  not  without  renown,  for  twelve  years, 
■when  Thcodoric,  king  of  the  Ostrogoths,  with  the  consent  of  the  Byzan- 
tine emperor,  marched  from  the  Danube  upon  Italy.  He  was  followed 
by  200,000  men  fit  for  war,  with  their  wives,  children,  and  goods. 
Odoacer  was  unable  to  resist  this  force.  Overcome  by  Theodoric  near 
Verona,  he  concealed  himself  behind  the  walls  of  Ravenna ;  and  it  was 
only  after  a  gallant  defence  of  three  years  that  he  at  length  surrendered 
upon  honorable  conditions.  But  he  was  killed  not  long  after,  by  the 
Goths,  at  a  riotous  banquet.  From  this  time,  the  empire  of  the  Ostro- 
goths, which  extended  from  the  southern  point  of  Italy  to  the  Danube, 
"was  governed  wisely  and  justly  by  Theodoric,  from  Ravenna.  lie  paid 
respect  to  the  ancient  laws  and  institutions,  employed  the  original  inha- 
bitants of  the  country  in  trade,  agriculture,  and  commerce,  and  com- 
mitted war  and  the  use  of  arms  to  the  Goths.  P^ven  literature  and 
civilization  rejoiced  in  his  protection ;  and  learned  Romans,  like  the 
historian  Cassioddrus,  were  advanced  to  the  highest  offices  of  the  state. 
Theddorie's  authority  was  so  great  abroad,  that  contending  kings  brought 
their  differences  to  his  judgment  seat.  It  was  only  a  short  time  previous 
to  his  death,  that  he  was  rendered  cruel  by  suspicion,  and  commanded 
the  worthy  senator  Boethius,  and  his  father-in-law,  Symmachus,  to  be 
executed,  because  they  were  suspected  of  having  invited  the  Byzantine 
court  to  expel  the  Goths.  It  was  in  prison  that  Boethius  wrote  his  cele- 
brated work,  the  "  Consolations  of  Philosophy." 

6.    CLOVIS,    KING    OF    THE    FRANKS    AND    THE    MEROVINGIANS. 

§  183.  The  Franks,  a  tribe  of  German  origin,  had  marched  from  their 

hereditary  possessions  on  the  Lower  Rhine  to  the  Meuse  and  the  Sambre. 

From  this  place,  their  warlike  king,  Clovis,  led  them  forth  to  war  and 

plunder.     After  he  had  conquered  and  put  to  death  the  last  Roman 

governor,  Syagrius,  in  Soissons,  and  made  himself  master  of 

the  country  between  the  Seine  and  the  Loire,  he  advanced 

Bgainst  the  Alemanni,  who  were  in  possession  of  an  extensive  kingdom 

11 


122  HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

on  both  banks  of  the  Rhine.     He  defeated  them  in  the  great  battle  of 
Ziilpich    (between    Bonn   and    Aix),    and    subjected   their 
country  on  the  Moselle  and  the   Lahn.      In   the  heat  of 
the  battle,  Clovis  had  sworn,  that  if  the  doubtful  combat  should  ter- 
minate in  his  favor,  he  would  embrace  the  faith  of  his  Christian  wife; 
and  in  the  same  year,  he,  with  3,000  nobles  of  his  train,  received  baptism 
in  the  waters  of  the  Rhine.     But  Christianity  produced  no  emotions  of 
pity  in  his  savage  heart.     After  he  had  extended  the  Frank 
empire  to  the  Rhone  on  the  east,  and  to  the  Garonne  on  the 
south,  he  attempted  to  secure  the  whole  territory  to  himself  and  his  pos- 
terity, by  putting  to  death  the  chiefs  of  all  the  Frank  tribes. 

§  184.  The  wickedness  of  the  father  w-as  inherited  by  his  four  sons, 
who,  after  Clovis's  death,  divided  the  Frank  empire  between  them  ;  the 
eldest  received  the  eastern  kingdom,  Austnisia,  with  tlie  capital,  Metz  ; 
the  three  younger  sons  shared  the  western  territory,  Neustria,  and  Bur- 
gundy, which  was  connected  with  it.  But  the  empire  was  again  from 
time  to  time  united.  The  history  of  the  kingly  house  of  the  Merovingians 
displays  a  frightful  picture  of  human  depravity.  The  murders  of  bro- 
thers and  relatives,  bloody  civil  wars,  and  the  explosion  of  unbridled 
passions,  fill  its  annals.  The  savage  enormities  of  the  two  queens,  Brun- 
hilda  and  Fredigonda,  are  particularly  dreadful.  These  horrors  at  length 
destroyed  all  the  power  of  the  race  of  Clovis,  so  that  they  are  distin- 
guished in  history  as  sluggish  kings,  whilst  the  steward  of  the  royal  pos- 
sessions (mayor  of  the  palace)  gradually  obtained  possession  of  all  the 
powers  of  government.  A  visit  to  the  yearly  assemblies  of  the  people 
(Marzfelder),  upon  a  carriage  drawn  by  four  oxen,  was  at  last  the  only 
occupation  of  the  imbecile  Merovingians.  At  first,  each  of  the  three 
kingdoms  had  its  own  mayor,  until  the  brave  and  shrewd  Pepin  of 
Ileristal  succeeded  in  uniting  the  mayoralties  of  Neustria  and  Burgundy 
with  that  of  Austrasia,  and  making  them  hereditary  in  his  own  family. 
From  this  time,  Pepin's  descendants,  who  were  called  dukes  of  Fran- 
cdnia,  possessed  the  regal  power,  whilst  the  Merovingians  were  kiiigs  in 
nothing  but  the  name. 

7.    THE    ANGLO-SAXONS. 

§  185.  About  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  the  Roman  army  left 
Britain,  which  it  was  unable  any  longer  to  retain.  The  inhabitants,  who 
w^ere  too  weak  to  resist  the  attacks  of  the  wild  Picts  and  Scots  (§  159, 
168),  sought  assistance  from  the  Angles  and  Saxons  of  the  Lower  Elbe. 
These  obeyed  the  summons ;  but  after  they  had  repulsed  the  enemy,  they 
turned  their  swords  against  the  Britons  themselves,  and,  after  a  fearful 
contest,  subdued  their  country,  which  was  henceforth  called  England 
(Angle-land).  The  greater  number  of  the  Celtic  inhabitants  .perished 
by  the  sword;  those  who  were  able  took  refuge  in  Gaul  (Bretagne).    It 


THE  MIGRATION  OF  NATIONS.  123 

was  only  in  the  mountainous  districts  of  Wales  and  Cornwall  that  the 
Celts  asserted  their  independence  and  national  peculiarities,  till  as  late 
as  the  thirteenth  century.  The  rest  of  the  kingdom  fell  into  the  power 
of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  who  established  there  seven  small  monarchies. 
These  existed  in  a  separate  state,  in  the  midst  of  perpetual  contests,  till 
the  ninth  century,  when  E"rbert  united  the  seven  kin^xdcmg 
(Heptarchy),  and  assumed  the  title  of  King  of  England. 
The  paganism  of  Britain  had  yielded  to  Christianity  as  early  as  the 
seventh  century,  when  the  Benedictine  monk,  Augustine,  with  a  crowd 
of  missionaries,  landed  in  Kent,  led  the  king  and  his  nobles  to  baptism, 
and  founded  the  seat  of  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury. 

8.    THE    BYZANTINE    EMPIRE   AXD    THE    LONGOBARDS. 

§  186.  The  Byzantine  empire  displays  a  melancholy  picture  of  moral 
depravity.  A  court  filled  with  oriental  luxury  and  magnificence,  where 
women  and  favorites  raise  and  dethrone  weak  or  vicious  emperors  by 
crimes  or  intrigues  ;  an  insolent  body-guard,  who  carried  on  the  same 
audacious  game  with  the  crown  that  the  pra3torians  had  formerly  done  ; 
and  a  fickle  population,  who  took  pleasure  in  nothing  but  questions  of 
religious  controversy,  and  the  rude  sports  of  the  race-course  (hippd- 
dromus).  In  these  race-courses,  two  great  parties,  who  mortally  hated 
and  persecuted  each  other,  distinguished  themselves,  according  to  the 
colors  of  the  chariot  drivers,  into  the  Blue  and  the  Green.  It  was  under 
Justiniun  these  circumstances,  that  Justinian,  a  man  of  low  origin, 
A.  D.  627 -565.  ascended  the  throne,  where  he  completed  several  great 
undertakings.  He  subdued  the  Green  party,  that  had  raised  an  insur- 
rection against  him,  and  closed  the  race-course  for  two  years ;  he  ordered 
the  code  of  laws,  known  by  the  name  of  Corpus  Juris  and  Pandects,  to 
be  prepared  by  his  minister,  Tribonian ;  he  procured  silk-worms  from 
China  by  an  artifice,  and  transplanted  the  manufacture  of  silk  into 
Europe ;  he  built  the  church  of  St.  Sophia  in  Constantinople,  and  he 
persecuted  the  heathens  and  Arians. 

§  187.  Both  the  Vandals  and  Goths  had  made  a  profession  of  Arian- 
iim.     Hence  Justinian  embraced  the  project  of  visiting  them  with  war, 
and,  by  the  conquest  of  their  lands,  of  restoring  his  empire  to  the  same 
extent  it  had  possessed  under  Constantine.    Belisarius,  the  great  hero  of 
his  time,  subdued  in  a  few  months  the  kingdom  of  the  Vandals,  which 
was  already  disturbed  by  a  religious  war,  and  carried  the  last  king,  Geli- 
mer,  a  prisoner  to  Constantinople.     About  this  time,  Thed- 
doric's  noble  daughter,  Amalasunta,  was  murdered  by  her 
dastardly  husband.     Hereupon  Justinian  assumed  the  part  of  her  aven- 
ger, and  sent  Belisarius  to  Italy.     Belisarius  took  Rome,  and  defended 
it  with  military  skill  and  heroic  courage  for  a  twelvemonth 
against  the  Gothic  king,  Vitiges.     The  Goths,  filled  with 


124  HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

amazement  at  the  courage  of  Belisarius,  offered  him  the  sovereign 
authority,  and  dehvered  up  to  him  the  chief  city,  Ravenna.  He  took 
possession  of  it  in  the  name  of  the  emperor,  but  did  not,  nevertheless, 
escape  the  envy  and  calumny  of  the  Byzantine  courtiers.  He  was 
recalled  in  the  midst  of  a  course  of  victories,  to  defend  the  eastern  fron- 
tier against  the  Persians.  After  his  departure,  the  Goths, 
according  to  the  German  custom,  raised  the  valiant  Totila 
upon  a  shield,  and  saluted  him  as  king.  Totila  soon  reconquered  the 
whole  of  Italy.  Belisarius  again  made  his  appearance,  but,  being 
slenderly  supplied  with  money  and  troops  by  the  suspicious  emperor, 
with  all  his  courage  he  could  effect  but  little.  Justinian  angrily  sum- 
moned him  back,  and  punished  him  with  his  displeasure.  He  is  said, 
when  a  blind  old  man,  to  have  supported  his  life  by  begging  alms. 
Ills  successor  was  Narses,  a  dexterous  courtier,  but  a  hero  like  Beli- 
sarius. ISTarses  gained  a  victory  at  Tagina,  near  the  ancient  Sentinum 
(§  110),  where  Totila  and  the  bravest  of  his  warriors  died  in  the  field. 
It  was  in  vain  that  the  remainder  of  the  Goths  raised  the  valiant  Tejas 
upon  the  royal  shield;  he  also,  after  many  bloody  encounters, 
fell  at  the  head  of  his  nobles,  near  the  ancient  Cumie ;  and 
it  was  only  a  small  band  who  sought  an  unknown  dwelling-place  upon 
the  farther  side  of  the  Alps. 

§  188.  Henceforth,  Narses,  as  the  emperor's  lieutenant,  governed  the 
conquered  country  from  Ravenna.  But  when  Justinian  died,  and  his 
successor  deprived  Narses  of  his  office,  he  called  the  Longobards  out  of 
Pannonia  (Hungary),  a  short  time  before  his  death.  These  advanced 
to  the  neighborhood  of  the  Po,  which  received  from  them  the  name  of 
Lombardy,  under  the  warlike  Alboin.  Pavia  was  taken  by  assault  after 
a  siege  of  three  years,  and  erected  into  the  capital  of  the  Lombard  king- 
dom. Alboin  died  by  the  bloody  \engeance  of  his  wife,  the  beautiful 
Rosamunda.  He  had  killed  her  father,  the  king  of  the  Gepida3.  some 
years  before  in  battle,  and,  in  accordance  with  the  German  custom,  had 
had  his  skull  fashioned  into  a  goblet.  He  once  compelled  his  daughter, 
during  a  festival,  to  drink  from  this  cup,  a  proceeding  that  so  enraged 
her  that  she  procured  his  assassination.  The  rude  Longobards  treated 
the  natives  with  violence,  and  deprived  them  of  the  greater  part 'of  their 
possessions.  But  the  fruitful  fields  were  soon  brought  to  a  splendid  state 
of  cultivation  by  the  sturdy  arms  of  German  laborers.  A  powerful 
nobility  of  dukes  and  counts  stood  at  the  head  of  this  nation,  who  elected 
their  kings  in  the  assemblies  of  the  people  (Maifelder).  The  Longo- 
bard  kingdom  remained  independent  for  two  centuries. 

§  189.  The  glory  that  Justinian  had  shed  upon  the  Byzantine  empire, 
was  soon  obscured  by  the  depravity  of  the  court.  Wicked  princes 
ascended  the  blood-stained  throne  in  the  midst  of  the  most  revolting  hor- 
rors ;  deprivation  of  the  eyes,  mutilation  of  the  nose    and    ears,  were 


THE  MIGRATION  OF  XATIOXS.  125 

things  of  daily  occurrence  in  this  God-forsaken  court.  "With  all  this, 
Constantinople  remained,  through  the  whole  of  the  middle  ages,  the  seat 
of  learning  and  refinement,  and  the  Byzantine  history  confirms  a  fact  de- 
rived from  experience,  that  external  civilization  and  a  refined  manner  of 
living  are  frequently  conjoined  with  barbarousness  of  mind  and  de- 
pravity of  morals.  The  affairs  of  the  Church  always  excited  the  great- 
est interest  at  Constantinople.  When  the  increasing  veneration  for 
images  and  relics  threatened  to  establish  a  new  form  of  idolatry,  inas- 
Leo  the  much  as  the  ignorant  people  worshipped  the  images  thera- 

Isaurian,  selves,  Leo  the  Isaurian  issued  a  command  to  remove  them 
A.  D.  717-741.  altogether  from  the  churches.  This  gave  rise  to  a  storm 
that  shook  throne  and  empire  for  more  than  a  century.  Two  parties,  the 
image  worshippers  (Iconoduli)  and  the  image  breakers  (Iconoclasts)  stood 
Constantine  ^"  hostile  opposition  to  each  other.  Leo's  energetic  son, 
Copronymus,  Constantine  Copronymus,  followed  his  father's  example.  He 
A.  D.  741-775.  ha^  the  worship  of  images  condemned  by  a  council  of  the 
Church,  and  punished  the  refractory  by  deatli  and  banishment.  Ilis  son 
Leo  IV.  A.  D.  ^Iso,  Leo  IV.,  belongs  to  the  number  of  iconoclastic  empe- 
776  -  780.  rors.  But  after  his  sudden  death,  his  wife,  Irene,  abrogated 
Irene,  the  former  resolutions  by  a  new  council,  and  restored  to  the 

A.  D.  800.  churches  their  ornaments  ftf  images.  This  violent  woman 
put  out  the  eyes  of  her  own  son  from  motives  of  ambition,  and  was 
meditating  a  union  with  Charlemagne,  when  she  was  hurled  from  the 
throne  by  a  conspiracy.  She  died  in  misery  at  Lesbos.  A  later  at- 
Leo  the  Anne-  ^^"^P^  *^  remove  images  from  the  churches,  undertaken  by 
nian,  a.  d.  Leo  the  Armenian  and  his  successors,  was  less  violent,  and 
813-820.  was'interrupted  by  the  empress  Theodora.  Shortly  after,  a 
new  imperial  house  ascended  the  throne,  in  the  person  of  Basilius  the 
Macedonian,  which  ruled  with  little  interruption  for  200 
years,  and  restored  some  strehgth  to  the  empire.  In  the 
"West,  the  decrees  against  images  were  not  recognized. 


11.  MOHAMMED  AND  THE  ARABIANS. 

§  190.  On  the  south-western  coast  of  the  peninsula  of  Arabia,  which, 
on  account  of  its  great  fertility  in  coffee,  frankincense,  cinnamon,  and 
other  spices,  is  called  Arabia  Felix,  lived  for  ages,  in  proud  independ- 
ence, a  people  capable  of  civilization.  Their  religion  was  a  rude  pagan- 
ism ;  a  black  stone  in  the  Caaba  at  Mecca  served  as  the  national  palladi- 
um, the  care  of  which  belonged  to  the  Koreishites.  They  were  rendered 
rich  by  an  extensive  commerce,  and  took  pleasure  in  mental  cultivation 

11* 


126  HISTORY   OF    THE   MIDDLE    AGE. 

and  poetry.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  people  that  Molian\med  was 
Mohammed,  born,  towards  the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  from  the  re- 
A.  D.  571  -  632.  spected  priestly  race  of  the  Koreishites.  During  his  youth, 
he  made  journeys  with  the  caravans  into  foreign  lands  in  the  capacity  of 
merchant,  and  thus  became  convinced  that  the  religion  of  the  Jews  and 
Christians  must  be  preferable  to  the  idolatrous  worship  of  the  Arabs. 
As  soon,  therefore,  as  he  had  acquired  an  independent  position  by  his 
marriage  with  a  rich  widow,  he  withdrew  from  the  bustle  of  the  world, 
to  the  recesses  of  his  own  bosom,  and  sought  how  he  might  elevate  his 
countrymen  from  their  degradation.  The  expectation  entertained  by  the 
Jews  of  a  Messiah,  the  promise  of  Christ  to  send  a  Comforter  to  those 
who  loved  him,  who  should  guide  them  into  all  truth,  wrought  upon  his 
ardent  imagination,  and  excited  within  him  the  conviction,  that  he  must  be 
the  person  of  whom  the  world  stood  in  need.  Ilis  epileptic  tits  favored 
the  pretence  that  he  held  communion  with  angels,  and  was  the  subject  of 
divine  inspiration. 

§  191.  In  his  fortieth  year,  Mohammed  came  forth  with  his  doctrine, 
"  There  is  but  one  God,  and  Mohammed  is  his  prophet."  But  with  the 
exception  of  his  wife,  his  father-in-law  Abu  Bekir,  his  son-in-law  Ali, 
and  a  few  of  his  friends  and  relations,  no  one  at  first  believed  in  his 
mission ;  nay,  he  was  even  compelled,  by  a  menacing  tumult,  to  fly  from 
Mecca  to  Medina.  (The  Mohammedans  reckon  their  years 
^^'  ""'from  this  event,  which  is  called  Hejira.)  He  here  found 
adherents  with  whom  he  undertook  expeditions,  and  at  length,  after  some 
victorious  encounters,  he  forced  his  return  to  Mecca.  In  Medina  he 
composed  a  part  of  the  sentences  of  which  the  holy  book  of  the  Koran  con- 
sists. Mecca  soon  acknowledged  him  as  a  prophet,  and  his  doctrine, 
called  Islam,  was  soon  predominant  all  over  Arabia.  He  combined  in  it 
the  fundamental  doctrines  of  Judaism  and  Christianity,  with  maxims  that 
were  adapted  to  the  East.  He  commanded  frequent  ablutions  and 
prayers,  circumcision,  fasts,  almsgiving,  and  pilgrimages  to  Mecca,  forbade 
the  use  of  wine  and  swine's  flesh,  and  sanctioned  polygamy.  A  chief 
commandment  of  the  Koran  was,  to  diffuse  Islam  by  every  means,  and 
to  compel  the  nations  to  receive  it  by  fire  and  sword.  Those  who  fell 
bravely  in  battle  were  promised  a  paradise  of  sensual  enjoyments.  The 
prophet  died  in  the  eleventh  year  of  the  Hejira.  Mecca,  where  he  was 
born,  and  Medina,  the  place  where  his  grave  is  situated,  are  regarded  as 
sacred  cities  of  pilgrimage.  Mohammed  united  gravity  and  dignity 
in  his  carriage  and  bearing ;  he  was  benevolent,  simple  in  his  manner  of 
living,  and  not  devoid  of  domestic  virtues. 

§  192.  Ali,  the  husband  of  the  favorite  daughter  of  the  prophet,  hoped 
Abu  Bekir  *^  become  Mohammed's  successor  (Khalif).  But  Moham- 
A.D.  G32-634.  med's  intriguing  wife,  Ayesha,  procured  the  election  of  her 


THE  MIGRATION  OF  NATIONS.  127 

father  Abu  Bekir,  who  was  succeeded  by  the  simple  and  energetic  Omar. 
Omar  Under  this  man,  the   Arabs,  inspired  by  their  new  faith, 

A.  D.  634 -644.  carried  their  victorious  swords  beyond  the  limits  of  Arabia. 
Palestine  and  Syria  were  conquered,  and  Mohammed's  warriors  marched 
into  the  Christian  cities  of  Antioch,  Damascus,  and  Jerusalem.  Kaled, 
"  the  sword  of  God,"  and  the  crafty  Amru  conducted  the  valiant  bands. 
Persia  was  subjected,  after  a  succession  of  bloody  engnge- 
"*■'  ■  ■  ments.  The  last  king,  Yesdejird  fled  (as  once  Darius  before 
Alexander),  with  the  sacred  fire  in  his  hand,  to  the  mountainous  high- 
lands, where  he  perished  by  the  hands  of  an  assassin.  The  Arabs  now 
pursued  their  victorious  course  through  the  eastern  highlands,  and  car- 
ried the  doctrines  of  Mohammed  to  the  Upper  Indus.  The  Persian  fire- 
worship  fell  before  the  Koran,  and  henceforth,  Islam  was  the  ruling 
religion  of  the  East.  The  new  cities  of  Basra,  Cufa,  and  Bagdad,  on  the 
Tigris,  soon  became  the  centres  of  trade,  and  the  seats  of  oriental  luxury 
and  magnificence.  Shortly  after  this,  Amru  marched  from 
Syria  into  Egypt,  took  Alexandria,  (by  which  means  the 
remains  of  the  great  library  are  said  to  have  perished),  (§  125.)  burnt 
Memphis,  (in  the  neighborhood  of  which  the  chief  city,  Cairo,  took  its 
origin  from  the  camp  of  the  general,)  and  thrust  aside  the  Gospel  by  the 
Koran. 

§  193.  Omar  shortly  after  fell  by  the  dagger  of  a  Persian  slave,  and 
Othman  Othman,  the  collector  and  arranger  of  the  Koran,  succeeded 

A. D. 644-658.  to  the  Khalifate.     But  Othman  was  also  assassinated;  and 
when  All  at  length  ascended  the  sacred  chair  that  had  long  been  his 
right,  the  family  of  the  Ommiades  rose  against  him  and  excited  a  civil 
war,  in  whioli  Ali  and  his  whole  house  perished,  and  the  Khalifate  was 
taken  possession  of  by  the  Ommiades,  who  established  their 
residence  in  the  beautiful  Damascus.     The  Arabians  prose- 
cuted their  conquests  under  the  Ommiades  both  by  land  and  water. 
Cyprus,  Rhodes,  Asia  Minor,  all  felt  the  edge  of  their  swords;  the  capital 
of  the  Byzantine  empire  had  to  sustain  seven  attacks  and  sieges,  and  was 
only  saved  by  the  newly-discovered  Greek  fire.     The  north 
coast  of  Africa  was  subdued  at  the  same  time,  and  the  Christ- 
ian religion  and  civilization  there  destroyed  in  the  course  of  a  lengthened 
war.     The  Arabians  also  gained  a  firm  footing  in  Sicily,  whence  they 
made  predatory  excursions  upon  the  coasts  of  Italy. 

§  194.  It  happened  about  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century  of  the 
Christian  era,  that  the  West  Goth,  Roderick,  deprived  Witiza  of  the 
Spanish  throne.  Hereupon,  the  sons  of  the  banished  man  called  the 
Arabs  out  of  Africa  to  revenge  him.  Tarik,  the  Arabian  general,  crossed 
the  straits  of  the  sea,  founded  the  town  of  Gibraltar  (Gebel  al  Tarik),  and 

overthrew  the  West  Goths  at  the  battle  of  Xeres  de  la  Frontera, 
A.  D.  712. 

where  Roderick  and  the  flower  of  his  chivalry  were  slain  in 


128  THE   HISTORY    OF   THE    MIDDLE   AGE. 

the  fiekl.     Tho  Arabians  overran  the  whole  of  Spain,  as  far  as   the  rocky 

Asturlas,  ill  a  rapid  course  of  victories.     The  Saracens  crossed  the  Pyre* 

nees,  conquered  the  south  of  France  as  far  as  the  Rhone,  and  threatened 

France  and  Christianity  with  destruction;  when  Charles  Martel,  the  mayor 

of  the  palace  and  son  of  Pepin  of  Ileristal  (^  184),  overthrew  them  between 

Tours  and  Poitiers,  in  a  battle  that  lasted  seven  days,  and  com- 
A.  D.  732.  .  "^ 

polled  them  to  full  back  upon  Spain.     Charles  Martel  was  thas 

the  savior  of  Christian  Germany  in  the  AYest. 

§  PJ5.  Twenty  years  after  Charles  Martel's  victory,  the  dynasty  of  the 

Ommiades  was  overthrown  by  the  Abbassides,  and  their  family 

destroyed.     Abderahman   alone   escaped.     He  fled  to  Africa, 

whence   he  was   invited   into   Spain.     lie  there  conquered  the  Abbasside 

governor,  and  was  proclaimed  Caliph  at  Cordova.     Spain  was  prosperous 

under   its   Mahometan   rulers,  and  the    arts   and   sciences  were    greatly 

,^„,       cultivated.     But  after  the  race  of  the  Ommiades  became  ex- 

A.  D.  1031.  .  1  T»T  •     1  •  Ct         • 

tinct,  the  Moorish  power  in  bpain  was  broken  up  into  a 
number  of  small  states,  that  gradually  yielded  before  the  Christians 
^f  the  North.  The  latter  had  enlarged  their  territories  by  successful 
wars  from  their  head-quarters,  the  Asturias,  so  that,  with  time,  three 
kingdoms  had  been  established,  Castile,  Aragon,  and  Portugal,  each  of 
which  existed  independently  of  the  other,  and  waged  furious  contests 
with  the  Arabs  of  the  South.  These  wars  produced  a  spirit  of  chivalry, 
religious  zeal,  and  freedom  among  the  Christian  Spaniards.  The  deeds 
of  these  God-inspired  warriors,  particularly  those  of  the  great 
Cid  Campeador,  were  handed  down  to  posterity  in  heroic 
songs  (Romances),  and  kept  alive  the  courage'  and  chivalrous  spirit  of 
the  Spanish  nobility.  .  Civic  freedom  was  at  the  same  time  flourishing  in 
the  cities.  The  victory  gained  by  the  united  Christian  force  at  Tolosa, 
in  the  Sierra  Morena,  broke  forever  the  power  of  the  Arabians. 

§  196.  The  arts  and  sciences  flourished  in  all  the  countries  inhabited 
by  the  Arabs,  as  well  as  in  Spain.  Mosques,  palaces,  and  gardens,  were 
to  be  met  with  in  every  Arabian  town.  Industry  and  commerce  brought 
wealth,  —  the  source  of  refinement,  but,  at  the  same  time,  of  the  love  of 
splendor  and  effeminacy.  Architecture,  music  (the  system  of  notes),  and 
decorative  painting  (arabesques),  flourished  in  all  the  chief  Arabian 
towns.  The  sciences  were  taught  at  Cordova,  Cairo,  Bagdad,  Salerno, 
and  many  other  cities ;  more  particularly,  grammar,  philosophy,  mathe- 
matics, (the  Arabian  ciphers,  algebra),  astronomy,  and  astrology,  natural 
philosophy,  (chemistry),  and  medicine.  The  Arabians  translated  the 
writings  of  the  Greeks,  especially  those  of  Aristotle  and  Euclid,  and  cul- 
tivated the  art  of  poetry.  The  literature  and  civilization  of  this  people 
had  the  greatest  influence  upon  the  development  of  the  Christian  middle 
age. 


THE   CARLO VINGI.  129 

B.   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

L  THE  PERIOD   OF  THE   CAIiLOVINGL 

1.    PEPIN   THE    LITTLE    (a.    D.    752-768);     CHARLEMAGNE 

(A.  D.  7G8-814.) 

§  197.  The  Austrasian  duke,  Pepin  of  Heristal,  and  his  son  Charles  Mar-" 
tel,  had  gained  the  confidence  of  the  nation  by  their  warlike  deeds,  and  the 
favor  of  the  priests  by  their  zeal  in  the  propagation  of  Christianity.  Both 
parties  were  instrumental  in  raising  Pepin  the  Little,  the  son  of  Charles 
Martel,  to  the  throne  of  the  Franks.  For  when  the  assembly  of  the 
nation  deposed  the  last  imbecile  representative  of  the  INIerovingians 
(Childeric  III.),  and  proclaimed  the  chief  steward,  Pepin,  king,  the  pope 
confirmed  the  election,  in  the  hope  of  finding  in  the  Frank  ruler  a  sup- 
port against  the  Longobards  and  the  iconoclastic  emperor  of  Byzantium. 
In  return  for  the  royal  consecration,  which  w\as  first  performed  by  Boni- 
face, and  afterwards  by  Pope  Stephen  himself,  Pepin  endowed  the  Ro- 
man chair  with  the  portion  of  coast  on  the  Adriatic  Sea,  southwards 
from  Ravenna.  This  was  the  foundation  of  the  temporal  power  of  the 
pope. 

This  Boniface  (properly  Winfried)  was  one  of  those  active  English 
missionaries,  who,  under  the  protection  of  the  first  Carlovingian  monarchs, 
proclaimed  the  doctrine  of  a  crucified  Redeemer  to  the  rude  inhabitants 
of  Germany.  He  preached  the  Gospel  in  Ilesse,  (where  he  built  the 
abbey  of  Fulda),  founded  bishoprics  and  colleges  for  education  among 
the  Tliuringians,  Franks,  and  Bavarians,  and  displayed  such  zeal  that  he 
obtained  the  name  of  the  "apostle  of  the  Germans."  Having  been  ap- 
pointed archbishop  of  Mayence,  he  undertook  in  his  old  age  another  mis- 
sion to  the  heathen  Finlanders,  among  whom  he  met  with  a  violent  death. 
All  the  bishoprics  and  colleges  established  by  Boniface  were  closely  united 
with  the  Roman  see ;  and  as  these  efforts  were  favored  by  the  Carlovin- 
gian monarchs,  the  pope,  about  the  year  800,  came  to  be  looked  upon  aa 
the  head  of  the  Church  in  Franconia. 

^  198.  Pepin  reigned  for  sixteen  years  with  vigor  and  renown  over  the 

Frank  ^empire,  which  extended  far  into  South  and  Central  Germany,  and 

which,  at  his  death,  he  divided  between  his  two  sons,  Charles 

and  Carloraan.     About  three  years  afterwards,  Carloman  died, 

and  Charlemagne  (Charles  the  Great)  was  declared  sole  ruler  of 

the   Franks,  by  the  voice  of  the  estates  of  the  Empire.     He 

conducted  many  wars,  and  advanced  Christian  cultivation  and  civil  order. 

For  the  purpose  of  securing  the  boundaries  of  his  kingdom  and  extending 


130  THE    HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

Christianity,  he  made  war  for  thirty-one  years  on  the  Saxon  confedera- 
tion, which  was  formed  by  various  pagan  tribes  on  the  Weser  and  Elbe. 
Charles  took  the  fortress  of  Eresbur^,  on  the  south  of  the 

A   D  772 

Teutoburger  forest,  destroyed  the  national  palladium  —  the 
statue  of  Arminius,  and  compelled  the  Saxons  to  a  peace.  lie  next  pro- 
ceeded against  the  Longobard  king,  Desiderius,  in  obedience  to  the  sum- 
mons of  Pope  Adrian.  With  an  army  collected  together  near  Geneva, 
he  crossed  the  St.  Bernard,  stormed  the  passes  of  the  Alps,  and  conquered 
Pavia.  Desiderius  ended  his  days  in  a  cloister.  Charles 
erected  the  Lombard  throne  in  Milan,  united  Upper  Italy 
to  the  kingdom  of  the  Franks,  and  confirmed  the  gifts  made  by  Pepin 
to  the  pope. 

§  199.  During  the  absence  of  Charles,  the  Saxons  had  expelled  the 
Frank  garrisons  and  reestablished  their  ancient  boundaries.  Charles 
wy^  again  marched  into  their  countr}^,  subdued  them,  and  com- 
pelled the  chiefs  of  the  tribes  to  submit  at  Paderborn.  Their 
warlike  duke,  Witikind,  alone,  fled  to  the  Danes  and  refused  to  confirm 
the  treaty.  In  the  two  following  years,  Charles  fought  against  the 
Moors  in  Spain,  took  Pampelona  and  Saragossa,  and  united  the  whole 
country,  as  far  as  the  Ebro,  to  his  own  kingdom,  as  a  Spanish  province. 
But  during  his  return,  his  rear,  under  the  command  of  Roland,  suffered 
a  defeat  in  the  valley  of  Roncesvalles,  in  which  the  bravest  champions 
of  the  Franks  were  destroyed.  Poland's  battle  at  Roncesvalles  was  a 
favorite  theme  with  the  poets  of  the  middle  ages.  The  Saxons  took  ad- 
vantage of  his  absence  to  make  a  fresh  insurrection,  and  pursued  their 
devastating  course  as  far  as  the  Rhine.  Charles  hastened  to  the  spot, 
gave  them  repeated  overthrows,  and  subdued  their  land  afresh.  But 
when  he  attempted  to  employ  them  as  militia  against  the  Slavonic  tribes 
in  the  East,  they  fell  upon  the  Frank  troops  who  were  marching  with 
them,  at  the  Suntal  (between  Hanover  and  Hameln),  and  slew  them. 
This  demanded  vengeance.  The  Frank  emperor  marched  through  the 
land,  plundering  and  destroying,  and  then  held  a  court  of  judgment  at 
Verden  on  the  Aller.  4,500  prisoners  expiated  with  their  blood  the 
crime  of  their  brethren.  Upon  this,  hostilities  were  resumed  with  fresh 
violence.  But  the  battle  on  the  Hase,  which  terminated  to  the  disadvan- 
tage of  the  Saxons,  put  an  end  to  the  war.  Witikind  and  the  other  chiefs 
took  an  oath  of  fealty  and  military  service,  and  allowed  themselves  to  be 
baptized.  The  people  followed  their  example.  Eight  bishoprics  (Osna- 
bruck,  Minden,  Verden,  Bremen,  Paderborn,  Munster,  Halberstadt,  Hil- 
dersheim,)  provided  for  the  maintenance  and  extension  of  Christianity 
among  the  Saxons.  Another  insurrection,  however,  was  occasioned  a 
few  years  afterwards,  by  the  oppressive  arriere-han*  and  the  unwonted 

*  The  summons  to  all  the  tenants,  even  those  of  secondary  rank,  to  quit  their  occupa- 
tions, and  follow  the  king  to  the  wars.    Am.  Ed. 


THE  CARLOVINGI.  181 

payment  of  tithes  to  the  Church,  which  resulted  in  10,000  Saxon  families 
being  carried  away  from  their  homes,  and  colonies  of  Franks  being 
established  in  their  place.  To  oppose  the  Slavonic  tribes  to  the  east  of 
the  Elbe,  Charles  founded  the  Margraviate  *  of  Brandenburg. 

§  200.  Shortly  after,  Thassilo,  duke  of  Bavaria,  attempted 
to  render  himself  independent  of  the  Frank  power,  by  the 
asiJlstance  of  the  Avars  who  lived  to  the  east.  He  was  overpowered, 
and  expiated  his  breach  of  faith  by  perpetual  confinement  within  the 
walls  of  the  cloisters  of  Fulda.  Bavaria  was  hereupon  incorporated 
with  the  Frank  empire,  and  Charles  established  the  Eastern  Margraviate 
as  a  check  upon  the  wild  Avars.  When  Charlemagne  had  reduced  all 
the  lands  from  the  Ebro  and  the  Appenines  to  the  Eider,  and  from  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  Raab  and  the  Elbe,  he  repaired  to  Rome  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  century.  It  was  here  that,  during  the  festival  of 
Christmas,  he  was  invested  with  the  crown  of  the  Roman  empire,  in  the 
church  of  St.  Peter,  by  Leo  III.,  whom  he  had  defended  against  a 
mob  of  insurgents.  It  was  hoped,  that  by  this  means,  western  Christen- 
dom might  be  formed  into  a  single  body,  of  which  the  Pope  was  to  be- 
come the  spiritual,  and  Charles  the  secular  head.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  the  long-exist i4ig  variance  between  the  Western  (Roman  Catholic), 
and  the  Eastern  (Greek  Catholic)  churches,  terminated  in  a  complete 
separation. 

§  201.  The  domestic  policy  of  Charlemagne  was  not  less  fertile  of 
results  than  the  foreign.  1.  lie  improved  the  government  and  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice  by  abolishing  the  office  of  duke,  dividing  the  whole 
kingdom  into  provinces,  and  appointing  counts  and  deputies  for  the  con- 
duct of  the  affairs  of  justice,  and  clerks  of  the  treasury  for  the  manage- 
ment of  the  crown  lands  and  the  collection  of  imposts.  The  laws  were 
confirmed  by  the  popular  assemblies  (maifelder),  in  which  every  free- 
man had  a  share.  2.  He  promoted  the  cultivation  of  the  land,  and  the 
education  of  the  people.  Agriculture  and  the  breeding  of  cattle  were 
encouraged,  farms  and  villages  sprang  up,  and  barren  heaths  were  con- 
rerted  into  arable  fields.  He  founded  conventual  schools  and  cathe- 
drals, had  the  works  of  the  ancient  Roman  writers  transcribed,  and 
formed  a  collection  of  old  German  heroic  ballads.  Learned  men,  like 
the  British  monk,  Alcuin,  and  the  historian  Eginhard,  from  the  Oden- 
wald,  had  ample  reason  to  congratulate  themselves  on  his  encouragement 
and  support.  3.  He  favored  the  clergy  and  the  church.  It  was  by  his 
means  that  the  former  obtained  their  tithes  and  vast  gifts  and  legacies ; 
church  music  was  improved,  missionaries  supported,  and  churches  and 
monasteries  erected.  Ingelheim  on  the  Rhine,  and  Aix,  were  Charles's 
favorite  places  of  residence.     He  lies  buried  in  the  latter  town. 

♦  A  Margrave  (Marquis)  was  a  Count  of  the  frontier,  the  frontier  being  called  the  Mark 
(March).    Am.  Eil 


132  HISTORY  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE. 


2.     DISSOLUTION    OF    THE   FRANK   EMPIRE. 

Louis  the  §  ^^2*  "^^^  ^^^  ^^   Charlemagne,  Louis  the   Debonnaire 

Debonnaire,     (the  Gentle),  was  better  fitted  for  the  repose  of  a  cloister 
A.  D.  814-840.  ^jj^j^  foj,  ijjg  government  of  a  warlike  nation.     A  too  hasty 
division  of   his  kingdom  among  his  three  sons,  Lothaire,   Pepin,  and 
Louis,  was  the  occasion  of  much  sorrow  to  himself,  and  confusion  to^he 
empire.     For  when,  at  a  later  period,  he  proposed  an  alteration  in  favor 
of  his  fourth  son,  Charles  (the  Bald),  the  fruit  of  a  second 
marriage,  the  elder  sons  took  up  arms  against  their  father. 
Louis,  faithlessly  deserted  by  his  vassals   on   "the  field  of  lies,"  near 
Strasburg,  and  betrayed  to  his  own  sons,  was  compelled  by  Lothaire  to  do 
penance  in  the  church,  and  to  abdicate  his  throne ;  and  was   afterwards 
shut  up  for  some  time  in  a  cloister.     It  is  true  that  Louis  procured  his 
father's  reinstatement ;  but   when  the  weak  emperor,  after  the  death  of 
Pepin,  by  a  new  division  of  the  kingdom,  deprived  Louis  of  Germany, 
in  favor  of  his  brothers,  Lothaire  and  Charles,  Louis  raised  his  stand- 
ard against  him.     This  broke  the  old  emperor's  heart.    Full 
of  sorrow,  he  ended  his  days  on  a  small  island  of  the  Rhine, 
near  Ingelheim.     The  hostile  brothers  now  turned  their  arms  against 
each  other.     A  bloody  civil  war  depopulated  the  country,  so  that  at  last, 
after  a  battle  of  three  days'  duration,  at  Fontenaille  in  Burgundy,  the 
Frank  nobility  refused  to  obey  the  arriere-ban,  and  by  this 
means  brought  about  the  treaty  of  partition  of  Verdun.    By 
virtue  of  this  treaty,   Lothaire  received  the  imperial  dignity,  together 
with  Italy,  Burgundy,  and  Lorraine ;  Charles  the   Bald,  western   Fran- 
conia  (France)  ;  and  Louis  the  German,  the  lands  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Khine,  —  Spire,  Worms,  and  Mayence. 

§  203.  This  division  was  followed  by  a  time  of  great  confusion,  during 
which,  Europe  was  severely  harassed,  on  the  south  by  the  Arabs ;  on 
the  east,  by  the  Slavi ;  and  on  the  north  and  west,  by  the  Normans.  To 
oppose  these  predatory  inroads,  the  Carlovingian  monarchs,  who  were  all 
men  of  weak  and  narrow  minds,  were  obliged  to  restore  the  ducal  office 
in  the  different  provinces,  and  to  sanction  the  hereditary  authority  of  the 
Margraves,  so  that,  in  a  short  time,  all  the  power  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  nobles.  By  the  rapid  deaths  of  most  of  the  posterity  of  Louis  the 
Charles  the  Debonnaire,  nearly  the  whole  of  the  empire  of  Charlemagne 
Fat,  A. D. 876 -devolved  upon  Charles  the  Fat,  a  prince  weak  and  indolent, 
^^*^-  and  simple  almost  to  imbecility.      Incapable  of  resisting  the 

valiant  Normans,  he  purchased  a  disgraceful  peace  from  them.  This  pro- 
ceeding so  exasperated  the  German  princes,  that  they  decreed  his  depo- 
sition, at  Tribur  on  the  Rhine,  and  elected  his  nephew,  the  brave  Amulf, 
Amulf  A.  D.  ^^  ^^^^  successor.  Arnulf  governed  with  vigor.  He  over- 
837  -  898.        threw  the  Normans  at  Louvain,  and  called  in  the  aid  of  the 


NORMALS   AND   DANES.  133 

wild  Magyars,  or  Hungarians,  from  the  Ural,  a  people  expert  in  horse- 
manship and  archery,  and  who  were  now,  under  their  valiant  captain, 
Arpad,  occupying  the  plains  on  the  Danube  (named  after  them  Hunga- 
ry), against  the  Slavi  and  Avars.  The  Avars  were  either  subjected  or 
compelled  to  retreat.  But  the  strangers  (the  Hungarians),  soon  became 
a  more  dreadful  scourge  to  Germany  than  either  the  Slavi  or  the  Avars. 
They  made  their  predatory  inroads  and  exacted  a  yearly  tribute,  even 
under  Louis  the  Child,  the  youthful  son  of  Arnulf,  who  died  in  the 
flower  of  his  age,  after  a  glorious  campaign  in  Italy.  This  still  continued, 
when,  after  the  early  death  of  this  last  of  the  Carlovingian  race,  the 
German  nobles,  among  whom  the  dukes  of  Saxony,  Franconia,  Lorraine, 
Conradl.  A.  D.  Swabia,  and  Bavai'ia  were  preeminent  for  power,  met  to- 
911-919.  gether  and  elected  Duke  Conrad  of  Franconia,  emperor. 
Germany  thus  became  an  elective  empire. 

§  204.  The  rule  of  the  Carlovingians  survived  longest  in  France,  but 
Charles  the  it  possessed  neither  strength  nor  dignity.  Under  Charles 
Suiiple,A.  D.  the  Simple,  who  had  ascended  the  French  throne  after  the 
898  -  929.  deposition  and  subsequent  death  of  Charles  the  Fat,  the  dukes 
and  counts  rendered  themselves  entirely  independent,  and  one  of  the  most 
powerful  among  them,  Hugh  of  Paris,  kept  the  imbecile  king  in  strict 
confinement.  Fi-ance,  on  the  other  hand,  was  delivered  from  the  devas- 
tating forays  of  the  Is'ormans,  by  Charles  admitting  duke  Kollo  into  the 
province  named  after  them,  Normandy,  upon  condition  that  he  and  his 
followers  would  suffer  themselves  to  be  baptized,  and  recognize  the  king 
as  their  suzerain  (feudal  sovereign).  The  Normans,  a  people  readily 
susceptible  of  civilization,  soon  acquired  the  language,  manners,  and  cus- 
toms of  the  Franks.  Charles  the  Simple  was  followed  by  two  other 
kings  of  the  Carlovingian  race;  but  their  power  was  at  last  so  limited 
that  they  possessed  nothing  but  the  town  of  Laon,  with  the  surrounding 
country ;  every  thing  else  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  insolent  no- 
Hugh  Capet,  bility.  After  the  death  of  the  childless  Louis  A\,  Hugh 
A.  D.  987 -996.  Capet,  son  and  heir  of  Hugh  of  Paris,  assumed  the  title  of 
king,  and  put  to  death  in  prison  Louis's  uncle,  Charles  of  Lorraine,  who 
attempted  to  assert  his  right  to  the  throne  by  force  of  arms. 


II.  NORMANS  AKD  DANES. 

§  205.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Scandinavian  peninsula  belong  to  the 
German  race,  and  share  with  it  the  violent  passion  for  liberty,  love  of 
action,  and  disposition  to  wander,  as  well  as  language,  religion,  and  man- 
ners.    Divided  into  numerous  tribes,  they  undertook  vast  expeditions  ta 

12 


134  HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

all  quarters,  and  trusted  their  lives  and  property  on  the  stormy  waves  in 
their  light  rowing  vessels.  Under  the  name  of  Normans,  they  ravaged  the 
coasts  of  the  North  Sea,  sailed  up  the  mouths  of  rivers  in  their  small 
ships,  and  returned  laden  with  booty  to  their  homes ;  as  Danes,  they 
were  feared  by  the  English,  from  whom  they  exacted  a  heavy  tribute 
(Danegeld).  The  remote  island  of  Iceland  was  discovered  and  peopled 
by  Norwegians,  who  founded  a  flourishing  republic  there,  with  the  re- 
ligion, language,  laAvs,  and  institutions  of  the  mother  country ;  and  Nor- 
man Varangians*  were  invited  as  rulers  by  the  Slavonic  inhabitants  of 
the  shores  of  the  Gulfs  of  Finland  and  Bothnia.  Ruric,  the  warlike 
prince  of  the  Russians  and  of  the  Varangian  race,  accepted  the  invita- 
tion, established  himself  in  Novogorod,  and  became  the  progenitor  of  a 
race  that  ruled  over  Russia  till  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  but 
adopted  the  manners  and  language  of  the  aborigines.  Greenland  was 
discovered  and  peopled  from  Iceland.  Even  America  is  said  to  have 
been  known  to  the  Normans.  The  Normans  loved  war,  the  chase,  and 
the  exercise  of  arms ;  agriculture  and  the  breeding  of  cattle  they  left  to 
the  Slavi.  Good  faith  was  their  most  prominent  virtue,  and  a  love  of 
poetry  the  solitary  tender  feeling  indulged  by  these  rude  men.  The  singers 
(scalds)  celebrated  the  illustrious  deeds  of  their  forefathers  in  melan- 
choly songs  and  legends.  The  most  celebrated  collection  of  such  sacred 
and  heroic  songs  is  called  the  Edda. 

§  206.  England,  under  the  weak  successors  of  Egbert  (§  185),  suffered 
the  most  severely  from  the  Danes.  They  plundered  the  coasts  and  the 
Alfred  the  shores  of  the  rivers,  and  destroyed  the  Christian  churches. 
Great,  a.  d.  Even  Alfred  the  Great  was  thrust  from  his  throne  by  them 
871-901.  fQj.  2i  short  time,  until  he  contrived,  by  dint  "of  cunning, 
courage,  and  watchfulness,  to  put. an  end  to  their  inroads.  Crowds  of 
them,  who  had  been  converted  to  Christianity,  were  permitted  to  settle 
in  Northumberland.  After  this,  Alfred  devoted  himself  to  the  internal 
improvement  of  his  people.  Like  Charlemagne,  he  divided  his  land 
into  communities  and  districts,  and  placed  counts  and  aldermen  over 
them  to  conduct  the  a'ffairs  of  justice  ;  he  founded  schools  and  churches, 
made  a  collection  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  heroic  ballads,  and  translated  the 
writings  of  Boethius  (§  182).  But  when  the  Anglo-Saxon  population, 
under  his  successors,  slaughtered  several  thousands  of  the  Danes  in 
Northumberland  (the  Danish  vespers),  Sweyn  the  Fortunate,  king  o£ 
Canute  tJae  Denmark  and  Norway,  recommenced  the  predatory  incur- 
Great,  a.  d.  sions  with  such  success,  that  his  son,  Canute  the  Great,  united 
1017  -  1035.  ^j^g  English  crown  to  the  Danish  and  Norwegian.  He  go- 
verned justly  and  wisely.  After  his  death,  and  that  of  his  son  Hardica- 
Edward  the  nute,  Edward  the  Confessor,  a  descendant  of  the  ancient 
1041  - 1066.      royal  family,  ascended  the  throne.     He  had  resided  a  long 

*  The  name  Varangians  signifies  Corsairs,  or  Pirates.    Am.  Ed. 


THE   GERMANO-ROMAN  EMPIRE.  135 

time  in  Normandy,  and  imbibed  a  preference  for  French  Norman  cus- 
toms. It  was  for  this  reason,  that,  during  his  reign,  he  encouraged  fo- 
reigners to  the  prejudice  of  the  natives,  and  appointed  "William,  Duke  of 
Normandy,  heir  to  his  crown,  in  the  event  of  his  death  without  issue. 
This  was  resisted  by  the  nation,  who  elected  the  chivalrous  Harold  to  be 
kin^.  But  by  the  battle  of  Hastings,  in  which  Harold  and  the 
flower  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  nobility  fell  on  the  field,  "William 
the  Conqueror  was  made  master  of  P^ngland,  where  he  proceeded  with 
great  severity  to  establish  a  new  condition  of  things.  He  endowed  his 
Norman  knights  with  the  estates  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  landlords,  intro- 
duced the  French  language  and  the  Norman  law,  and  presented  the 
richest  benefices  of  the  Church  to  his  friends. 

§  207.  A  short  time  before,  Robert  Guiscard,  a  Norman 

noble,  had  made  himself  master,  by  his  courage  and  cunning, 

of  the  greater  part  of  Lower  Italy.     He  called  himself  Duke  of  Apulia 

and  Calabria,  and  acknowledged  the  pope  as  his  feudal  superior.     His 

heroic  son,  Bohemond,  increased  this  territory  by  further 

conquests.     But  Robert's  family  soon  became  extinct,  upon 

Roger  II.,        which  his  brother's  son,  Roger  II.,  united  Sicily  with  Lower 

A.  D.  Italy,  obtained  from  the  pope  the  title  of  king,  and  esta- 

1130-1154.      ijii^shed  the  kingdom  of  Naples  and  Sicily.     For  fifty-six 

years,  these  rich  and  beautiful  lands  remained  in  the  possession  of  Roger 

and  his  descendants ;  they  then  passed  to  the  house  of  Hohenstaufen. 


III.  THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  GERMANO-ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

1.    THE    HOUSE    OP    SAXONY    (919-1024). 

§  208.  The  violence  of  the  nobles,  and  the  destructive  inroads  of 
the  Hungarians,  had  reduced  Germany  to  a  wild  and  lawless  state. 
Tlie  first  freely  elected  emperor,  Conrad  of  Franconia  (§  203),  endea- 
vored to  correct  these  evils  by  harshness  and  severity,  and  ordered  the 
insubordinate  Coant  Erchanger  and  Berthold  von  Allemanien  to  be  be- 
headed as  examples.  But  as  he  saw  that  his  family  did  not  possess  sufli- 
cient  political  influence,  he  favored  the  advancement  of  his  powerful 
2gj^j.^,  rival,  Henry  I.  (the  Fowler),  of  Saxony.     This  energetic 

the  Fowler,  prince  enlarged  the  boundaries  of  the  empire  on  the  north, 
A.D.  9l9-936.^vhere  he  established  the  march  (frontier)  of  Schleswig 
against  the  Danes;  on  the  west,  where  he  again  won  back  Lorraine 
to  the  empire ;  and  on  the  east,  where  the  march  of  Meissen  was  in- 
tended to  keep  the  Slavi  in  check.  He  purchased  a  nine  years'  truce 
from  the  Magyars,  and  employed  the  time  in  the  improvement  of  the 


136  THE    HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

army,  and  in  erecting  strong  fortresses.  By  the  building  of  these  cita- 
dels, which  grew  up  with  time  into  towns,  Henry  became  the  originatoi 
of  the  burgher  class,  and  earned  the  name  of  the  Founder  of  Cities. 
Relying  on  these  preparations,  he  refused  the  Hungarians,  at  the  termi- 
nation of  the  truce,  the  tribute  that  had  hitherto  been  paid ;  and  when 
they  undertook  an  expedition  for  the  purpose  of  revenging 
themselves,  he  gave  them  a  severe  defeat  at  the  battle  of 
Merseburg. 

Otho  §  209.  Otho  I.  the  Great,  trod  in  the  steps  of  his  father, 

the  Great,  He  sought,  like  him,  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  empire  by 
A.  D.  936  -  973.  conferring  dukedoms  and  bishoprics  on  his  friends  and  rela- 
tives ;  he  also  enlarged  the  bounds  of  his  territories,  and  diffused  Christ- 
ianity; and  when  the  Hungarians  again  renewed  their  inroads  upon  Ger- 
many, this  valiant  prince  defeated  them  with  such  slaughter  in  the  Lechfeld 
near  Augsburg,  that  only  a  few  out  of  the  vast  multitude 
escaped  ;  from  this  time,  there  was  an  end  of  their  depreda- 
tions. Christianity,  which,  towards  the  end  of  the  century,  in  the  reign 
of  the  Magyar  king,  Stephen  the  Pious,  the  lawgiver  and  regulator  of 
the  country,  penetrated  even  into  Hungary,  produced  gentler  manners 
and  a  more  peaceable  disposition.  Otho's  attainment  of  the  imperial  dig- 
nity was  an  occurrence  pregnant  with  results  for  Germany, 
which,  from  this  time,  remained  part  of  "  the  holy  Roman 
empire  of  the  German  nation."  By  his  marriage  with  Adelheid,  queen 
of  Burgundy  and  Upper  Italy,  who  had  appealed  to  him  for  protection 
against  the  attempts  of  Berenger  of  Ivrea,  Otho  gained  the  kingdom  of 
Italy,  and  w<is  invested  in  Milan  Avith  the  Lombard  crown.  Hereupon 
he  proceeded  to  Rome,  obtained  the  imperial  Roman  crown,  established 
the  protectorship  of  the  German  emperor  over  the  papal  chair,  and 
exacted  an  oath  from  the  Romans,  that  they  would  never  acknowledge  a 
pope  without  the  knowledge  and  consent  of  himself  or  his  successors. 
This  protectorship  the  popes  were  afterwards  unwilling  to  allow  to  be 
valid. 

Otho  II.,  §  210.  The  ten  years  of  Otho  II.'s  reign  were  filled  with 

A.  D.  973-983.  contests  with  the  turbulent  nobility  in  Germany  and  Italy; 
with  the  French,  who  wished  to  get  possession  of  Lorraine ;  and  with 
the  Greeks  in  Lower  Italy,  where  he  laid  claim  to  the  Byzantine  pos- 
sessions, as  the  dowry  of  his  wife  Theophania.  Being  overcome  near 
Bassantello,  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  from  whom  he  only 
Otho  III.  escaped  by  his  skill  in  swimming.    His  son,  Otho  III.,  was 

A.  D.  983-1002.  superior  to  most  of  his  contemporaries  in  cultivation  and 
learned  acquirements,  in  which  he  had  been  instructed  by  the  celebrated 
Gerbert,  .under  the  guidance  of  his  mother  Tlieophania,  and  his  grand- 
toother  Adelheid,  s(5  that  he-  was  called  the  Imperial  Prodigy ;  but  he 
was  wanting  in  the  vigor  necessary  to  the  ruler  of  a  rude  and  warlike 


THE  HOUSE   OF  FRANCONIA.  137 

people.  His  love  for  Greek  and  Italian  refinement  induced  him  to  enter-« 
tain  the  notion  of  making  Rome  the  metropolis  of  his  kingdom ;  but  all 
his  plans  were  thwarted  by  his  early  death. 

§  211.  After  many  struggles,  Henry  II.  of  Bavaria,  a  relative  of  the 
Othos,  succeeded  him  in  the  empire.  His  love  for  the  churcll^and  the 
clergy,  which  he  displayed  more  particularly  in  founding  the  cathedral 
and  bishopric  of  Bamberg,  procured  him  the  surname  of  Saint.  When 
this  cathedral  was  consecrated  by  the  pope  in  person,  it  was  from  his 
hands  that  the  emperor  received  the  signs  of  his  imperial  power,  the 
sceptre  and  the  golden  apple ;  and  although,  during  his  Roman  expe- 
ditions, he  exercised  the  right  of  protectorship  over  the  holy  city,  yet 
the  ceremonies  practised  on  tlie  occasion  afforded  a  pretext  to  suc- 
ceeding popes  to  represent  the  imperial  throne  as  their  fief.  Under 
Henry  II.  and  the  military  bustle  of  the  following  age,  the  civilization 
that  had  flourished  in  Magdeburg,  Halle,  Bremen,  and  Bardewick,  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  the  Othos,  and  under  the  influence  of  the  foreign 
empress  and  Otho  II.'s  sisters,  was  again  extinguished.  The  mathe- 
matical science  of  Gerbert,  who  was  versed  in  Greek  and  Arabian  learn- 
ing, and  who  was  raised  to  the  papal  chair,  a.  d.  999,  under  the  title  of 
Sylvester  II.,  the  Latin  poetry  of  Khoswitha  and  others,  found  little 
encouragement ;  nevertheless,  the  colleges  founded  by  the  Othos  still 
preserved  the  germs  of  civilization. 

2.    THE    HOUSE    OF   FRANCONIA. 

§  212.  Conrad  II.  was  more  bent  upon  enlarging  his  kingdom  and 
Conrad  H.  obtaining  kniglitly  renown,  than  upon  governing  in  peace. 
A.  D.  After  he  had  been  invested  with  the  iron  crown  of  the  Lora- 

1024-1039. .  bards  in  Milan,  and  the  imperial  diadem  in  Rome,  he  added 
to  his  dominions  the  kingdom  of  Burgundy  on  the  Rlione  and  tlie  Jura. 
This  involved  him  in  many  quarrels,  both  with  the  Burgundian  nobles 
and  bishops,  who  looked  upon  themselves  as  independent  princes ;  and 
with  his  son-in-law,  Ernest  of  Swabia,  who  asserted  a  more  valid  claim 
to  the  empire,  and  raised  the  standard  of  rebellion  in  the  south  of  Ger- 
many, in  conjunction  with  his  friend  Welf.  Both  were  subdued  after  a 
long  struggle,  and  the  deeds  and  fate  of  the  chivalrous  duke  Ernest  sup- 
plied the  materials  for  poetry  and  popular  legends.  Conrad  and  his  suc- 
cessor lie  buried  in  the  cathedral  of  Spire,  of  which  magnificent  struc- 
Henry  HI.  ture  the  former  was  the  coijimencer.  Conrad's  son,  Henry 
A.  D.  ^  in.j  was  a  man  of  great  power,  under  whose  reign  Germany 
1039 -I0o6.  attained  its  greatest  limits ;  even  Bohemia,  Poland,  and  Hun- 
gary acknowledged  the  supremacy  of  the  Germano-Roman  emperor.  For 
the  purpose  of  suppressing  the  insolence  of  the  turbulent  nobles  of  the 
kingdom,  he  entertained  the  project  of  founding  an  absolute,  imperial,  here- 
12* 


138  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE. 

ditary  monarchy,  and  either  of  abolishing  the  office  of  duke  in  Germany^ 
or  making  it  entirely  dependent  upon  the  emperor.  In  the  same  manner, 
he  took  advantage  of  a  division  in  the  church  to  depose  the  three  con- 
tending popes,  and  to  raise  the  German  bishops  in  succession  to  the 
papfil  chair.  He  attempted  to  elevate  the  imperial  power  above  the 
princes  of  Germany,  as  well  as  over  the  court  of  Rome.  He  enforced 
respect  throughout  his  whole  kingdom  for  the  "peace  of  God,"  according 
to  which,  no  weapons  might  be  used  between  the  evening  of  Wednesday 
and  Monday  morning  ;  an  arrangement  which,  in  that  iron  time,  was  the 
only  means  of  preserving  a  vestige  of  order.  He  also  preserved  him- 
self unspotted  from  the  crime  of  simony,  i.  e.,  disposing  of  the  property 
or  dignities  of  the  church  for  money  or  worldly  considerations. 

§  213.  Henry  III.'s  son  was  the  highly-gifted  but  misled  Henry  IV., 
who,  from  the  age  of  five  years,  was  under  the  tutelage  of  his  judicious 
mother,  till  the  ambitious  Hanno,  archbishop  of  Cologne,  succeeded  in 
getting  the  young  emperor  into  his  power.  The  severe  method  of  educa- 
tion employed  by  this  prelate  disgusted  Henry,  who  was  only  the  more 
pleased  with  the  magnificent  Bishop  Adelbert,  of  Bremen,  who  snatched 
him  from  the  hands  of  Hanno,  and  made  himself  agreeable  to  the  young 
prince  by  flattery,  and  the  gratification  of  his  sensual  inclinations.  The 
emperor  established  his  residence  at  Goslar,  for  the  purpose  of  chastising 
the  Saxons,  among  whom,  Henry's  rival,  Otho  of  Nordheim,  had  many 
adherents.  He  here  established  a  riotous  court ;  oppressed  and  mal- 
treated both  the  nobles  and  people ;  and,  in  the  insolence  of  youth,  dis- 
turbed, with  his  companions,  the  security  of  the  neighboring  country. 
The  Saxon  nobility  at  length  took  up  arms  under  the  conduct  of  Otho ; 
the  fortresses  were  taken,  the  strong  citadel  (Jf  Harzburg  destroyed,  and 
the  emperor  compelled  to  take  flight.  This  proved  the  commencement 
of  a  destructive  war,  which  was  terminated  to  the  disadvantage  of  the 
Saxons,  by  the  superior  talents'  of  Henry,  and  his  victory  on 
the  Unstruth.  This  finally  induced  them  to  call  in  the  pope 
as  umpire. 

§  214.  The  chair  of  Rome  was  at  that  time  occupied  by  Gregory  VII., 
a  prelate  of  resolute  will  and  decided  temper,  who  cherished  the  purpose 
of  rendering  the  church  independent  of  the  secular  authority,  and  of 
exalting  the  papacy  above  the  power  of  the  emperor,  and  that  of  every 
other  temporal  prince.  "With  this  object,  he  had  induced  his  predecessors 
to  withdraw  the  election  of  pope  from  the  hands  of  the  Roman  people, 
and  to  transfer  it  to  the  newly-created  college  of  cardinals.  After  his 
elevation,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  purifying  of  the  church ;  he 
accordingly  issued  a  strict  prohibition  against  all  simony,  deposed  and 
banished  the  bishops  who  had  obtained  their  offices  by  purchase,  and  for- 
bade lay  investiture  (appointment  to  church  offices  by  a  temporal  prince)  ; 
and,  for  the  purpose  of  binding  the  clergy  more  closely  to  the  church,  he 


THE  HOUSE   OF  FRANCONIA.  139 

passed  a  law  -wliich  enforced  a  rigid  observance  of  celibacy  by  all  per- 
sons of  the  priestly  condition.  The  appeal  to  his  arbitration  by  the 
Saxons  came  very  opportunely  to  the  daring  priest  after  these  arrange- 
ments ;  it  served  to  confirm  the  principle  that  the  pope,  as  Christ's  vice- 
regent,  was  superior  to  all  temporal  rulers,  and  that  emperors,  kings,  and 
princes,  were  consequently  his  vassals.  He  summoned  Henry  IV.  be- 
fore his  judgment  seat.  Instead  of  obeying  the  summons,  the  emperor 
obtained  a  resolution  from  a  council  of  the  church  assembled  at  Worms, 
which  declared  the  pope  to  be  deposed,  and  this  resolution  he  forwarded 
to  Gregory  with  a  contemptuous  letter.  Upon  this,  Gregory  excommu- 
nicated Henry  and  his  adherents,  and  deposed  him  from  the  throne.  This 
happened  at  a  time  when  Henry's  conduct  towards  the  Saxons,  and  his 
matrimonial  quarrel  with  his  virtuous  wife,  from  whom  he  attempted  to 
get  himself  separated  by  the  archbishop  of  Mayence,  created  universal 
dissatisfaction.  He  soon  found  himself  forsaken  by  his  people,  and  the 
princes  who  assembled  at  Tribur  announced  to  him  his  deposition,  unless 
he  were  released  from  the  excommunication  within  a  year.  Upon  this, 
Henry  hastened  across  the  Alps,  in  the  midst  of  a  severe 
winter,  to  the  pope,  who  was  residing  at  the  castle  Canossa ; 
but  it  was  not  until  after  waiting  three  days  barefoot,  and  in  the  dress  of 
a  penitent,  in  the  court  of  the  castle,  that  he  was  admitted  to  an  audience. 
After  this  humiliation,  the  excommunication  was  withdrawn. 

§  215.  During  Henry's  absence,  his  enemies  had  raised  Rudolf,  duke 
of  Swabia,  to  the  imperial  throne.    A  civil  war  broke  out  in  consequence, 
in  which  Henry  remained  the  victor.     Rudolf,  having  lost  a  hand  in  the 
battle  of  the  Elster,  died  shortly  afterwards,  upon  which   Henry  under- 
took an  expedition  to  revenge  himself  upon  Gregory,  who, 
deceived  by  false  intelligence  respecting  the  victory,  had  re- 
newed the  excommunication.     He  left  the  finishing  of  the  war  in   Ger- 
many to  his  son-in-law,  Frederick  of  Ilohenstaufen,  whom  he  had  created 
duke  of  S^vabia,  and  then  marched  with  his  army  over  the  Alps.     A 
council  of  the  church,  assembled  by  him  at  Brixen,  deposed 

A  D   1083. 

Gregory  and  elected  Clement  HI.,  from  whom  Henry  imme- 
diately received  the  crown.  It  is  true,  that  Gregory  still  maintained 
himself  for  some  time  in  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo,  under  the  protection 
of  Robert  Guiscard  (§  208),  with  whom  be  had  entered  into  an  alliance; 
but  the  dreadful  excesses  of  the  Normans  produced  so  much  exasperation 

among  the  Romans,  that  the  pope  thought  it  most  advisable 
*  to  take  refuge  in  Salerno,  where  he  died  in  the  following 
year.  But  Henry's  troubles  were  not  yet  at  an  end.  Two  rival  em- 
perors arose  in  Germany,  and  in  Italy  the  successor  of  Gregory 
created  him  a  crowd  of  enemies,  and  renewed  the  sentence  of  excommu* 
nication.  At  length,  his  own  misguided  children  rose  against  him, 
Conrad  was  disowned  by  him,  and  died  in  disgrace  ;  but  in  a  short  time 


140  THE  HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

after,  Henry,  who  was  already  crowned,  drew  the  sword  against  hia 
fatlier,  took  him  prisoner,  and  when  he  escaped  from  confinement, 
continued  the  war  against  him  so  long,  that  Henry  IV.,  bowed  down 
by  misery  and  misfortune,  ended  his  days  at  Liege.  But  even  now 
he  was  not  at  rest.  For  five  years,  his  dead  body  remained  unburied 
in  an  unconsecrated  chapel  at  Spire,  before  it  was  allowed  to  be  interred 
in  the  imperial  sepulchre. 

§  216.  As  long  as  Henry  V.  continued  the  disgraceful  contest  with  his 
Heniy  V.  A.  D.  father,  SO  long  he  remained  the  friend  of  the  pope.  But 
1106-1125.  scarcely  was  he  in  exclusive  possession  of  the  imperial  digni- 
ty, before  he  quarrelled  with  his  ally  on  the  subject  of  investiture.  He 
seized  upon  the  pope  and  cardinals,  and  succeeded,  despite  the  thunders 
of  excommunication  by  which  he  was  assailed,  in  effecting  a  fair  com- 
promise of  the  subject  of  dispute,  by  means  of  the  concordat  of  "Worms. 
It  was  arranged  by  this  contract,  that  the  bishops  and  abbots  should  be 
freely  elected  and  installed  in  their  offices  by  the  pope,  but  that  they 
should  be  endowed  with  their  temporalities  and  privileges  by  the  king 
with  his  sceptre. 

The  severity  with  which  Henry  had  humbled  the  insolent  princes  of 
the  empire,  prevented  them  from  raising  to  the  throne  the  nearest  rela- 
tive of  the  house  of  Franconia,  Frederick  of  Hohenstaufen,  upon 
Lothaire  the  H^^^^y's  death  without  children.  They  elected  Lothaire  the 
Saxon,  A.  1).  Saxon,  the  heir  of  Otho  of  Nordheim,  but  produced  a  fatal 
1125-1137.  division  by  this  step.  For  when  the  brothers  of  the  Ho- 
henstaufen family  refused  to  do  homage  to  the  new  emperor,  Lothaire 
united  himself  with  Henry  the  Proud  of  Bavaria,  of  the  house  of  Welf, 
by  giving  him  his  daughter  in  marriage,  and  increasing  the  vast  posses- 
sions of  this  family  by  the  dukedom  of  Saxony.  The  Hohenstaufens 
were  unable  to  resist  such  superior  power,  and  they  were  compelled  to 
acknowledge  Lothaire  emperor,  and  to  accompany  him  in  his  Italian 
campaign. 


lY.  THE  ASCENDENCY  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN   THE  TIME  OF  THE 

CRUSADES. 

1.    THE    CRUSADES. 

§  217.  Ever  since  the  fourth  century,  it  had  been  a  prevalent  custom 
to  undertake  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  for  the  health  of  the  soul  and 
the  expiation  of  a  sinful  life,  and  to  pray  at  what  was  believed  to  be  the 
site  of  the  sepulchre  of  Christ,  and  where,  in  consequence,  the  Empress 


THE   CRUSADES.  141 

Helena  had  erected  a  church.  These  pilgrimages  became  more  numer- 
ous as  the  Christian  faith  acquired  more  influence  over  the  minds  of 
men.  As  long  as  the  mercantile  Arabians  retained  possession  of  tho 
land,  the  pilgrims  came  and  went  without  molestation ;  but  when  Syria 
and  Palestine  were  conquered  by  the  Seljookian  Turks,  the  native  Christ- 
ians, as  well  as  the  pilgrims,  were  exposed  to  severe  oppression.  They 
were  compelled  to  pay  a  heavy  tax,  and  were  frequently  robbed,  mal- 
treated, and  killed.  At  this  juncture,  a  pilgrim,  Peter  of  Amiens,  who 
was  returning  from  Jerusalem,  presented  himself  before  Pope  Urban  II., 
described  the  sufferings  of  the  Christians  in  the  East,  and  received  the 
charge  of  wandering  through  town  and  country,  and  preparing  the  minds 
of  men  for  the  great  enterprise  of  recovering  the  Holy  Land  from  the 
hands  of  the  infidels.  Wonderful  was  the  agitation  produced  in  all 
lands  by  the  descriptions  of  the  eloquent  and  meagre-visaged  pilgrim. 
When  the  pope,  in  consequence,  held  an  assembly  at  Cler- 
mont, in  the  south  of  France,  at  which  several  bishops  and 
nobles,  and  a  numberless  crowd  of  people  of  all  conditions  were  present, 
called  upon  the  West  to  arm  itself  against  the  East,  and  concluded  his 
passionate  address  by  an  exhortation  to  every  one,  "  To  deny  himself 
and  take  up  his  cross,  that  he  might  win  Christ,"  the  shout,  "It  is  the 
will  of  God,"  pealed  from  every  throat,  and  thousands  fell  on  their 
knees,  and  demanded  to  be  at  once  admitted  among  the  number  of  the 
sacred  w^arriors.  They  attached  a  red  cross  to  the  right  shoulder,  from 
which  the  new  brotlierhood  received  the  name  of  crusaders.  Complete 
remission  of  sins,  and  an  everlasting  reward  in  heaven  were  promised  to 
them.     This  was  the  commencement  of  the  first  crusade,  1096 —  1099. 

§  218.  A  mighty  enthusiasm  took  possession  of  all  minds  ;  no  sex,  age, 
or  condition  would  be  left  behind.  Many  were  tc^  impatient  to  wait  for 
the  preparations  of  the  princes ;  a  disorderly  and  half-armed  crowd, 
under  the  direction  of  Peter  of  Amiens,  and  a  French 
knight,  Walter  the  Penniless,  marched  through  Germany 
towards  Hungary,  on  their  way  to  Constantinople.  When  they  were 
denied  the  necessaries  of  life  in  Bulgaria,  they  stormed  Belgrade,  and 
filled  the  country  with  robbery  and  murder.  Hereupon  the  inhabitants 
rose  upon  them,  and  slaughtered  them  by  thousands.  The  remnant 
reached  Constantinople  with  their  leaders,  but  were  nearly  all  destroyed 
in  Asia  Minor  by  the  Seljooks.  The  disorderly  crowd,  which,  after  a 
bloody  persecution  of  the  Jews,  marched  out  of  the  Rhenish  towns, 
Strasburg,  Worms,  Mayence,  &c.,  under  the  conduct  of  the  priest, 
Gottschalk,  and  the  count  Emico  of  Leiningen,  fared  no  better. 

§  219.  A  hundred  thousand  men  had  already  perished,  when  the  high- 
spirited  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  duke  of  Lorraine,  marched  towards  Con- 
stantinople by  the  same  path,  with  his  brothers  and  a  vast  host  of  well- 
appointed  knights,  whilst  Hugh  of  Vermandois,  the  brother  of  the  French 


142  THE   HISTOHY    OF   THE  MIDDLE   AGE. 

king,  and  tlie  Norman  prince,  Bohemoncl  of  Lower  Italy,  with  his  chivaU 
rous  nephew,  Tancred,  departed  by  sea  to  the  same  destination.  After 
they  had  promised  the  Byzantine  emperor,  Alexius  Comnenus,  the 
restoration  of  all  the  Greek  towns  that  had  formerly  belonged  to  the 
Eastern  empire,  they  were  transported  into  Asia.  A  review  took  place 
in  a  plain  near  Nica^a,  and  the  army  was  found  to  consist  of  100',000 
cavalry,  and  300,000  foot,  fit  for  battle.  The  most  celebrated  of  the 
leaders,  besides  those  already  named,  w^ere  Robert  of  Normandy,  son  of 
William  the  Conqueror  (§  207)  ;  Stephen  of  Blois,  who  numbered 
as  many  castles  as  there  are  days  in  the  year ;  the  rich  and  powerful 
Count  Raymond  of  Toulouse,  and  others.  The  siege  and  capture  of 
Nicaja  was  the  first  important  deed  of  arms  achieved  by  the  crusaders. 
From  this  point,  their  march  proceeded  southwards  through  the  domi- 
nions of  the  sultan  of  Iconium.  The  Seljooks  suffered  a  defeat  in  the 
battle  of  Dorylseum.  But  the  Christian  army  w^as  roon  reduced  to  the 
greatest  straits  by  the  want  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  so  that  many  re- 
turned home,  and  others,  separating  themselves  from  the  main  body, 
established  independent  governments  among  the  pagans.  In  this  way, 
Baldwin,  Godfrey's  brother,  established  himself  in  Edessa,  on  the  Eu- 
phrates. At  length,  the  host  reached  the  beautiful  territory 
*  of  Antioch.  But  the  siege  of  this  strong  and  amply-pro- 
vided city  presented  so  many  difficulties  to  the  unpractised  knights,  that 
that  it  was  only  after  an  investment  of  nine  months  that  they  obtained 
possession  of  it,  by  a  stratagem  of  the  crafty  Bohemond,  who  contrived 
that  a  door  should  be  treacherously  left  open  to  him.  The  punishment 
inflicted  by  the  Christians  on  the  conquered  city  was  frightful.  But  they 
had  scarcely  held  possession  of  it  for  three  days  before  the  Seljook  sultan 
of  Mosul  made  his  appearance,  and  inclosed  the  place  with  an  innume- 
rable army.  The  crusaders  were  in  a  short  time  so  reduced  by  famine, 
that  their  destruction  appeared  inevitable.  From  this  perilous  position 
they  were  rescued  by  a  holy  lance,  that  was  found  in  the  church  of  St.  Peter 
in  Antioch,  and  the  discovery  of  which  produced  such  enthusiasm  amongst 
them,  that,  sallying  out  of  the  city,  they  put  to  flight  a  very  superior 
army  of  the  besiegers,  and  opened  for  themselves  the  road  to  Jerusalem. 
The  faith  in  the  genuineness  of  the  lance  soon  however  disappeared, 
when  the  priest  who  had  discovered  it  died  from  the  consequences  of  the 
divine  ordeal  to  which  he  was  subjected. 

§  220.  The  army  now  compelled  the  contending  princes  to  a  rapid 
march.  When  they  arrived,  about  the  time  of  Pentecost,  at 
the  heights  above  Ramla  and  Emmaus,  whence  Jerusalem 
first  becomes  visible,  they  fell  upon  their  knees  in  an  ecstasy  of  devotion, 
Bhed  tears  of  joy,  and  glorified  God  with  psalms  of  thanksgiving.  But 
the  conquest  of  this  strong  city  was  a  difficult  undertaking  for  an  army 
of  pilgrims,  wearied  with  travel,  and  unprovided  with  the  necessary 


THE   CRUSADES.  ^  143 

engines.  The  want  of  water,  and  tlie  burning  heat,  proved  more  de- 
structive than  the  arrows  of  the  enemy.  But  the  newly-aroused  enthu- 
siasm triumphed  over  all  obstacles.  Having  endured  a  siege  of  thirty- 
15thJuly,A.D.  nine  days,  Jerusalem  was  at  length  taken  by  the  crusaders 
1099.  after  a  two  days'  storm,  accompanied  by  the  shouts,   "  It  is 

the  will  of  God,"  "  God  helps  us."  The  fate  of  the  vanquished  was  friglit- 
ful.  The  steps  of  the  mosques  were  washed  by  the  blood  of  10,000 
slaughtered  Saracens  ;  the  Jews  were  burnt  in  their  synagogue  ;  neither 
age  nor  sex  was  spared,  the  streets  were  filled  with  corpses,  blood,  and 
mutilated  limbs.  It  was  only  after  the  thirst  for  revenge  and  plunder 
had  been  slaked,  that  Christian  humility  again  resumed  its  empire  over 
the  mind,  and  the  same  men  who,  a  short  time  before,  had  been  raging 
like  ravenous  beasts,  might  now  be  seen,  with  bare  feet  and  uncovered 
heads,  marching  with  songs  of  praise  to  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre, to  thank  God  with  fervent  devotion  for  the  success  vouchsafed  to 
their  enterprise. 

§  221.  The  next  step  was  to  elect  a  king  of  Jerusalem.  The  choice 
fell  upon  the  pious  and  valiant  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  who  refused,  how- 
ever, to  wear  a  kingly  diadem  on  the  spot  where  the  Saviour  of  the  world 
had  bled  beneath  a  crown  of  thorns.  He  rejected  the  outward  symbols 
of  power,  and  called  himself  the  Defender  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  The 
new  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  was  arranged  according  to  the  principles  of 
the  western  feudal  system  (§  241).  Godfrey,  moreover,  won  the  glorious 
August,  victory  at  Ascalon,  over  the  army  of  the  Egyptian  sultan, 

A.  D.  1099.  but  died  during  the  following  year,  from  the  effects  of  the 
climate  and  his  extreme  exertions.  His  brother,  Baldwin,  succeeded  to 
the  government,  and  assumed  the  title  of  king. 

§  222.  The  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  had  severe  encounters  to  sustain 
with  the  infidels.  When  reinforcements  no  longer  arrived  from  the 
West,  the  situation  of  the  Christians  became  extremely  precarious,  espe- 
cially after  the  powerful  sultan  of  Mosul  had  taken  and  destroyed  Edessa, 
»  ^  ii,K       and  threatened  their  borders  from  the  East.     At  this  iunc- 

A.  D.  114<.  '' 

ture,  St.  Bernard,  abbot  of  Clairvaux,  in  Burgundy,  aroused 
A.  D.  1149.  afresh  the  slumbering  zeal  for  religion,  and  was  the  origi- 
nator of  the  SECOND  CRUSADE.  The  authority  of  this  pious  man  was 
so  great,  that  Louis  VII.  of  France  yielded  obedience  to  his  exhortations, 
and  even  Conrad  III.  was  unable  to  resist  the  fiery  eloquence  with  which 
he  addressed  him  in  the  cathedral  of  Spire.  Conrad  assumed  the  cross, 
and  marched  with  a  stately  army  through  Constantinople  into  Asia 
Minor.  But  here  he  was  decoyed  by  the  artifice  of  the  Greek  generals 
into  a  waterless  desert,  where  the  crusaders  were  suddenly  attacked  by 
innumerable  squadrons  of  Turkish  cavalry,  who  gave  them  so  signal  an 
overthrow,  that  scarcely  a  tenth  part  escaped  with  Conrad  into  Constan- 
tinople.   The  French  army  that  marched  along  the  coast  fared  no  better. 


114:  THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

The  greater  number  of  the  pilgrims  perished  either  by  the  sword  of  the 
enemy,  or  by  hunger  and  fatigue.  The  shattered  forces  of  the  two  kings 
at  length  reached  Jerusalem,  but  were  unable  lo  perform  any  action  of 
importance,  so  that  the  position  of  the  Christian  kingdom  became  from 
day  to  day  more  difficult,  especially  as,  shortly  after  their  retreat,  the 
magnanimous  and  valiant  Curd,  Saladin,  made  himself  master  of  Egypt, 
and  united  in  a  short  time  all  the  lands  betAveen  Cairo  and  Aleppo  under 
his  sceptre.  The  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  was  soon  in  distress.  Saladin 
granted  a  truce ;  but  when  this  was  violated  by  a  Christian  knight,  who 
had  audaciously  interrupted  the  passage  of  Saladin's  mother,  robbed  her 
of  her  treasures,  and  slaughtered  her  attendants,  the  sultan  took  the  field 
with  his  army.     The  battle  of  Tiberias  was  decided  against 

A    D    1187 

the  Christians.  King  Guy  of  Lusignan  and  many  of  his 
nobles  were  taken  prisoners ;  Joppa,  Sidon,  Acre,  and  many  other  towns 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  conqueror,  and  at  length,  Jerusalem  was  also 
taken.  The  crosses  were  torn  down,  and  the  furniture  of  the  churches 
destroyed,  but  the  inhabitants  were  treated  with  forbearance.  Saladin, 
far  superior  in  virtue  to  his  Christian  adversaries,  did  not  stain  his 
triumph  with  cruelty. 

§  223.  The  news  of  the  taking  of  Jerusalem  occasioned  the  utmost 
alarm  throughout  the  whole  West,  and  gave  rise  to  the 

A.  ».  1189.  *         °  ^  ,  '  .  n   -r     . 

THIRD  CRUSADE.  From  the  southernmost  pomt  of  Italy 
A.  D.  J  .  ^^  ^YiQ  rude  mountains  of  Scandinavia,  armed  bands  streamed 
towards  the  Holy  Land.  Those  who  remained  lehind  paid  a  tax  (Sala- 
din's tenth).  The  three  most  powerful  monarchs  of  the  West,  Frederick 
Barbarossa  of  Germany,  Philip  Augustus  II.  of  France,  and  Richard 
Cceur  de  Lion  (Lion-heart)  of  England,  assumed  the  cross.  The  Em- 
peror Frederick,  with  a  well-appointed  army,  took  the  way  by  land  to 
Asia  Minor,  defeated  the  sultan  of  Iconium  in  a  furious  battle  near  the 
walls  of  his  chief  city,  and  displayed  prudence,  courage,  and  resolution  in 
the  whole  undertaking.  But  when  the  old  hero  attempted,  with  the 
boldness  of  youth,  to  cross  the  rapid  mountain  stream  of  the  Saleph,  into 
the  south  of  Asia  Minor,  he  was  carried  away  by  the  torrent.  His  dead 
body  was  dragged  on  shore  near  Seleucia.  Some  of  the  knights  returned 
home,  and  others  followed  the  second  son  of  the  emperor,  Frederick  of 
Swabia,  to  Palestine,  where  they  took  part  in  the  siege  of  Acre.  The 
kings  of  France  and  England,  who  had  taken  the  sea  voyage  by  Sicily, 
met  shortly  after,  before  this  town.  Their  united  efforts  were  crowned  by 
the  fall  of  Acre,  where  Richard  distinguished  himself  as  much  by  his  seve- 
rity, pride,  and  cruelty,  as  by  his  valor  and  heroism.  The  German  ban- 
ner, that  duke  Leopold  of  Austria  had  first  planted  on  the  battlements, 
was  torn  down  and  trampled  under  foot  by  the  commands  of  Richard  ; 
and  when  the  stipulated  ransom  for  the  captive  Saracens  was  not  paid 
at  the  appointed  moment,  he  ordered  3500  of  these  unfortunates  to  be 


THE   CRUSADES.  145 

put  to  the  sword.  Richard's  name  was  the  terror  of  the  East.  But  de- 
spite all  his  strength  and  bravery,  he  was  unable  to  take  Jerusalem, 
Quarrels  between  Richard  and  Philip  Augustus,  (who  returned  home 
after  the  capture  of  Acre),  and  dissensions  among  the  crusaders,  checked 
the  enterprise.  After  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty,  by  which  the  sea-coast 
from  Tyre  to  Joppa,  and  undisturbed  access  to  the  holy  places,  were 
assured  to  the  Christians,  Richard  also  turned  homcAvards.  Having 
been  cast  by  a  storm  on  the  coast  of  Italy,  he  attempted  to  pursue 
his  journey  through  Germany,  but  was  seized  near  Vienna,  and  given 
up  to  the  avaricious  emperor  Henry  VI.,  who  shut  him  up  in  the 
castle  of  Trifels,  and  only  released  him  on  the  payment  of  a  heavy 
ransom. 

A.  p.  1203.  §  224.   The  fourth    crusade  had  a  termination  alto- 

A.  !>.  1204.  gether  peculiar.  The  knights  of  France  and  Italy  assembled 
together  at  Venice,  in  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  under 
Baldwin  of  Flanders,  for  the  purpose  of  getting  themselves  conveyed  to 
the  Holy  Land.  Whilst  here,  the  Byzantine  prince,  Alexius,  whose 
father,  Isaac  Angelus,  had  been  deprived  of  the  throne,  rendered  blind, 
and  shut  up  in  prison  by  his  own  brother,  presented  himself  before  them, 
and  implored  their  assistance  against  the  usurper.  Alexius  prevailed 
upon  the  crusaders,  by  the  promise  of  vast  rewards.  They  sailed  for 
Constantinople  under  the  command  of  the  blind  doge,  Dandolo  of  Venice, 
who  was  then  in  his  ninetieth  year,  took  the  city,  and  placed  Alexius  and 
his  father  on  the  throne.  But  when  they  insolently  demanded  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  promises  made  to  them,  the  populace  excited  an  insurrection, 
during  which  Alexius  was  killed,  and  his  father  died  of  fright,  whilst  the 
leader  of  the  tumult  was  raised  to  the  government.  Upon  this,  the 
Franks  stormed  Constantinople,  plundered  the  churches,  palaces,  and 
dwelling-houses,  destroyed  the  noblest  works  of  art  and  antiquity,  and 
filled  the  Avhole  city  with  te«rror  and  outrage.  They  flung  the  emperor  from 
a  pillar,  and  then  divided  the  Byzantine  kingdom.  The  newly-established 
Latin  empire,  with  its  chief  city,  Constantinople,  fell  to  the  share  of  the 
heroic  Baldwin ;  the  Venetians  appropriated  the  lands  on  the  coast  and 
several  islands  of  the  iEgean  Sea,  and  gained  possession  of  the  v.hole 
trade  of  the  East ;  the  count  of  Montferrat  received  Macedonia  and 
Greece,  under  the  title  of  the  kingdom  of  Thessalonica ;  Villehardouin, 
the  describer  of  this  transaction,  became  duke  of  Achaia ;  Athens  and 
other  Greek  towns  were  shared  among  the  Frank  nobles.  As  before,  in 
Jerusalem,  so  here,  the  feudal  monarchy  was  established  under  the 
western  forms,  by  which  means  the  greater  part  of  the  old  population 
was  reduced  to  the  condition  of  serfdom.  But  the  new  empire  had  no 
solid  foundation  nor  any  long  continuance.  It  preserved  itself  with  diffi- 
A  D  l'>61  ^"^^-^  ^^^  ^^^^^  ^  century,  by  aid  from  the  West,  against  its 
numerous  enemies;  the  greater  part  of  it  then  returned  ta 
13 


146  THE  HISTORY  OP  TUB  MIDDLE  AGE. 

Hichael  Paloeologiis,  a  descendant  of  the  ancient  imperial  familj,  who 
had  established  an  independent  government  in  Nicjea. 

§  225.  This  crusade,  however,  was  without  results  as  f\ir  as  Jerusalem 
was  concerned ;  and  as  the  Latin  kingdom  also  drew  away  the  strength 
from  the  Holy  Land,  the  latter  soon  fell  into  distress.     The  separate 
bands,  that,   without    leaders   and   without  system,  from   time   to   time 
ventured  upon  this  hazardous  undertaking,  brought  as  little  assistance 
to   the   closely  pressed   kingdom,  as  did  the  fanatical   enthusiasm  that 
impelled  crowds  of  children  to  assume  the  cross.     ^Tearly 
20,00t)  children  left  their  paternal  homes  for  the  purpose  of 
reaching  the  holy  sepulchre,  but  either  perished  by   hunger  and   ex- 
haustion, or  were  sold  for  slaves  by  rapacious  merchants  and  pirates. 
The  expedition  to  Egypt,  undertaken  by  Andrew  of  Hungary  and  other 
princes,  was  also  unproductive  of  any  permanent  result.     With  such 
examples  before  him,  the  excommunicated  emperor,  Frederick  IL,  under- 
took the  FIFTH  CRUSADE,  at  a  time  when  the  sultan  of  Egypt 
was  engaged  in  a  war  with  the  governor  of  Damascus,  re- 
specting the  possession  of  Syria  and  Palestine.     But  the  pope  was  indig- 
narit  with  the  excommunicated  man,  and  forbade  all  Christian  warriors 
to  support  his  undertaking ;  and  when  Frederick  nevertheless  succeeded, 
by  dexterously  availing  himself  of  circumstances,  in  bringing  the  sultan 
to  a  treaty,  by  Avhich  Jerusalem,  Bethlehem,  and  Nazareth, 
together  with  their  territories  and  the  whole  of  the  sea-coast 
between  Joppa  and  Sidon,  were  ceded  to  the  Christians,  the  pope  fulmi- 
nated an  excommunication  against  the  city  and  the  holy  sepulchre,  so 
that  Frederick  II.  was  obliged  to  place  the  crown  of  Jerusalem  on  his 
own   head,   without   either  a  mass  or  the   consecration   of  the  Church. 
Hated  and  betrayed  by  the  Christian  knights  and  priests  in  Jerusalem, 
Frederick,  with  shattered  health,  retired  from  the  Holy  Land.    Fourteen 
years  afterwards,  the   Carismians,  a   savage  Eastern  race,  poured  them- 
selves into  Palestine,  carrying  death  and  destruction  in  their  train.   Tliey 
took  Jerusalem,  destroyed  the  holy  sepulchre,  and  tore  the  bones  of  the 
kings  from  their  graves.     The  flower  of  the  Christian  chivalry  fell  at 
Gaza  beneath  their  blows.     Acre  and  a  few  other  towns  on 

A.  D.  1244. 

the  coast  were  all  that  remained  to  the  Christians. 
§  22G.  Upon  receipt  of  this  intelligence,  Louis  IX.  (the  Saint),  of 
France,  with  many  of  his  nobles,  took  the  cross  and  sailed  by  Cyprus  to 
Egypt.  The  strong  frontier  town  of  Damietta  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Franks,  but  when  they  proceeded  up  the  Nile  to  attack  Cairo,  the  army 
was  inclosed  between  the  canals  and  an  arm  of  the  river,  whilst  the  fleet 
was  destroyed  by  the  Greek  fire.  After  the  king's  brother  and  the  bra- 
vest knights  had  fallen,  Louis  and  the  remainder  of  the  army  were  taken 
prisoners,  and  he  \vas  compelled  to  ransom  himself  and  a  portion  of  hia 
followers  by  the  payment  of  a  large  sum  of  money  and  the  surrender  of 


THE   CaUSADES.  147 

the  conquered  towns.     In  the  mean  while,  the  government  of  Egypt  had 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  warlike  Mamelukes,  the  former  slaves  of  the 
Curds.   Sixteen  years  after  his  return,  Louis  again  undertook 
another  crusade^   which,  however,  he  first  directed  against 
the  piratical  Saracei^  at  Tunis  in  northern  Africa,   partly  to  compel 
them  to  pay  tribute,  and  partly  with  a  hope  of  introducing  Christianity 
amongst  them.     He  had  already  laid  siege  to  their  principal  city,  when 
the  unusual  heat  produced  an  infectious  disease,  which  hurried  the  king 
himself  and  many  of  his  warriors  into  the  grave.     The  French  leaders 
concluded  a  hasty  treaty  with  the  Saracens,  and  returned  home.     The 
feeble  remains  of  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  were  more  and  more  threat- 
ened by  the  warlike  Mamelukes.     When  Antioch  fell  into  their  hands, 
raid  Acre  or  Ptolemais  was  stormed  after  an  heroic  defence,  the  Frank 
Christians  that  were  still  alive  voluntarily  retired  from  Syria, 

A.  D.  1291. 

that  for  the  last  two  hundred  years  had  been  drenched  by 
the  blood  of  so  many  millions. 

§  227.  The  consequences  of  the  Crusades  were  of  vast  importance  to 
the  progress  of  the  European  races. —  1.  Cultivation  of  mind  was  for- 
warded by  them,  inasmuch  as  an  acquaintance  with  foreign  lands  and 
nations  enlarged  the  hitherto  contracted  sphere  of  human  knowledge,  gave 
men  an  insiglit  into  the  sciences  and  arts  of  other  people,  and  enlightened 
their  minds  with  regard  to  the  world  and  human  relations.  —  2.  They 
ennobled  the  knightly  class,  by  furnishing  a  more  elevated  aim  to  their 
efforts,  and  gave  occasion  for  the  establishment  of  fresh  orders,  who  pre- 
sented a  model  of  chivalry,  and  were  supposed  to  combine  all  the  knightly 
virtues.  Of  these  orders,  those  which  most  distinguished  themselves 
were  the  knights  of  St.  John  (Hospitallers),  the  Templars,  and  the  Teu- 
tonic knights.  They  combined  the  spirit  of  the  knight  and  the  monk  ;  for 
in  addition  to  the  three  conventual  vows  of  chastity,  poverty,  and  obedi- 
ence, they  joined  a  fourth,  —  war  to  the  infidels  and  protection  to  pilgrims. 
a.)  The  order  of  St.  John  was  divided  into  three  classes:  serving 
brothers,  who  were  devoted  to  the  care  of  ^ck  pilgrims  ;  priests,  who 
ministered  to  the  affairs  of  religion ;  and  knights,  who  fought  with  the 
infidels  and  escorted  pilgrims.  After  the  loss  of  the  Holy  Land,  they 
obtained  the  island  of  Rhodes,  and  when  they  were  compelled,  after  a 
most  desperate  resistance,  to  relinquish  this  to  the  Ottomans, 
the  island  of  Malta  was  presented  to  them  by  the  emperor 
Charles  V.  —  b.)  The  Templars  acquired  vast  wealth  by  donations  and 
legacies.  After  the  loss  of  their  possessions  in  Palestine,  the  greater 
number  of  their  members  returned  to  France,  where  they  gave  them- 
selves up  to  infidelity  and  a  life  of  voluptuousness,  which  finally  occa- 
Bioned  the  dissolution  of  their  order  (§  256).  The  order  of  Teutonic 
knights  is  less  renowned  for  its  deeds  in  Palestine  than  for  its  sqrvices  in 
the  civilization  of  the  countries  on  the  shores  of  the  Baltic.    Summoned 


148  THE  HISTORY   OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE. 

to  defend  the  germs  of  Christianity  against  the  heathen  Prussians  on  the 
banks  of  the  Vistula,  the  Order,  after  many  bloody  encounters,  succeeded 
in  converting  the  people  between  the  Vistula  and  the  Niemen  to  Christ- 
ianity, and  introducing  the  German  manners,  language,  and  cultivation. 
The  cities  of  Culm,  Thorn,  "Bmng^  Konigsburg,  agd  others,  arose  under 
the  influence  of  the  active  traders  of  Bremen  and  Lubeck.  Bishoprics 
and  churches  were  founded ;  the  woods  were  cleared  and  converted  into 
arable  land ;  German  industry  and  German  civilization  produced  a  com- 
plete transformation ;  but  the  ancient  freedom  of  the  people  was  de» 
stroyed.  The  knights  of  the  G^^der  (who,  since  1309,  had  had  their 
residence  in  Marienbu**,-)  condiicted  the  government,^and^the  peasantry 
sank  into  the  condition  of  serfs. 

About  the  time  of  the  first  crusade,  the  Mohammedan  prophet,  Has- 
san, formed  the  fanatical  sect  of  the  Assassins,  who  dwelt  in  the  ancient 
Parthia  and  the  mountainous  heights  of  Syria,  and  were  remarkable  for 
the  entire  renunciation  of  their  own  wills.  They  obeyed  the  commands 
of  their  chief,  "  the  old  man  of  the  mountain,"  with  the  blindest  devotion, 
executed  with  subtelty  and  courage  every  murderous  deed  that  was 
intrusted  to  them,  made  a  jest  of  the  torture  when  seized,  and  were  the 
terror  of  both  Turks  and  Christians. 

§  228.  —  3.  The  Crusades  gave  rise  to  a  free  peasantry,  inasmuch  as, 
by  means  of  them,  many  serfs  attained  their  liberty,  and  raised  and  ex- 
tended the  power  and  importance  of  the  burgher  class  and  of  the  towns ; 
whilst  a  nearer  acquaintance  with  foreign  lands  and  foreign  productions 
gave  an  impulse  to  trade,  developed  commerce,  and  produced  prosperity. 
4.  They  increased  the  power  and  the  authority  of  the  clergy,  multiplied 
the  riches  of  the  church,  (the  clergy  aijd  the  monasteries  got  possession 
of  vast  estates  during  the  Crusades,  either  by  legacies  and  donations,  or 
by  purchase),  and  exalted  the  zeal  for  religion  into  a  gloomy  fanaticism. 
The  latter  quality  was  frightfully  displayed  in  the  persecution  of  the 
Waldenses  and  Albigenses,  a  religious  sect  who  were  desirous  of  restor- 
ing the  apostolical  simplicity  of  the  church  and  clergy.  Provence  and 
Languedoc  in  the  south  of  France,  where,  under  a  beautiful  and  serene 
sky,  a  prosperous  race  of  burghers  had  developed  their  free  institutions, 
where  the  cheerful  Provencal  poetry  of  the  Troubadours  had  indulged 
its  petulant  and  satirical  humor  at  the  'expense  of  priests  and  bishops, 
was  the  residence  of  these  Albigenses  (so  called  from  the  city  Alby). 
Against  these  men  and  their  protector,  Eaimond  VI.  of  Tou- 

A        -T)      1905. 

louse.  Innocent  III.  ordered  the  cross  to  be  preached  by  the 
Cistercian  monks.  Hereupon,  bands  of  savage  warriors,  with  some 
fanatical  monks  bearing  the  cross  before  them,  marched  into  the  blooming 
land,  destroyed  the  rich  cities,  towns,  and  villages,  slaughtered  the  inno- 
cent with  the  guilty,  lighted  up  the  flames  of  death,  and  filled  the  whole 
country  with  murder,  plunder,  and  desolation.     Raimond  for  a  long  time 


THE   HOUENSTAUFEXS.  149 

resisted  his  enemies ;  but  when  Louis  YIIL,  excited  by  an  ignoble 
cupidity  for  extending  his  possessions,  undertook  the  war  against  the 
heretics,  the  count  submitted,  and  concluded  a  peace  by  which  he  sur- 
rendered the  greater  part  of  his  territories  to  France.  But  a  desolating 
war  of  twenty  years  had  destroyed  the  beautiful  culture  of  the  south 
of  France,  turned  the  land  into  a  wilderness,  and  silenced  forever  the 
cheei-ful  song  of  the  Troubadour.  A  few  years  afterwards,  the  gallant 
peasant  republic  of  the  Stedingers  was  visited  in  a  similar  manner  by 
a  war  of  extermination,  at  the  instance  of  the  bishops  of  Bremen  and 
Ratzburg. 

2.   THE   HOHENSTAUFENS    (a.  D.    1138-1254). 

§  229.  Upon  the  death  of  the  emperor  Lothaire  (§  216),  on  his  return 
from  Italy,  his  son-in-law,  Henry  the  Proud,  believed  himself  to  possess 
the  nearest  claims  to  the  throne.  But  the  great  power  of  the  house  of 
Welf,  who  held  Bavaria  and  Saxony,  and  whose  possessions  extended 
from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Baltic,  together  with  the  arrogance  of  the 
haughty  duke,  induced  many  of  the  princes,  assembled  at  the  imperial 
diet  at  Coblentz,  to  elect  Conrad  of  Ilohenstaufen.  But  Henry  hesitated 
to  recognize  the  election,  and  refused  the  required  homage.  Upon  this, 
Conrad  nL  Conrad  pronounced  the  ban  of  the  empire  against  him, 
A.D.  and  declared  the  forfeiture   of  both  his  dukedoms.     This 

-1152.  occasioned  a  renewal  of  hostilities  between  the  houses  of 
Hohenstaufen  and  Welf,  and  a  desolating  civil  war.  It  was  at  the  siege 
of  "Weinsberg,  an  hereditary  possession  of  the  Welfs,  that  the  war  cries, 
"  Hurrah  for  Welf!"  "  Hurrah  for  Waibling!"*  which  gave  rise  to  the 
party  names,  Welfs  and  Waiblings  (Italice,  Guelfs  and  Gliibellines),  were 
first  heard.  The  citadel  was  obliged  to  surrender  to  the  emperor,  but  the 
garrison  was  preserved  by  the  wit  and  fidelity  of  the  women.  The  war 
continued  till  the  death  of  Henry  the  Proud.  It  was  only 
when  his  son,  Henry  the  Lion,  received  back  his  paternal 
inheritance  and  the  two  dukedoms  of  Bavaria  and  Saxony,  that  a  com- 
plete reconciliation  was,  for  a  time,  effected. 

Conrad  was  a  brave  and  good  man  ;  but  his  war  against  the  Welfs,  and 
the  second  crusade  in  which  he  engaged,  prevented  his  being  of  any  great 
service  to  Germany.  A  short  time  before  his  death,  he  exerted  Iris  influ- 
ence with  the  princes  to  procure  the  election  of  his  high-spirited  and 
energetic  nephew,  Frederick  Barbarossa  (Red-beard),  who  was  esteemed 
the  flower  of  chivalry,  and  with  whose  qualities  Conrad  had  made 
acquaintance  during  the  crusade.   This  great  emperor,  Frederick  L,  gave 

*  Waibling  was  the  name  of  one  of  the  hereditary  possessions  of  the  Hohenstanfens. 
Guelphs  and  Ghibellines  were  the  names  of  the  two  great  poHtical  parties  that  divided 
Italy  and  Germany  during  the  iliddle  Ages,  the  former  adliering  to  the  Pope,  the  larter  ta 
Ihe  Emperor.    Am.  Ed. 

13* 


150  THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

.  peace  and  order  to  the  empire  "within,  and  respect  and  security  with* 
Frederick  out.  The  genius  for  government  displayed  by  this  power- 
^  A^D  ^^  ^^^^  ^^^  man,  who  combined  severity  with  justice,  awakened 
1152-1190.      everywhere  respect  and  obedience. 

§  230.  Frederick  found  the  hardest  conflict  in  Italy,  to  which  country 
he  made  six  expeditions.  The  Lombard  towns,  and  the  haughty  Milan 
in  particular,  entertained  tlie  project  of  erecting  their  territories  into 
small  republics.  Inspired  by  patriotism  and  a*love  of  freedom,  they 
formed  an  effective  burgher  militifi,  and  attempted  to  rid  themselves  of 
the  imperial  authority.  This  refractory  spirit  displayed  itself  even  during 
Frederick's  first  campaign,  when,  in  accordance  with  a  long-established 
custom,  he  held  a  review  of  his  troops  in  the  plains  near  Piacenza,  and 
required  the  princes  and  cities  of  Upper  Italy  to  do  him  homage.  He 
could  not,  indeed,  at  this  time,  coerce  the  powerful  Milan,  but  he  sought 
to  terrify  her  by  the  destruction  of  some  smaller  towns,  before  he  had 
himself  invested  with  the  Lombard  crown  in  Pavia,  and  with  the  imperial 
crown  in  Pome.  He  only  obtained  the  latter  by  giving  up  Arnold  of 
Brescia.  This  remarkable  man  wished  to  bring  back  the  church  to  its 
apostolic  simplicity.  In  furtherance  of  this  project,  he  denounced  the 
worldly  possessions  and  the  arrogance  of  the  clergy,  and  affirmed  that  the 
temporal  authority  of  the  head  of  the  Church  was  an  infringement  on  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  Inflamed  by  these  discourses,  the  Pomans  renounced 
their  obedience  to  the  pope,  and  set  up  a  republic  in  imitation  of  the 
ancient  government.  But  when  the  bold  preacher  of  this  reformation 
was  delivered  up  to  the  pope  and  burnt  before  the  gates  of  the  city,  the 
courage  of  the  Pomans  w^as  subdued.  They  consented  to  abolish  the  new 
institutions,  and  again  submitted  to  the  power  of  the  pope. 

§  231.  After  Frederick's  departure,  the  Milanese  persisted  in  their  de- 
fiance, and  destroyed  several  cities  that  adhered  to  the  emperor  (for 
example,  Lodi).  Upon  this,  Frederick  undertook  a  second 
expedition,  had  his  sovereign  rights  (regalia)  determined  by 
jurists  according  to  the  code  of  Justinian  (§  186),  and  when  Milan 
refused  to  submit  to  the  decision,  uttered  the  ban  against  the  refractory 
city.  A  fierce  war  was  at  length  decided  in  favor  of  the  emperor, 
Milan  was  obliged  to  surrender,  after  a  siege  of  three  years  and  a  half. 
After  the  carriage  (carroccio)  that  supported  the  chief  banner  of  the 
city  had  been  broken  to  pieces,  and  the  citizens  had  humbled  themselves 
before  the  conqueror,  the  walls  and  houses  were  levelled  with  the  earth, 
and  the  inhabitants  were "  compelled  to  settle  themselves  in  four  widely- 
separated  points  of  their  territory.  Terrified  at  this  result,  the  remainder 
of  the  Lombard  towns  submitted  themselves,  and  received  the  imperial 
legate  (podesta)  wathin  their  walls.  A  short  time  after,  Frederick 
engaged  in  a  violent  quarrel  with  the  obstinate  pope,  Alexander  III. 
The  angry  priest  fulminated  an  excommunication  against  the  emperoi] 


THE   nOHEN^TAUFEXS.  15 1 

and  united  himself  with  the  Lombard  cities,  which  were  exasperated 
with  the  tyranny  of  the  imperial  legate.  Under  the  guidance  of  the  pope, 
a  confederation  of  Lombard  cities  was  rapidly  formed,  which  was  joined 
by  Milan,  which  had  again  recovered  itself,  and  by  almost  all  the  city 
communities  of  Upper  Italy.  The  confederation  built  the  strong  city  of 
Alexandria,  which  was  named  after  the  pope,  in  defiance  of  the  emperor, 
and  defended  itself  with  courage  and  success  against  all  the  attacks  of 
Freierick  ;  so  that  the  latter,  having  lost  many  of  his  soldiers  by  the 
summer  fever,  and  being  busied  with  the  affairs  of  Germany,  was  obliged 
to  leave  Italy  for  a  long  time  undisturbed. 

§  232.  At  length,  Frederick  again  crossed  the  Alps  with  a  vast  army, 
but  was  detained  so  long  by  the  siege  of  Alexandria,  that  he  feared  to 
lose  all  the  fruits  of  his  campaign,  and  resolved,  against  the  advice  of 
his  friends,  upon  hazarding  a  battle.  But  Henry  the  Lion  deserted  the 
emperor  in  the  hour  of  danger ;  he  refused  his  assistance,  though  Frede- 
rick implored  it  at  his  feet  at  the  lake  of  Como ;  and  thus  brought  about 
the  defeat  of  the  Germans  at  the  battle  of  Legnano,  where  the  Milanese, 
united  together  for  the  defence  of  the  car  which  bore  the 
ensign  (the  legion  of  death),  performed  prodigies  of  valor. 
The  emperor  himself  was  missing  for  some  days.  But  so  great  was  the 
respect  for  Frederick's  heroism,  that  the  pope  and  Lombard  confedera- 
tion willingly  accepted  his  proffer  of  peace.  At  a  meeting  in  Venice,  a 
truce  of  six  years,  which  proved  the  foundation  of  the  peace  of  Con- 
stance, was  arranged  between  the  belligerent  parties.  Alexander 
was  acknowledged  as  the  lawful  head  of  the  church,  Frederick  was 
released  from  the  anathema,  and  the  confederate  towns  were  required  to 
do  homage,  and  admit  the  emperor's  rights  as  sovereign.  Imperial 
legates  were  to  fill  the  chief  offices  of  justice,  and  the  imperial  troops 
were  to  be  supported  by  the  towns  during  their  marches  through  them. 
Before  Frederick  quitted  Italy,  he  married  his  eldest  son,  Henry,  to 
Constantia,  the  heiress  of  the  Norman  kingdom  in  Naples  and  Sicily. 

§  233.  Henry  the  Lion  was  much  alarmed  when  the  news  of  Frede- 
rick's reconciliation  with  the  pope  became  known  in  Germany.  He  had 
extended  his  rule  over  the  Slavonic  tribes  in  Pomerania  and  Mecklen- 
burg; had  made  war  upon  the  Frislanders  on  the  Baltic,  and  the  peasant 
republic  of  the  Ditmarsens,  in  Ilolstein  ;  and  had  got  possession  of  a 
large  kingdom.  He  had  established  mines  in  the  Ilarz  mountains  ;  he 
had  founded  cities  and  bishopricks  (Lubeck,  Munich,  Ratzburg),  and 
attracted  settlers  from  the  Netherlands.  But  his  ambition  and  acts  of 
violeijce  against  princes  and  clergy  were  not  less  known  than  his  great 
feats  in  war,  so  that  the  brazen  lion  that  he  erected  before  the  citadel  of 
his  chief  city,  Brunswick,  might  be  regarded  as  an  emblem  of  his 
rapacity,  as  well  as  of  his  strength.  The  complaints,  accordingly,  that 
arose  on  all  sides  against  Henry,  upon  the  emperor's  return,  gave  the 


152  THE   HISTORY    OF   THE   MIDDLE    AGE. 

latter  the  opportunity  he  so  much  wished  for,  of  summoning  him  before 

the  supreme  court  of  the  empire,  and  upon  his  neglect  of  the  repeated 

summons,  of  pronouncing^  a^^ainst  him   the  ban  of  the    em- 

A.  D.  1179.  ^  r  o       C3 

pire,  and  depriving  him  of  his  two  dukedoms,  Bavaria  and 
Saxony.  The  former  devolved  to  the  Wittelsbachs,  who  were  devoted 
to  the  Hohenstaufens,  and  who  afterwards  received  the  palatinate  of  the 
Rhine;  and  Saxony  was  shared  between  Bernhard  of  Anhalt,  son  of 
Albert  the  Bear,  and  the  neighboring  bishops  and  princes.  But  the 
Lion  could  only  be  subdued  after  a  destructive  war.  For  two  years  he 
withstood  all  his  enemies.  It  was  not  until  Frederick  himself  took  the 
field  against  him,  that  he  humbled  himself  before  his  great  adversary, 
prostrated  himself  at  his  feet  at  Erfurt,  and  retired  into  three  years' 
banishment  in  England.  He  nevertheless  retained  for  himself  and 
fiimily  his  hereditary  possessions  of  Brunswick  and  Luneburg.  After 
Frederick  had  subdued  all  his  enemies,  he  undertook  the  third  crusade, 
that  he  might  finish  his  heroic  course  in  the  same  manner  that  he  had 
commenced  it.  From  this  expedition  he  never  returned  ;  he  found 
his  death  in  the  distant  East.  But  he  lives  still  in  the  legends  of 
his  people,  in  which  the  restoration  of  the  ancient  strength  and  greatness 
of  the  German  empire  is  connected  with  his  return. 
Henry  VI  §  ^^'■^*  Frederick's  son,  Henry  VI.,  was  an  avaricious  and 

A.  D.  1190-  cruel  prince,  who  resided  more  in  Italy  than  in  Germany. 
1197.  After  the  death  of  the  last  Norman  king,  he  wished  to  take 

possession  of  Naples  and  Sicily,  the  inheritance  of  his  wife,  Constantia. 
But  the  nobility,  who  were  afraid  of  Henry's  ambition  and  avarice,  op- 
posed this  project,  and  attempted  to  place  one  of  the  native  nobles,  the 
brave  Tancred,  on  the  throne.  It  ^vas  not  until  Henry  had  equipped 
fresh  armaments  with  the  ransom  of  the  English  king  (§  223),  that  he 
succeeded,  with  the  assistance  of  the  crusaders  of  Northern  Germany 
and  Thuringia,  whom  he  enticed  by  a  promise  of  a  free  passage  to  Lower 
Italy,  in  subduing  his  enemies,  and  in  getting  possession  of  Naples  and 
Palermo.  The  revenge  of  the  angry  ruler  was  frightful.  The  prisons 
were  filled  with  nobles  and  bishops,  some  of  whom  were  deprived  of 
their  eyes  and  impaled,  while  others  were  burnt,  or^buried  alive  in  the 
earth.  The  plunder  was  conveyed  by  heavily-laden  pack-horses  to  the 
Hohenstaufen  castles.  Henry  died  suddenly  a  few  years  afterwards,  at 
the  age  of  thirty-two,  leaving  behind  him  a  son  of  two  years  of  age,  who 
was  intrusted  to  the  guardianship  of  the  highly-accomplished  pope,  Inno- 
cent III.  The  adherents  of  the  Hohenstaufens  elected  Philip  of  Svvabia, 
brother  of  Henry  YL,  to  be  emperor,  Avhilst  the  Welf  faction  proclaimed 
Otho  IV.,  second  son  of  Henry  the  Lion :  the  former  was  acknowledged 
in  the  south,  the  latter  in  the  north.  The  consequence  of  this  division 
was  a  ten  years'  war,  during  which  the  greatest  lawlessness  and  violence 
nrevailed,  and  such  devastations  were  committed,  that  sixteen  cathedralji 


THE  HOHENSTAUFENS.  153 

unci  350  parishes  with  churches  were  burnt  to  the  ground.     Even  after 

Philip  had  been  murdered  at  Bamberg,  from  motives  of  private  revenge, 

by  the  hasty  palgrave,  Otho  of  Wittelsbach,  peace  did  not 

return  for  any  length  of  time.      For  now  a  quarrel  broke 

out  between  the  emperor  Otho  IV.  and  pope  Innocent  III. 

§  235.  Innocent  III.,  a  politic  prince,  endowed  with  unusual  talents 

for  government,  gave  the  papacy  its  highest  power  by  establishing  the 

principle,  that  the  church  was  superior  to  the  state,  and  its  spiritual  head 

superior  to  any  temporal  ruler ;  so  that  all  the  princes  of  the  world  were 

bound  to  consider  the  pope  as  their  liege  lord  and  arbiter.     He  at  the 

same  time  laid  the  foundation  of  an  ecclesiastical  state,  by  getting  all 

previous  donations  confirmed  by  Otho,  and  inducing  him  to  renounce  all 

the  imperial  feudal  rights  over  Rome  and  the  central  provinces  of  Italy. 

But  when  the  emperor  at  length  attempted  to  set  some  limits 

to  the   ambition  of  the   pontiff,  the  latter  excommunicated 

him,  and  sent  the  young  Frederick  into  Germany,  to  stir  up  afresh  the 

war  between  the   Guelfs   and  the   Ghibellines.       The  Ghibelline  party 

gladly  united  themselves  to  the  handsome  and  promising  youth,  so  that 

Frederick  11.  of  Ilohenstaufen  was  universally  acknowledpjed 

A.  D. 1215. 

emperor,  even  before  Otho  IV.*s  death.  Otho  IV.  died  at 
Brunswick,  in  the  year  1218.  But  a  powerful  opponent  of  the  head  of 
Frederick  II.  ^^^®  church  arose  in  the  freethinking  Frederick  II.,  who  had 
A.  D.  1218-  been  educated  in  the  wisdom  of  the  Arabians,  and  who  en- 
1250.  tertained  a  favorable  feeling  towards  the  professors  of  Islam, 

and  the  Oriental  mode  of  life  ;  so  that  his  reign  presents  a  continual 
contest  between  the  imperial  power  and  the  papacy.  Frederick's  posi- 
tion, as  king  of  Upper  and  Lower  Italy,  threatened  no  less  danger  to  the 
temporal  power  of  the  pope,  than  his  sceptical  turn  of  mind  to  the  au- 
thority of  the  church.  It  was  for  this  reason,  that  Innocent  Jind  his  suc- 
cessors labored  to  separate  the  government  of  Naples  and  Sicily  from 
the  imperial  office. 

§  236.  As  Frederick  for  a  long  time  refused  to  undertake  the  promised 
crusade  (§  225),  he  was  first  excommunicated  by  Gregory  IX.,  and  when 
he  proceeded  to  the  Holy  Land  in  the  following  year,  without  being 
released  from  the  curse,  the  pope  became  more  angry  than  ever,  and 
not  only  paralyzed  all  the  emperor's  undertakings  in  Palestine,  but  com- 
manded his  territories  in  Lower  Italy  to  be  attacked  by  soldiers,  who 
were  distinguished  by  the  badge  of  the  keys  of  St.  Peter.  This  hasten- 
ed Frederick's  return.  He  repulsed  the  papist  troops,  and  approached 
the  frontiers  of  the  ecclesiastical  territories,  upon  which  Gregory  con- 
sented to  a  peace,  and  the  removal  of  the  excommunication.  After  this, 
Frederick  devoted  his  whole  attention  to  the  internal  well-being  of  his 
kingdom.  He  restrained  the  increasing  feuds  and  depredations  of  tlie 
knights  in  Germany  ;  he  gave  the  inhabitants  of  Lower  Italy  a  new  code 


154  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE. 

of  laws ;  ne  encouraged  trade,  industry,  and  poetry.  But  when  he  at- 
tempted to  compel  the  inhabitants  of  the  Lombard  towns  to  fulfil  the 
conditions  of  the  peace  of  Constance  (§  232),  and  to  discharge  the  rega- 
lian  rights  that  pertained  to  him  as  emperor,  a  furious  war  broke  out. 
Frederick,  in  conjunction  with  the  Ghibellines,  under  the  inhuman  tyrant 
Ezzelino,  in  Verona,  and  supported  by  his  trusty  Saracens,  whom  he  had 
settled  in  Lower  Italy,  overcame  the  united  army  of  the  Lombards,  and 
reduced  most  of  the  towns  to  submission.  But  when  he  pursued  his 
conquest  with  severity,  threatened  the  Milanese  w^ith  a  fate  similar  to 
that  which  they  had  experienced  from  Frederick  Barbarossa  (§  231), 
and  presented  his  natural  son,  the  brave  and  handsome  Enzio,  with  the 
kingdom  of  Sardinia,  the  aged  prince  of  the  church  again  renew^ed  his 
excommunication,  joined  the  Lombards,  and  attempted  to  raise  up  ene- 
mies on  every  side  against  the  emperor,  whom  he  accused  of  infidelity 
and  contempt  for  religion.  Frederick  retorted  these  accusations  in  some 
violent  written  replies,  and  repaid  invective  with  invective;  but  the 
church  carried  off  the  victory. 

§  237.  When  Gregory  IX.,  at  the  age  of  nearly  a  hundred 
'^'  ^'  "  '  years,  at  length  sunk  into  the  grave,  Frederick's  position 
seemed  to  become  more  favorable.  But  the  pope's  successor,  the  resolute 
Innocent  IV.,  trod  the  same  path.  For  the  purpose  of  being  free  from 
restraint,  he  left  Italy,  and  called  a  solemn  council  of  the  church,  at 
Lyons.  Without  hstening  to  Frederick's  defence.  Innocent  here  renewed 
the  sentence  of  excommunication  against  the  emperor  in  the  severest 
form.  lie  denounced  him  as  a  blasphemer  of  God,  a  secret  Mohamme- 
dan, and  an  enemy  of  the  church ;  declared  him  to  have  forfeited  his 
kingdom,  released  all  his  subjects  from  their  oath  of  allegiance,  and 
threatened  his  adherents  with  the  ban  of  the  church.  Upon  this,  the 
war  broke  out  afresh  in  every  country.  The  popish  party  succeeded  in 
Germany  in  carrying  the  election  of  a  rival  emperor,  Henry 
A.  D.  1246.  i^iaspe,  of  Thuringia  ;  and  wdien,  after  the  unfortunate  engage- 
ment at  Ulm,  against  Frederick's  son  Conrad,  Henry  died  powerless  and 
forsaken  in  the  castle  of  Wartburg,  the  young  count,  William  of  Hol- 
land, allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  to  assume  the  title  of  emperor.  But 
the  imperial  towns  and  most  of  the  secular  princes  sided  with  Conrad? 
V  §  238.  In  the  mean  time,  the  war  between  Guelfs  and  Ghibellines 
raged  furiously  in  Italy.  The  fiery  temperament  of  the  revengeful 
southerns  occasioned  deeds  of  unheard-of  atrocity ;  family  was  arrayed 
against  family,  city  against  city;  neither  age  nor  condition  refrained  from 
the  combat.  Ezzelino,  the  leader  of  the  Ghibelline  nobility,  perpetrated 
the  most  monstrous  cruelties  in  his  attacks  upon  the  Guelf  cities,  till  at 
length  he  met  with  the  punishment  he  deserved  in  the  prison  of  Milan. 

Frederick  for  a  long  time  maintained  his  lofty  attitude ;  the  number 
of  his  foes  only  increased  his  courage.     But  when  his  son,  Enzio,  fell 


THE   nOHEXSTAUFEXS.  155 

into  the  hands  of  the  Bolognese,  who  kept  the  fair-haired  king  for  twenty 
years  in  confinement ;  when  his  chancellor,  Peter  of  Vinea,  suffered  him 
eel^to  be  gained  by  the  opposite  party,  and  then,  either  from  fear  or  re 
morse,  deprived  himself  of  life  in  prison,  —  his  heart  at  length  broke 
He  died  in  his  fifty-sixth  year,  in  the  arms  of  his  best  beloved  son^  Man- 
fred, in  Lower  Italy.  Frederick  II.  united  great  cultivation  of  mind  and 
aptitude  for  science  and  poetry,  with  courage,  heroism,  and  beauty  of 
person.  Surrounded  by  pomp,  luxury,  and  pleasures  of  all  descriptions, 
he  had  every  pretension  to  happiness,  had  not  his  sceptical  spirit  resisted 
the  church,  and  had  he  only  learnt  to  moderate  his  desires  and  bridle  his 
passions. 

§  239.  Upon  the  news  of  Frederick's  death.  Innocent  IV.  returned  in 
triumph  to  Rome.  He  declared  Naples  and  Sicily  to  be  lapsed  fiefs  of 
the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  and  excommunicated  Conrad  IV.  and  Manfred, 
who  wished  to  take  possession  of  their  patei>nal  inheritance.  Conrad 
soon  sank  into  an  early  grave  ;  but  his  chivalrous  half-brother,  Manfred, 
defended  Lower  Italy  with  his  German  and  Saracen  troops  with  such 
courage  and  success,  that  the  greater  part  of  the  towns  tendered  their 
allegiance,  and  the  Guelfic  troops  were  obliged  to  retreat  into  the  eccle- 
siastical states.  Distress  at  this  hastened  the  death  of  Innocent  IV.  His 
successor.  Urban  IV.,  pursued  however  the  same  path.  Determined  to 
deprive  the  Hohenstaufens  of  Naples  and  Sicily  at  any  price,  he  offered 
this  beautiful  kingdom,  as  a  papal  fief,  to  the  energetic  but  despotic 
Charles  of  Anjou,  brother  of  the  French  king,  Louis  IX.,  under  condition 
that  he  should  conquer  it  by  Guelfic  assistance  and  with  French  troops, 
and  should  pay  a  yearly  tribute  to  the  Roman  court.  Manfred  valiantly 
resisted  his  insolent  rival.     But  when  the  battle  of  Bene- 

A.  D.  1260- 

ventum  was  decided  against  him  by  Italian  treachery,  he 
plunged  into  the  thickest  of  the  enemy,  and  died  the  death  of  a  hero.  A 
simple  grave,  to  which  every  soldier  contributed  a  stone,  inclosed  his 
remains. 

§  240.  After  the  battle  of  Beneventum,  the  power  of  the  Ghibellines 
was  brokan ;  Naples  and  Sicily  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  stern  victor, 
who  made  the  unfortunate  land  feel  all  the  miseries  of  conquest.  The 
adherents  of  the  Hohenstaufens  were  punished  with  death,  imprisonment, 
and  banishment ;  their  possessions  were  divided  among  the  French  and 
Guelfic  soldiers.  Upon  this,  the  oppressed  people  called  Conrad  IV.'s 
youngest  son,  Conradine,  from  Germany  into  Italy.  Conradine,  in  whose 
bosom  dwelt  the  lofty  spirit  and  heroic  courage  of  his  ancestors,  left  his 
home  for  the  purpose  of  again  conquering  the  inheritance  of  the  Hohen- 
staufens, with  the  assistance  of  his  youthful  friend,  Frederick  of  Baden, 
and  a  few  faithful  adherents.  Received  with  rejoicing  by  the  Ghibellines, 
he  marched  victoriously  through  Upper  and  Middle  Italy,  put  the  pope 
to  flight,  and  crossed  the  frontiers  of  Naples.     The  battle  at  Scurcola 


156  THE    HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

terminated  in  his  favor;  but  liis  over-hasty  advance  threw  the  victory 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  who  were  watching  in  ambuscade.  His 
troops  were  either  killed  or  dispersed ;  he  himself,  betrayed  into  ihe 
hands  of  his  rival,  Charles  of  Anjou,  was  beheaded  at  Naples,  along  with 
his  bosom  friend,  Frederick.  Thus  sank  the  last  scion  of  a  glo- 
rious race  of  heroes,  robbed  of  his  honor,  into  an  early  gra\  e. 
The  still  remaining  members  of  the  house  of  Hohenstaufen  also  expe- 
rienced a  cruel  fate.  King  Enzio  died  in  prison  in  Bologna  (§  236). 
The  ruthless  Charles  allowed  the  sons  of  Manfred  to  pine  in  prison  till 
they  died ;  and  Margaret,  the  daughter  of  Frederick  IL,  was  ill-treated 
and  threatened  with  death  by  her  husband,  Albert  of  Thuringia,  called 
the  Uncourteous,  so  that  she  fled  by  night  from  the  castle  of  Wartburf. 
In  her  agony  at  her  separation  from  her  two  sons,  she  bit  one  of  them  in 
the  cheek  whilst  embracing  him,  so  that  he  retained  the  mark  and  the 
surname  of  "  the  Bitten."  ♦ 

After  Conradine's  death,  Charles  proceeded  with  cruelty  and  severity 
against  all  his  adherents.     Upon  this,  John  of  Procida,  a  Ghibelline,  who 
had  been  deprived  of  his  property,  swore  vengeance  against  the  tyrant. 
By  his  influence,  all  the  French  were  killed  by  the  Sicilians,  on  the  so- 
called  Sicilian  vespers,  and  the  island  was  given  up  to  Man- 

A.  D.  1282.  o  1 

fred's  valiant  son-in-law,  Peter  of  Aragon,  by  whose  assist- 
ance, the  inhabitants  successfully  repelled  all  the  attacks  of  Charles,  and 
established  an  independent  kingdom.  Peter's  second  son,  Frederick,  was 
the  first  king  of  Sicily. 

3.    GENERAL    VIEV^    OF    THE    MIDDLE    AGES. 

§  241.  The  institutions  which  existed  during  the  middle  ages  originated 

from  a  mingling  together  of  Roman  and  Germanic  customs  and  laws,  and 

were  based  upon  the  greater  or  less  amount  of  personal  freedom  or  the 

^     ,  ,  want  of  it.     These  intricate  relations  are  included  under  the 

I  eudal  system.  ,>     r-      i   i  »      *  ^» 

general  term  ot  "feudal  system.      After  the  conquest  of  the 

depopulated  Roman  provinces,  the  land  was  generally  divided  into  three 
portions:  the  king  took  one  ;  another  he  divided  among  his  companions 
in  the  war,  as  their  free  property  (allodial),  under  the  condition  of  mili- 
tary service ;  the  third  was  left  to  the  original  inhabitants,  upon  the  pay- 
ment of  a  tax.  But  for  the  purpose  of  binding  the  freemen  more  closely 
to  the  throne,  the  king  granted  portions  of  his  own  lands  to  a  part  of 
them  for  life.  This  was  called  a  fief;  the  giver  was  the  liege  lord,  the 
receiver  was  called  liegeman,  or  vassal.  In  the  same  way,  rich  freemen 
enfeoffed  those  who  were  less  wealthy  with  portions  of  their  estates,  and 
even  of  their  fiefs  (sub-infeudation),  and  thus  obtained  liegemen  or  vassals 
of  their  own.  Bishops  and  abbots  also  gave  fiefs  to  knights,  subject  to 
the  condition  of  defending  the  convent  and  supplying  the  required  con- 
tingent of  troops  to  the   arriere-han.     These  relations,  founded  upon 


^- 


GENERAL  VIEW   OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.  1-57 

mutual  good  faith,  constituted  a  chain  that  bound  the  men  of  the  middle 
ages  in  a  Variety  of  ways,  and  proved  a  grievous  hinderance  to  the  free- 
dom of  person  and  property.  The  vassals  of  the  crown  or  empire  gra- 
dually obtained  possession  of  their  fiefs  as  hereditary  estates,  and  by  this 
means  became  so  powerful,  that  they  opposed  the  king  as  his  equals  ;  the 
rich  proprietors  deprived  the  less  wealthy  of  their  lands,  so  that,  in  their 
capacity  of  free  landlords  (barons),  they  belonged  to  the  class  of  nobles, 
whilst  the  freeholders  of  small  estates  were  degraded  to  the  condition  of 
dependents,  and  cultivated  their  former  possessions  as  hereditary  tenants. 
The  number  of  serfs,  who  were  looked  upon  as  belonging  to  the  land, 
and-S4)rrendered  as  slaves  without  rights  to  the  arbitrary  will  of  their 
masters,  was  still  very  great.  All  who  were  in  the  position  of  dependents 
or  serfs,  were  under  certain  obhgations  to  the  land-owner,  either  to  pay 
tithes  on  their  produce  of  fruit,  wine,  or  cattle,  or  contributions  of  money 
upon  stated  occasions,  or  to  perform  unpaid  labor  (soccage  duties).  These 
taxes  and  duties,  under  the  name  of  "feudal  burdens,"  became  more 
numerous  and  oppressive  with  time. 

^  242.  In  the  middle  ages,  society  may  be  said  to  have  been  composed  of 
three  classes,  —  warriors,  teachers,  and  producers:  — 
•  1.  The  warrior  class  embraced  the  nobility  and  the  knights  with  their 
vassals  and  ibllowers.  The  rank  of  knight  depended  upon  being  descended 
from  a  knightly  family,  and  the  knightly  education  as  page  or  squire, 
during  which,  the  spurs  were  to  be  earned  by  some  feat  of  arms,  before 
the  candidate  could  be  received  into  the  fellowship  by  the  accolade.  The 
great  end  of  knighthood  was  war',  sometimes  for  the  purpose  of  displaying 
strength  or  acquiring  honor;  sometimes,  to  defend  religion  and  its  minis- 
ters, the  church  and  the  clergy;  and  sometimes,  to  protect  women,  as  the 
weaker  sex.  That  respect  for  women,  which  is  the  peculiar  distinction 
of  the  German  character,  produced  the  devotion  to  the  fair  sex  and  the 
services  of  giUlantry  which  were  the  soul  of  the  chivalry  and  poetry  of 
^he  middle  ages.  Knightly  games  or  tournaments,  in  which  the  prize 
was  presented  to  the  victor  by  a  maiden  x)f  noble  condition,  served  to  pre- 
serve and  invigorate  the  spirit  of  chivalry ;  and  that  no  unqualified  person 
might  surreptitiously  introduce  himself  under  cover  of  his  armor,  coats 
of  arms  were  introduced  as  symbols  of  names  and  families. 

§  243.  —  2.  The  teacher  class  included  the  whole  of  the  clergy ;  not 
only  the  manifold  grades  of  the  priesthood,  but  also  the  monks.  In  ex- 
clusive possession  of  the  learning  of  the  time,  and  invested  with  the  power 
of  deciding  the  salvation  of  men's  souls,  the  clergy  acquired  vast  authority 
over  the  ignorant  and  superstitious  people  of  the  middle  ages.  The  head 
Hi  rar  h  -  ^^  ^^^^  church,  the  pope,  assumed  the  command  over  aU  tem- 
poral princes  and  kingdoms,  and  regarded  the  imperial  crown 
as  his  fief;  the  superior  clergy,  besides  their  ecclesiastical  dignities,  were 
frequently  in  possession  of  the  most  influential  offices  of  the  state ;  and 
U 


158  THE   HISTORY    OF   THE   MIDDLE   ACxE. 

tlie  greater  number  of  the  .irchbislioprics,  bishoprics,  and  abbacies  gradu- 
ally acquired  great  possessions,  so  as  to  be  raised  to  an  equality  with 
principalities.  Magnificent  cathedrals,  adorned  with  all  the  productions 
of  art,  gave  evidence  of  the  greatness  of  the  episcopal  residences.  A 
luxurious  life  in  splendidly-ornamented  houses  seemed  the  chief  privilege 
of  the  superior  clergy.  The  episcopal  power,  which  at  first  was  very 
considerable,  wxr.  perpetually  curtailed  by  the  Roman  Consistory.  The 
investiture  of  bishops,  which  had  originally  been  in  the  hands  of  the 
prince,  was  gradually  claimed  as  the  exclusive  privilege  of  the  Roman 
court;  the  spiritual  jurisdiction  of  the  rural  bishops  was  more  and  more 
abridged,  whilst  the  papal  court  of  judicature  in  Rome  decided  all  impor- 
tant questions  before  its  own  tribunal,  and  withdrew  many  cloisters  and 
abbeys  from  the  episcopal  authority,  and  placed  them  under  its  own  im, 
mediate  jurisdiction.  Vast  sums  were  obliged  to  be  paid  for  all  appoint- 
ments, decisions,  and  dispensations,  by  which  means  much  money  poured 
into  Rome.  For  the  purpose  of  keeping  a  watchful  eye  upon  the  affairs 
of  the  whole  church,  and  managing  every  thing  from  Rome,  papal  legates 
were  constantly  traversing  the  different  kingdoms.  By  these  means,  the 
papal  power  became  unlimited,  and  the  higher  it  rose,  the  less  did  any 
one  dare  to  raise  his  voice  against  it.  Every  opposer  of  the  existing 
ecclesiastical  institutions  was  regarded  as  an  enemy  of  the  church,  and 
the  audacious  offenders  were  threatened  with  the  most  fearful  punish- 
ments of  the  church  in  their  triple  gradation,  —  excommunication,  which 
affected  only  the  individual ;  the  interdict,  which  was  pronounced  over 
whole  countries,  and  forbade  the  exercise  of  every  religious  and  eccle- 
siastical function ;  and  a  crusade,  with  the  inquisition,  by  wdiich  whole 
provinces  were  given  up  to  utter  destruction.  This  power  of  the  papacy 
was  especially  promoted,  first,  by  the  spurious  Isidorian  decretals,  a  col- 
lection of  ecclesiastical  laws  and  decisions,  which,  professedly  belonging 
to  the  first  four  centuries,  were  in  reality,  most  of  them,  produced  in  the 
ninth,  and  which  give  the  whole  legislative  and  judiciary  authority  of  the 
Church  to  the  pope ;  secondly,  by  the  rapid  increase  of  the  monks,  of  the 
ecclesiastical  orders,  and  of  convents ;  thirdly,  by  the  learned  men  of  the 
middle  ages,  called  schoolmen. 

§  244.  Monachism  took  its  rise  in  the  East,  where  a  solitary  and  con- 
templative life,  devoted  to  the' consideration  of  divine  subjects,  had  always 

been  considered  more  meritorious  than  active  exertion.   This 

Moiificnism.  .,.  ^      ^^        -,  -,   ■,  ,  ,  -, 

calhng  was  gradually  adopted  by  so  many,  that,  at  the  end 

of  the  third  century,  the  Egyptian  Antonius,  who  had  cast  away  his  vast 

possessions  and  chosen  the  desert  for  his  residence,  collected  together  the 

hitherto  dispersed  anchorites  (monachi)  into  fenced  places  (monasteria, 

cccnobia,  claustra,  cloisters),-  that  they  might  live  together  in  fellowship  ; 

and  his  disciple,  Pachomius,  gave  the  brotherhood  a  rule.     Monachism 

soon  extended  to  the  West.     In   the   sixth  ccuturv,  Benedict  of  Nursia 


GENERAL   VIEW   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGES.  159 

established  the  first  monastery  on  Mount  Casino,  in  Lower  Italy,  and  be- 
came by  this  means  the  founder  of  the  widely-spread  order  of  Bene- 
dictines, which  rapidly  extended  itself  among  all  nations,  and  built  many 
convents.  These  monasteries,  erected  for  the  most  part  in  beautiful  and 
remote  situations,  and  the  inhabitants  of  which  were  obliged  ty  take  the 
three  vows  of  chastity  (celibacy),  personal  poverty,  and  obedience,  proved, 
in  those  days  of  lawlessness  and  barbarism,  a  blessing  to  mankind.  They 
converted  heaths  and  forests  into  flourishing  farms  ;  they  afforded  a  place 
of  refuge  (asylum)  to  the  persecuted  and  oppressed ;  they  ennobled  the 
rude  minds  of  men  by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel;  they  planted  the 
seeds  of  morality  and  civilization  in  the  bosoms  of  the  young  by  theii 
schools  for  education;  and  they  preserved  the  remains  of  ancient  litera- 
ture and  philosopliy  from  utter  destruction.  Many  of  the  Benedictine 
monasteries  were  the  nurseries  of  education,  the  arts,  and  the  sciences, 
as  St.  Gallen,  Fulda,  Reichenau,  and  Corvey  (in  Westphalia),  and  many 
others.  When  the  Benedictine  order  became  relaxed,  the  monastery  of 
Clugny,  in  Burgundy,  separated  itself  from  them  in  the  tenth  century, 
and  introduced  a  more  rigid  disci])line.  In  the  twelfth  century,  the 
monks  of  Clugny  numbered  upwards  of  2000  cloisters.  But  this  order, 
also,  soon  proved  insufficient  to  satisfy  the  strong  demands  of  the  middle 
age  against  the  allurements  of  sin  and  the  seductions  of  the  flesh ;  so 
that,  at  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century,  the  Cistercians,  and  a  few  de- 
cades later,  the  order  of  Premonstrants,  sprang  up ;  the  former  in  Bur- 
gundy (Citeaux),  the  latter  in  a  woody  country  near  Laon  (Premontre). 
The  order  of  Carthusians,  founded  about  the  year  1084,  which  com- 
menced with  a  cloister  of  anchorites  (Carthusia,  Chartreuse)  in  a  ruggerf 
valley  near  Grenoble,  was  the  most  austere  in  its  practice.  A  life  of  soli 
tude  and  silence  in  a  cell,  a  spare  and  meagre  diet,  a  penitential  garment 
of  hair,  flagellations,  and  the  rigid  practice  of  devotional  exercises,  were 
duties  imposed  upon  every  member  of  this  fraternity. 

§  2io.  The  establishment  of  the  so-called  mendicant  orders,  in  the 
Franciscans  thirteenth  century,  was  remarkably  productive  of  results, 
and  Domini-  Francis  of  Assisi  (a.  d.  1226),  the  son  of  a  rich  merchant, 
cans.  renounced  all  his  possessions,  clothed  himself  in  rags,  and 

wandered  through  the  world,  begging  and  preaching  repentance.  IIi3 
fiery  zeal  procured  him  disciples,  who,  like  himself,  renounced  their 
worldly  possessions,  fasted,  prayed,  tore  their  backs  with  scourges,  and 
supplied  their  slender  wauts  from  voluntary  alms  and  donations.  Tlie 
order  of  Franciscans,  or  Minorites,  founded  by  him,  spread  themselves 
rapidly  through  all  countries.  Contemporaneously  with  the  Franciscans, 
"who  in  process  of  time  divided  into  numerous  branches,  arose  the  order 
of  Dominicans,  or  preaching  monks,  founded  by  an  illustrious  and  learned 
Spaniard,  Dominicus,  and  whose  dearest  objects  were  the  maintenance  of 
the  predominant  faith  in  its, purity,  and  the  extinction  of  heretical  opi- 


160  THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

nions.  The  conversion  of  tlie  Alblgenses  (§  228),  among  whom  thair 
founder  had  resided  for  a  considerable  time,  was  the  first  attempt  of  the 
order,  the  members  of  which  took  a  vow  of  entire  poverty,  and  endea- 
'vored  to  win  heaven  by  austerity  and  the  practice  of  a  rigid  devotion. 
It  was  for  these  reasons  that  the  court  of  inquisition,  with  its  frightful 
examinations,  dungeons,  and  tortures,  was  committed  to  them.  The 
mendicant  orders  were  the  most  powerful  support  of  the  pope,  by  whom 
they  were  consequently  endowed  with  the  greatest  privileges,  and  with- 
drawn from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishops.  The  Franciscans  possessed 
the  hearts  of  the  people,  with  whose  joys  and  sorrows  they  sympathized, 
and  were  principally  occupied  in  the  cure  of  souls :  the  Dominicans  de- 
voted themselves  to  the  sciences,  gradually  filled  the  chairs  of  the  univer- 
sities, and  numbered  many  of  the  greatest  teachers  of  the  Church  among 
their  members. 

§  246. —  3.  To  the  productive  class  belonged  the  inhabitants  of  the 
towns  and  country  who  were  engaged  in  the  occupations  of  peace.  The 
peasantry,  who  were  for  the  most  part  in  a  condition  of  serfdom,  and 
took  no  share  in  public  life,  were  at  first  exclusively  understood  by  this 
title.  But  when  the  number  of  the  towns  was  increased  by  the  eiforts 
of  the  emperors  of  the  Saxon  and  Hohenstaufen  lines,  and  many  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  country  settled  in  them,  the  third  class  divided  itself 
into  citizens  and  peasants,  and  obtained  various  privileges  and  liberties. 
These  towns  were  distinguished  as  imperial  towns,  which  were  under  the 
immediate  control  of  the  emperor,  and  represented  in  the  imperial  diet ; 
and  provincial  towns,  which  belonged  to  the  territory  of  a  prince.  The 
former  were  the  most  ancient,  as  well  as  the  richest  and  most  powerful, 
and  it  was  in  them  that  the  town  policy  of  the  middle  ages  Was  developed. 
The  inhabitants  originally  consisted,  as  in  ancient  Rome,  of  free  patrician 
families,  and  a  tributary  and  dependent  class  employed  in  trade  and  agri- 
culture, who,  as  tenants  and  inferior  burghers,  possessed  no  share  in  the 
privileges  of  the  citizens.  It  was  from  the  former  that  the  mayor  was 
chosen.  After  a  time,  the  inferior  burghers  succeeded  in  gaining  the 
ascendency  over  the  patrician  families.  With  this  object,  the  artificers 
formed  themselves  into  guilds  and  corporations,  by  which  means  a  public 
spirit  was  awakened,  and  the. inferior  class  of  citizens  rendered  more 
powerful.  These  guilds,  whose  strength  consisted  in  the  stout  arms  of 
their  members,  soon  attained  such  power,  that  they  not  only  everywhere 
obtained  the  rights  of  citizenship,  and  a  share  in  the  government  of  the 
city,  but,  in  very  many  towns,  the  rule  of  the  patricians  was  thrust  aside 
by  the  power  of  the  guilds.  The  guilds  marched  into  the  field  with  their 
own  banners,  under  the  conduct  of  the  guild-master,  and  defended  their 
liberties  without,  as  they  had  known  how  to  gain  and  maintain  them  within. 
§  247.  The  literature  of  the  middle  ages  was  of  a  threefold  character : — 
1.  Writings  on  religion  and  the  Church ;  the  most  important  of  which 


GENERAL   VIEW   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGES.  161 

lr?J*3  composed  by  the  schoolmen  and  the  mystics.  By  schoolmen 
are  to  be  understood  those  philosophical  writers  who  made 
the  doctrines  and  dogmas  of  the  Church  the  objects  of  their 
speculation  and  inquiry.  In  doing  this,  they  employed  the  rules  of  the 
Aristotelian  dialectics,  and  invented  a  number  of  formulas  and  scholastic 
terms  (terminologies),  and  descended  at  length  to  trifling  subtleties  and 
frivolous  definitions  and  demonstrations.  The  schoolmen  produced  works 
in  which  we  hardly  know  whether  most  to  admire  the  acuteness  displayed 
in  the  divisions  of  the  subject,  and  in  the  development  and  connection  of 
the  conclusions,  or  the  diligence,  the  learning,  and  the  wonderful  power 
of  application.  In  the  thirteenth  century,  scholasticism  attained  its  high- 
est perfection  in  the  persons  of  the  Dominican,  Thomas  A^'iinas,  and 
the  Franciscan,  Duns  Scotus ;  so  that,  from  this  period,  the  scholastics 
were  all  divided  into  Thomists  and  Scotists.  Men  of  warm  feelings  and 
sensitive  natures  were  not  content  with  the  dry  logic  of  these  schoolmen  ; 
they  opposed  therefore  a  religion  of  feeling,  of  poetry,  and  of  imagin:i- 
tion,  to  the  Christianity  built  upon  philosophical  rules  and  forms  of  rea- 
soning. This  was  first  done  by  St.  Bernard  of  Clairvaux  (§  222),  and  by 
the  noble  Bonaventura  (a.  d.  1274)  ;  but  in  the  most  comprehensive  way, 
by  the  mystics.  These  latter  imitated  tlie  necessitous  life  of  Christ,  and 
sought  to  overcome  the  wickedness  of  the  world  by  the  castigation  of  the 
body  and  tlie  mortification  of  tlie  fleshly  appetites,  and  strove  to  effect  a 
spiritual  union  between  themselves  and  God.  Mysticism  has 
had  a  powerful  influence  both  upon  life  and  literature ;  and 
although  the  inculcation  of  meekness  and  self-humiliation  paralyzed 
active  exertion,  and  a  life  devoted  to  the  emotions  and  sentiments  occa- 
sionally produced  fanaticism,  yet  its  influence  upon  a  race  which  was 
sunk  in  barbarism  and  stupidity  was,  on  the  whole,  beneficial.  The 
"  Imitation  of  the  Life  of  Christ,"  by  the  Dominican  monk,  John  Tauler 
of  Strasburg,  and  the  "Book  of  Everlasting  Wisdom,*'* of  Henry  Suso  of 
Constance,  were  held  in  great  esteem.  The  brethren  of  the  Common 
Life,  to  whom  belonged  Thomas  a  Kempis  (a.  d.  1471),  the  writer  of 
the  widely-circulated  devotional  work,  called  the  "Imitation  of  Christ,** 
which  has  been  translated  into  all  languages,  were  the  most  active  among 
the  mystics. 

§  248. — 2.  Not  only  theological  and  philosophical  studies  were,  and 
remained,  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy,  but  also  mathematical  and  natural 
science,  and  the  writing  of  history.  The  Greeks  and  Arabians  exercised 
the  greatest  influence  in  extending  and  perfecting  the  material  sciences. 
It  was  from  the  Arabian  schools  that  the  western  clergy  drew  the  greater 
part  of  their  admired  wisdom.  Albertus  Magnus,  a  widely-travelled 
and  much  esteemed  teacher,  possessed  such  a  knowledge  of  physics,  che- 
mistry, and  similar  subjects,  that  he  was  generally  regarded  as  a  sorcerer. 
Among  the  composers  of  Latin  chronicles  and  annals,  William  of  Tyrus, 
14* 


162  THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

the  liistorian  of  tlie  Crusades  and  the  Holy  Land,  took  tlie  first  place  in 
France ;  and  Otho  of  Freisingen,  the  half-brother  of  the  emperor,  Con- 
rad III.,  in  Germany.  By  the  side  of  these  learned  historical  composi- 
tions, there  were  already,  at  the  time  of  the  crusades,  in  Italy,  France, 
and  Spain,  historical  descriptions  of  particular  periods  and  events,  in  the 
vernacular  tongues,  which,  although  less  trustworthy  than  the  former,  are 
more  interesting  to  read,  and  of  more  importance  to  the  history  of  civil- 
ization. Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the  History  of  the  Fourth 
Crusade,  by  Villehardouin  (§  224),  Joinville's  History  and  Chronicle  of 
8t.  Louis ;  and,  before  all,  Froissart's  History  and  Chronicle  of  his  own 
Times  (a.  d.  1329-1400). 

§  249.  —  0.  Whilst  learned  literature  was  cultivated  by  the  priests 
exclusively,  the  art  of  poetry  passed  at  an  early  period  into  the  hands  of 
the  knights,  chiefly  because  love  (minne),  and  devotion  to  the  ladies, — ■ 
feelings,  to  which  the  clergy,  on  account  of  their  condition,  dared  not  de- 
vote themselves,  were  the  soul  and  essence  of  the  latter.  The  poetry  of 
the  middle  ages  was  alike,  both  as  to  its  form  and  subject-matter,  in  all 
the  nations  of  Europe.  This  was  partly  occasioned  by  the  great  inter- 
course that  took  place  among  people  during  the  crusades,  which  facili- 
tated the  interchange  of  legends  and  poems,  and  partly  by  the  great 
dilFusion  and  general  intelligibility  of  the  Romance  language.  In  France, 
Italy,  Spain,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  in  England,  languages  were  then 
spoken  which  bore  a  strong  resemblance  to  each  other,  so  that  the  lite- 
rary productions  of  one  country  could  be  understood  without  difficulty  in 
the  rest.  The  middle-age  poetry  was  divided  into  three  kinds,  according 
to  the  subject;  —  Heroic  poems  and  heroic  ballads  (Epopee,  Romance), 
where  the  deeds  of  knights,  battles,  adventures,  and  love  affairs  —  the 
indispensable  element  of  romantic  poetry  —  formed  the  materials  ;  son- 
nets, in  which  the  poet  expressed  his  feelings,  emotions,  or  thoughts,  in 
melodious  verses ;  and  religious  poetry,  in  which  the  outpourings  of  devo- 
tion and  religious  enthusiasm,  the  praises  of  God  and  the  Virgin,  or  the 
jjious  actions  and  histories  of  the  saints,  formed  the  subject.  The  epic 
poems  dealt  with  certain  cycles  of  legends,  partly  derived  from  the 
ancient  world,  as  the  Alexandriad  of  the  priest  Lamprecht,  and  partly 
i)"jm  the  Christian  period,  as  the  romance  of  Charlemagne  and  his  Pala- 
dins (for  example,  the  lay  of  Roland,  by  the  priest  Conrad),  and  the 
British  king  Arthur  and  his  Round  Table,  with  which  the  Welsh  legend 
of  the  Grale  was  afterwards  connected.  To  the  latter  cycle  of  romance 
belong  two  of  the  greatest  epics  of  the  middle  age,  the  Percival  of  Wolfram 
of  Eschenbach  (a.  d.  1200),  and  the  Tristan  and  Isolde  of  Gottfried  of 
Strasburg.  Bat  the  glory  of  German  heroic  poetry  is  the  Niebclung- 
eiilied,  the  materials  of  which  are  derived  from  the  migrations  of  na- 
tions. The  lyric  poets,  that  in  Germany  were  called  "  rainnesanger,"  and 
in  France,  "  troubadours,"  made  the  tender  emotions  of  the  heart,  or  the 


DECAY   OE   CHIVALRY   AXD   CORRUPTION   OF   THE   CHURCH.     163 

feelings  of  love,  the  subject  of  their  poems ;  or  they  lashed  depravity  of 
morals  and  the  corruptions  of  the  clergy  in  satirical  compositions,  called 
Sirventes.  In  Germany,  the  most  celebrated  of  the  minnesangers  was 
"Walter  Vogelweide,  who  lived  at  the  court  of  Hermann  of  Thuringia. 
At  that  time,  the  castle  of  Wartburg,  near  Eisenach,  in  Thuringia,  was 
the  place  of  assembly  for  the  greatest  and  most  renowned  singers.  But 
Italy  could  display  the  greatest  poet  of  the  middle  ages.  After  the  stern 
Ghibelline,  Dante  of  Florence  (a.  d.  1321),  had  moulded  the  poetical 
language  of  Italy  in  his  great  epic  poem,  "  The  Divine  Comedy,"  Pe- 
trarch (a.  d.  1374)  brought  it  to  the  highest  perfection  of  harmony  in 
his  Odes  to  Laura,  while  his  contemporary,  Boccaccio,  became  the  crea- 
tor of  Italian  prose  by  his  tales  and  novels  (Decameron).  Dante's  sub- 
lime poem,  which  consists  of  three  parts.  Hell,  Purgatory,  and  Paradise, 
contains  the  whole  wisdom  of  the  middle  ages,  the  whole  treasure  of  the 
then  acquired  science,  so  that  it  was  said  with  truth,  that  heaven  and 
earth  had  each  put  a  hand  to  Dante's  poem.  Petrarch's  other  works 
are  written  in  Latin.  He,  as  well  a3  Boccaccio,  was  mainly  instrumental 
in  the  restoration  of  the  ancient  literature  and  civilization. 


V.  DECAY  OF  CHIVALRY  AND  CORRUPTION  OF  THE  CHURCa 

1.    THE    INTERREGNUM    (1250 1273). 

§  250.  The  period  after  the  death  of  Frederick  11.  was  a  momentous 
one  for  Germany.  The  imperial  title  was  borne  by  foreign  princes 
without  power  or  influence,  whilst  at  home  a  state  of  disorder  and  law- 
lessness prevailed,  in  which  the  strong  alone  could  obtain  justice.  After 
WiUiam  of  Holland  (§  237)  had  fallen  in  battle  against  the  brave  Fris- 
landers,  the  archbishop  of  Cologne  turned  the  election  to  the  wealthy 
Richard  of  Cornwall,  brother  of  the  English  king,  whilst  the  archbishop 
of  Treves  and  his  party  adorned  Alfonso  X.  the  Wise,  of  Castile,  with 
the  title  of  emperor.  The  former  sailed  repeatedly  up  the  Rhine  laden 
with  treasures,  to  satisfy  the  avarice  of  the  princes  who  had  elected  him; 
the  latter  never  visited  the  kingdom  to  the  government  of  which  he  had 
been  invited.  The  princes  and  bishops  employed  this  interregnum  in 
enlarging  their  territories,  and  possessing  themselves  of  privileges,  whilst 
the  knights  and  vassals  abused  their  strength  by  waylaying  and  plunder- 
ing. They  led  a  wild  and  predatory  life  in  their  castles,  which,  as  the 
ruins  yet  show,  were  built  upon  the  banks  of  navigable  streams  or  near 
frequented  highways  ;  dragged  travellers  into  their  dungeons  for  the 
purpose  of  extorting  a  heavy   ransom ;    plundered  the  wagons  of  tho 


164  THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

mercantile  towns,  and  bade  defiance,  from  behind  their  strong  walls,  to 
the  powerless  laws  and  tribunals.  Attempts  were  made  to  remedy  this 
state  of  things,  1.  Bj  the  secret  proceedings  of  the  Fehmgericht  (secret 
tribunal),  established  by  the  archbishop  of  Cologne  in  Westphalia  (Dort- 
mund); 2.  By  confederations  of  numerous  towns  for  the  purpose  of  mu- 
tual defence.  The  most  important  of  these  confederations  were  the 
Ilanseatic,  in  Northern  Germany,  which  included  Hamburg,  Lubeck, 
Bremen,  Wismar,  Rostock,  Stralsund,  Riga,  and  many  other  trading 
cities ;  and  the  confederation  of  the  Rhine,  which  embraced  the  towns  of 
Worms,  Mayence,  Spire,  Strasburg,  Basle,  and  numerous  others. 

2.  orig;[n  of  the  tower    of   the    house  of  hapsburg   and  of 
the  helvetic  confederation. 

§  251.  During  the  interregnum,  many  of  the  princes  and  bishops  had 
assumed  the  rights  of  sovereignty.  To  avoid  losing  what  had  been  ob- 
tained, the  princes  to  wdiom  the  right  of  election  then  chiefly  belonged, 
and  who  were  in  consequence  called  Electors,  sought  to  prevent  the  ele- 
vation of  any  prince  whose  lands  and  vassals  rendered  him  formidable. 
At  the  same  time,  they  required  an  energetic  man,  who  should  be  able  to 
restrain  the  prevailing  lawlessness,  and  to  break  the  threatening  power  of 
Kudolf  of  Ottocar,  king  of  Bohemia,  Moravia,  and  Austria.  All  these 
Hapsburg,  qualities  were  possessed  by  Count  Rudolf  of  Hapsburg, 
A.  D.  1273-  who  was  elected  emperor  by  the  influence  of  the  archbishop 
*"    *  of  Mayence,  with  whom  he  was  then  on  friendly  terms.    His 

moderate  hereditary  estates,  in  Alsatia,  occasioned  no  alarm  to  the  prin- 
ces ;  his  courage,  strength,  and  skill  had  been  long  proved  and  acknowl- 
ecfged  ;  but  w^hat  contributed  especially  to  his  election  was  his  piety,  and 
the  inclination  he  had  always  displayed  to  the  church  and  clergy.  When, 
therefore,  Rudolf  had  assured  to  the  pope  and  the  German  princes  the 
continuance  of  the  privileges  and  territories  that  they  had  either  usurped 
or  acquired  by  violence,  his  election  was  generally  recognized,  and 
Alfonso  of  Castile  was  induced  to  abdicate.  Ottocar  alone  refused  to  do 
homage,  and  failed  to  appear  at  the  appointed  diet.  Upon  this,  Rudolf 
declared  war  against  him,  marched  into  the  enemy's  territories  v/ith  the 
aid  of  his  Switzers  and  Alsatians,  and  that  of  the  German  princes  whom 
he  had  connected  to  his  house  by  marriages  with  his  numerous  daughters, 
and  won  the  glorious  victory  on  the  Marchfeld.  Ottocar 
"'  '  was  killed  in  the  fight ;  nothing  but  Bohemia  and  ^Moravia 
was  left  to  his  son  Wenceslaus ;  the  remaining  countries  of  Austria, 
Styria,  and  Carniola,  Rudolf  settled  on  his  sons,  and  by  this  means  be- 
came the  founder  of  the  Austrian  house  of  Hapsburg. 

§  252.  As  Rudolf  of  Hapsburg  avoided  all  interference  in  the  affairs 
of  Italy,  he  w^as  able  to  turn  his  undivided  energies  to  Germany.  He 
Bucceeded,  after  a  succession  of  campaigns  and  battles,  chiefly  in  Swabia, 


DECAY   OF   CmVALRY   AND    COPtRUPTION   OF   THE   CnURCn.     165 

Bgainst  the  rapacious  Eberliard  of  Wirteinberg,  and  in  Burgundy,  in 
regaining  many  of  the  fiefs,  lands,  privileges,  and  revenues,  that  had  been 
alienated  from  the  empire.  But  his  greatest  service  was  his  securing  the 
peace  of  the  country  and  restoring  law  and  order.  He  traversed  the 
whole  empire,  and  called  the  robber  nobility  to  a  severe  reckoning.  In 
Thuringia  alone,  he  had  twenty-nine  knights  executed,  and  destroyed 
sixty  castles,  and  reduced,  in  a  single  year,  upwards  of  seventy  fortresses 
in  Franconia  and  on  the  Rhine.  He  died  at  an  advanced  age,  at  Go- 
mersheim,  during  one  of  these  expeditions,  and  was  buried  at  ISpire. 
His  simplicity,  virtue,  and  honesty  gained  him  no  less  respect  than  his 
intelligence,  his  impartial  justice,  and  his  warlike  achievements.  He  was 
only  wanting  in  the  poetical  magnanimity  of  the  house  of  Hohenstaufen. 
§  253.  The  princes,  partly  out  of  fear  of  the  power  of  the  Hapsburg- 
ers,  and  partly  from  dislike  to  Rudolf's  cruel  and  avaricious  son  Albert, 
were  induced,  at  the  instigation  of  the  archbishop  of  JMayence,  to  elect 
Adolf  of  Count  Adolf  of  Nassau.     But  he,  like  Rudolf,  attempted  to 

Nassau,  A.  D.  enlarge  his  own  small  territories,  and  made  use  of  the  loan 
■  he  had  received  from  the  king  of  England  to  assist  him  in 
raising  German  troops,  in  purchasing  Thuringia  and  Misnia  from  Albert 
theUncourteous  (§  240).  This  disgraceful  transaction  involved  him  in 
a  war  with  Albert's  son,  "  Frederick  with  the  bitten  cheek,"  and  Diez- 
man,  whom  their  degenerate  father  had  attempted  to  deprive  of  their 
patrimony.  The  public  disgust  at  this  dishonest  proceeding,  and  the  dis- 
content of  the  electoral  princes  of  the  Rhine  (the  Palatinate,  Mayence, 
Treves,  and  Cologne),  whom  the  emperor  had  deprived  of  the  unjust!}-- 
acquired  tolls  of  the  river,  had  aided  in  forming  a  party  favorable  to  his 
opponent  Albert.  Albert  procured  the  deposition  of  Adolf  and  his  own 
election  ;  he  then  marched  with  his  arrny  upon  the  Rhine,  and  was  victo- 
rious in  the  battle  at  Gollheim  near  the  Donnersberg.  Adolf, 
hurled  from  his  horse  by  the  lance  of  his  rival,  found  his 
Albert  of  death  in  the  tumult.  His  body  rests  in  the  cathedral  of 
Austria,  A.  D.  Spire.  Albert  of  Austria  was  an  energetic  but  severe  man, 
'9  -ido  .  ^vhose  inflexible  disposition  might  be  read  in  his  gloomy  and 
3ne-eyed  visage.  He  was  ambitious,  and  desirous  of  enlarging  his  terri- 
tories; and  he  therefore  not  only  prosecuted  the  war  against  Thuringia, 
but  attempted  to  gain  other  lands  besides.  Feared  and  hated,  Albert 
was  at  length  murdered  at  Windisch  on  the  Reuss,  by  his  own  nephew, 
John  of  Swabia,  (Parricida),  just  as  he  was  making  preparations  for  the 
subjugation  of  the  free  Swiss.  John  expiated  his  deed  in  a  cloister ;  but 
a  fearful  revenge  was  taken  by  the  emperor's  wife  and  daughter  upon 
those  who  assisted  in  the  assassination  (Wart,  Balm,  and  Eschenbach), 
Bnd  upon  all  their  friends  and  relatives. 

§  254.  Albert's  severity  w^as  the  foundation  of  the  Ilelvctic  confederal 
tion.     Helvetia  was  a  component  part  of  the  German  empire,  and  was 


166  THE   HISTORY    OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

under  the  protection  of  prefects,  who  exercised  there  the  highest  offices  of 
jurisdiction.  This  office  was  at  first  filled  by  the  rich  and  powerful  dukea 
of  Zahrino-en,  —  the  founders'  of  Bern  and  other  states.  After  tlie  ex- 
tinction  of  this  house,  the  counts  of  Savoy  in  the  South,  and  the  Haps- 
burofs  in  the  North,   elevated  themselves  above  the  other 

A   T>    1^18 

families  by  their  power  and  possessions.  The  latter,  to  whom 
the  landgravate  of  Aargau  belonged,  exercised,  in  the  name  of  the  em- 
pire, the  functions  of  protectors  over  the  original  cantons  on  the  lake  of 
Lucerne,  Schwyz,  Uri,  and  Unterwalden,  where  they  held  possessions. 

When  the  Hapsburgs  ascended  the  imperial  throne,  they  attempted 
to  bring  these  cantons  under  the  sovereignty  of  Austria.  In  further- 
ance of  this  purpose,  Albert  gave  permission  to  the  governors  (Vogte), 
who  ruled  the  lands  of  Hapsburg,  to  exercise  the  laws  of  the  empire  over 
the  free  communities  and  peasants,  and  to  abuse  their  position  by  the 
oppression  of  the  simple,  warlike,  and  freedom-loving  mountaineers. 
Upon  this,  the  three  oldest  cantons,  under  the  guidance  of  Walther  Furst, 
Werner  Stauffiicher,  and  Arnold  Melchtal,  concluded  an  alliance  on  the 
Rutli  for  the  protection  of  their  liberties,  the  results  of  which  were,  that 
the  fortresses  were  stormed  and  the  governors  expelled,  after  William 
Tell  (as  the  legend  goes)  had  killed  Gesler,  the  most  tyrannical  of  their 
number,  with  an  arrow,  because  he  had  compelled  him,  for  some  trifling 
disobedience,  to  shoot  an  apple  from  the  head  of  his  son.  Albert's  assas- 
sination saved  the  Swiss  from  the  effiicts  of  his  anger,  but  his  plans  were 
taken  up  by  his  son  Leopold.  He  marched  against  the  forest  cantons 
with  an  army,  but  suffered  a  severe  overthrow  in  the  narrow 
pass  of  Morgarten.  The  power  of  the  Hapsburgs  declined 
from  this  period  in  Switzerland.  By  the  accession  of  the  Austrian  town 
of  Lucerne,  in  1332,  the  whole  of  the  shore  of  the  lake  of  the  four  can- 
tons fell  into  the  power  of  the  confederation,  which  was  soon 

A   D   1339 

joined  by  Bern,  Zurich,  Zug,  and  many  other  towns.  In  the 
A.  D.  1386.  ^^^^1^  ^..  Sempach  (§261),  the  allies  (like  the  Athenian 
democracy  at  Marathon),  underwent  a  fiery  trial  against  the  Austrian 
and  German  chivalry,  and  proved  themselves  worthy  of  their  freedom. 

3.    PHILIP    THE    FAIR    OF    FRANCE,    AND    TELE    EMPEROR    LOUIS    THE 

BAVARIAN. 

§  255.  The  ambitious  Boniface  VIII.,  in  whose  person  the  papacy 
attained  its  highest  glory,  was  the  origin  of  its  downfall.  He  assumed 
the  office  of  umpire  in  a  war  between  Philip  IV.  the  Fair  of  France, 
and  Edward  I.  of  England;  and  when  Philip  declined  his  interference, 
he  forbade  the  levying  of  taxes  upon  the  French  ecclesiastics.  Upon 
this,  Philip  prohibited  the  exportation  of  silver  and  gold  from  his  king- 
dom, and  by  this  means  prevented  the  receipt  of  the  papal  revenue.  The 
quarrel  to  which  these  proceedings  gave  rise,  during  which  Boniface 


DECAY   OF    CniVALHY   AXD    CORRUPTION   OF   THE   CHURCH.     167 

ileclared  every  man  a  lieretic  who  did  not  believe  that  the  king  was  sul> 
ject  to  the  pope  in  spiritual  as  well  as  temporal  matters,  and  Philip  by 
his  deputies  solemnly  asserted  the  independence  of  the  throne,  ended  by 
an  excommunication.  Upon  this,  Nogaret,  the  chancellor  of  France, 
entered  Italy,  and  having  hired  some  troops,  seized  the  pope  in  his  native 
city  Anagni,  and  held  him  prisoner.  It  is  true  that  Boniface  was  rescued 
by  the  country  people,  who  rushed  to  his  assistance,  and  that  he  hastened 
to  Rome ;  but  the  impression  made  by  the  disgrace  upon  the  proud  aAd 
violent  man  was  so  powerful  that  he  went  mad  and  died. 

A  D  13C3 

The  French  party  now  succeeded,  not  only  in  getting  the 
excommunication  withdrawn,  but  in  inducing  the  new  pope,  Clement  V. 
(hitherto  bishop  of  Bordeaux),  to  take  up  his  residence  at  Avignon  in 
the  south  of  France,  and  thus  to  put  the  papacy  under  the  influence  of 

the  French  court.     This  separation  of  the  head  of  the  church 

from  Rome,  which  was  mourned  over  as  a  second  Babylonian 
captivity,  lasted  for  nearly  seventy  years. 

§  25 G.  The  dissolution  of  the  Order  of  the  Temple  (227  b)  was  the 
first  conscience,  of  the  alliance  between  the  pope  and  the  French  king. 
Dark  reports  of  the  blasphemous  practices,  of  the  secret  crimes  and  vices, 
of  the  infidelity  and  voluptuousness,  of  which  the  Order  had  rendered 
itself  guilty,  gave  Philip  the  Fair  a  pretext  for  suddenly  seizing  upon 
the  persons  of  the  Templars,  and  confiscating  their  vast  possessions.  By 
an  unjust  prosecution  of  six  years,  and  by  the  tortures  of  the  rack,  a  con- 
fession was  at  length  obtained  from  the  prisoners,  wliich  appeared  to  prove 
the  crimes  laid  to  their  charge ;  and  when  fifty-four  of  their  number 
retracted  the  confession  extorted  from  them  by  torture,  as  untrue,  they 

were  condemned  as  apostates  to  a  lingering  death  by  fire. 

It  was  in  vain  that  Jacob  of  Molay,  the  grand-master,  pro- 
tested against  the  proceedings,  and  offered  to  disprove  the  whole  of  the 

accusations.     He  himself  died  on  the  funeral  pile,  after  he 

A.  D.  1312. 

had  summoned  the  king  and  the  pope  to  a  higher  judgment- 
seat.  The  people  reverenced  him  as  a  martyr,  and  recognized  the  judg- 
ment of  God  in  the  death  of  the  two  princes  which  shortly  followed.  The 
French  king  appropriated  the  largest  share  of  the  estates  and  treasures 
of  the  Templars. 

Henry  VH.  §  ^^^'  Di^ring  these  events,  Henry  VII.,  of  Luxemburg, 

A.  D.  1308-  was  governing  Germany,  not  without  renown.  After  adopt- 
1313.  ing  vigorous  measures  for  the  preservation  of  the  internal 

peace  of  the  empire,  he  took  advantage  of  a  contest  for  the  crown  of 
Bohemia  to  add  this  kingdom  to  the  possessions  of  his  own  house,  with 
the  consent  of  the.  Bohemian  estates,  by  marrying  his  son  John  to  the 
sister  of  the  last  king,  who  was  childless.  Scarcely  had  he  brought  thia 
affair,  which  was  the  foundation  of  the  vast  power  of  the  house  of  Luxem. 
burg,  to  a  happy  conclusion,  than  he  turned  his  eyes  to  the  long-forgottea 


1C8  THE   HISTORY    OF   THE    MIDDLE   AGE. 

and  disunited  Italy,  and  undertook  an  expedition  to  Rome.  The  advenl 
of  the  emperor  was  greeted  with  joy  by  the  oppressed 
GhibelHnes ;  and  the  great  poet  Dante,  of  Florence  (§  249), 
celebrated  his  appearance  by  a  Latin  essay  on  monarchy,  and  by  songs 
that  were  soon  in  the  mouths  of  everybody.  Henry  received  the  crown 
of  Lombardy  in  Milan,  collected  with  rigor  the  taxes  that  were  due  in 
the  towns  of  Upper  Italy,  and  experienced  an  honorable  reception  in  the 
Ghibelline  city  of  Pisa.  But  despite  all  his  efforts  to^  assume  the  cha- 
racter of  an  establisher  of  peace,  the  Guelfs  and  the  haughty  Florence, 
with  the-  king  of  Naples  at  their  head,  rose  against  him  with  reason. 
The  j)ope  himself  opposed  him,  so  that  his  coronation  at  Rome  only  took 
place  after  a  lengthened  contest.  Upon  marching  into  Tuscany  for  the 
purpose  of  hum.bling  Florence,  Henry  died  suddenly  in  the  flower  of  his 
age,  near  the  Arno.  The  joy  displayed  upon  his  death  by  the  Guelfs, 
gave  rise  to  the  belief  that  he  had  been  poisoned  by  a  Dominican  monk. 
The  sorrowing  Pisans  buried  him  in  the  churchyard  (Campo  Santo)  of 
their  town. 

§  258.  The  death  of  Henry  YII.  again  produced  a  contest  for  the 
crown  in  Germany ;  for,  of  the  seven  princes  who  now  usually  exercised 
the  right  of  election  (Palatinate,  Mayence,  Treves,  Cologne,  Bohemia, 
Saxony,  Brandenburg),  some  chose  Louis  of  Bavaria,  the  others,  Frede- 
rick the  Fair  of  Austria.  The  consequence  of  this  division  was  an  eight 
years'  war,  which  was  carried  on  with  particular  vigor  by  Frederick's 
brother,  Leopold.  Despite  the  superior  strength  of  the  Austrian  party, 
Louis,  who  was  an  excellent  general,  maintained  his  cause  with  success, 
especially  after  Leopold's  force  had  been  weakened  at  Morgarten  (§  254). 
It  was  not,  however,  till  the  battle  of  Muhldorf  (or  Amfins), 

A.  D    1322.  \  C!/' 

where  Frederick  was  defeated  and  taken  prisoner  by  the 
skill  of  the  Nuremberg  general,  Seyfried  Schwepperman,  that  Louis 
attained  a  decided  superiority.  Leopold,  however,  would  not  submit  to 
a  peace.  Supported  by  the  pope,  John  XXIL,  who  pronounced  an 
excommunication  and  an  interdict  against  Louis  for  having  aided  the 
Ghibellines  in  Milan,  and  by  several  princes  of  the  empire,  Leopold  con- 
tinued the  war,  and  attempted  a  new  election  of  emperor.  Upon  this, 
Louis  set  at  liberty  his  rival,  who  was  imprisoned  in  the  castle  of  Traus- 
nitz,  upon  condition  that  he  should  renounce  the  imperial  dignity,  and 
persuade  his  party  to  a  peace.  -  But  when  neither  the  pope  nor  Leopold 
v,'ould  listen  to  the  proposal,  Frederick,  true  to  his  word,  returned  to 
captivity,  a  conduct  which  so  moved  his  chivalrous  opponent,  that  he  lived 
with  him  henceforth  in  the  closest  friendship,  and  would  even  have  shared 

the  empire  with  him,  had  not  the  Electors  prevented  it.     Leo- 

A. ».  1326.  1  -,    ■,.    1    ,        1       r-  11         ,      .  .1 

pold  died  shortly  afterwards,  but  tlie  mipetuous  pope  retained 

his  animosity  against  Louis,  which  induced  the  latter  to  appoint  Frede-i 

rick  regent  of  the  empire,  and  undertake  an  expedition  into  Italy. 


DECAY   OP   CHIVALRY   AND    CORRUPTION   OF   THE   CHURCH.      169 

§  259.  Louis  was  at  first  successful  in  Italy.  Supported  by  the  Ghi' 
bellines  and  the  Minorites,  he  made  brilliant  progress,  and  succeeded  in 
gettipg  an  anti-pope  elected ;  but  when,  for  the  purpose  of  satisfying  his 
mercenary  troops,  he  exacted  heavy  levies  of  money  from  the  Italian 
towns,  matters  were  quickly  altered.  His  retreat  to  Germany,  where 
Frederick  had  in  the  mean  time  died,  completed  the  triumph  of  the  papal 
party.  On  the  other  hand,  the  obstinacy  with  which  John  XXII.  and 
his  successor  Benedict  XII.  retained  the  excommunication  pronounced 
against  Louis,  and  rejected  all  attempts  at  reconciliation,  irritated  the 
German  princes  to  such  a  degree,  that,  at  an  electoral  Diet  held  at  Rense, 
they  uttered  the  declaration,  "  that  henceforth  every  election  of  emperor 
by  the  princes  was  valid,  without  the  confirmation  of  the"  pope."  The 
ecclesiastics  who  obeyed  the  interdict  were  treated  as  disturbers  of  the 
public  peace,  and  deprived  of  their  ofiices.  The  notorious  influence  exer- 
cised by  the  French  court  upon  all  the  proceedings  of  the  pope,  and  the 
avarice  and  sensuality  of  the  head  of  the  Church  and  of  the  cardinals  in 
Avignon,  diminished  the  authority  of  the  court  of  Rome.  But  Louis 
himself  very  soon  forfeited  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the  German 
princes,  by  allowing  his  avarice  and  desire  of  enlarging  his  territories  to 
load  him  into  unjust  and  violent  measures.  Thence  it  was  that  the 
French  and  papal  party  succeeded  in  gaining  over  a  part  of  the  electoral 
princes,  and  getting  a  rival  emperor  chosen  from  the  house 
of  Luxemburg.  But  the  greater  part  of  the  German  people, 
and  particularly  the  imperial  towns,  sided  with  Louis,  so  that  the  new 
emperor,  Charles  IV.  (son  of  King  John  of  Bohemia),  was  not  g'enerally 
recognized,  until  the  robust   Louis   lost   his   life  in  a  bear-hunt,  near 

Munich,  and  his  successor,  Giinta*  of  Schwarzbur;^   elected 
A.  D.  1349.        ,        ,     V.         .  !     ,  1    .  / 

by  the  Bavarian  party,'  had  sunk  into  an  early  grave  at 

Frankfort. 

4.  THE  EMPERORS  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  LUXEMBURG. 

C>arlesIV.  §  260.  Charles  IV.  was  a  sagacious  prince,  who  was  intent 

upon  his  own  interests  and  the  increase  of  the  power  of  his 
house,  and  in  whose  mind  money  and  property  held  a  higher 
place  than  honor  or  renown.  It  was  through  him  that  the  imperial 
^ower  lost  all  respect  in  Italy,  where  he  permitted  the  imperial  privileges 
tL  be  purchased  by  the  towns  and  princes.  The  contests  between  Guelf 
an  1  Ghibelline  ceased  from  this  time,  but  they  only  gave  place  to  con- 
tentions between  the  princes  and  free  towns  concerning  the  enlargement 
of  their  territories ;  mercenary  troops  were  now  employed  (as  formerly 
in  Greece)  instead  of  the  earlier  militia,  and  the  enterprising  leaders  of 
these  bands  (Condottieri)  not  unfrequently  held  the  fate  of  states  in  their 
hands,  and  succeeded  in  getting  possession  of  their  government.  The 
efforts  of  Charles  in  Germany,  also,  were  chiefly  directed  to  the  gratifica- 
15 


A.  r>. 
1347  - 1378 


< 


170  .  THE   UISTORY   OF   THE    MIDDLE   AGE. 

• 
tion  of  his  avarice  and  lust  of  territory.  He  sold  tli»  liberties  arid^  privi- 
leges of  the  imperial  towns;  he  granted  letters  of  nobility  for  money;  he 
added  Brandenburg  and  other  territories  to  his  patrimonial  possessions. 
His  agency  was  most  beneficially  felt  in  Bohemia,  which  attained  by  his 
means  to  greater  prosperity.  Artists  and  artisans  were  sumwned  from 
Germany  and  Italy,  towns  (Carlsbad)  and  villages  were  built,  agriculture 
and  trade  encouraged,  roads  and  bridges  planned,  and  heaths  and  forests 
brought  into  cultivation.  Charles,  with  the  consent  of  the  pope  and  the 
cooperation  of  the  poet  Petrarch,  erected  the  first  German 
university  in  Prague  (§  240),  which  soon  numbered  from 
5000  to  7000  students.  From  Charles  IV".  emanated  the  first  imperial 
code  of  laws,  known  by  the  name  of  the  Golden  Bull,  Avhich  referred  the  ^ 
choosing  of  emperors  exclusively  to  the  seven  Electors,  and  determinea 
the  precedence  of  the  princes. 

§  261.  The  imperial  authority  was  much  decayed,  and  confusion  and 
lawlessness  prevailed  all  over  Germany.  The  laws  respecting  disturb- 
ance of  the  public  peace  were  little  regarded  \  club-law  (faustrecht)»»  the 
only  law  attended  to,  called  upon  every  man  to  take  care  of  himself, 
and  alliances  were  formed  to  do  this  more  effectually.  This  state  of 
disorder  became  particularly  prevalent  und§r  Charles's  son  and  succes- 
Wenceslaus  sor,  Wenceslaus,  a  rude,  hot-headed  man,  devoted  to  drink. 
A.  D,  1378  -  For  whilst  the  emperor  was  leading  a  dissolute  life  in  Bohe- 
1400.  -  ^^y^^  devoting  himself  to  hunting,  quarrelling  with  his  nobles 
and  the  clergy,  and  rendering  himself  hateful  and  contemptible  by  his 
cruelty,  and  barbarous  conduct  to  the  vicar  Nepomuk,  whom  he  ordered 
to  be  thrown  from  the  bridge  of  Prague  into  the  Moldau,  the  German 
empire,  with  its  battles  aiid  i^s  miseries,  was  left  to  its  fate.  The  towns 
in  Swabia,  in  Franconia,  and  on  the  Rhine,  united  themselves  in  an  alli- 
ance to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  country,  and  for  defence  against  the 
rapacious  nobles.  The  knights,  who  gained  their  Hving  by  plunder  and 
highway  I'obberj^,  and  who  w^ere  threatened  by  this  alliance,  followed  the 
example  of  their  enemies,  and  strengthened  themselves  by  confederations 
of  knights  (called  the  Schlegler,  and  the  Lowen  and  Hornerbund).  The 
two  confederations  were  perpetually  engaged  in  war  with  each  other,  till 
at  length,  the  murder  of  the  bishop  of  Salzburg  by  a  Bavarian  duke 
occasioned  the  great  cities'  war,  which   produced   extreme 

A    I)   1388 

distress  in  the  south  of  Germany.  The  citizens  were  victo- 
rious in  Bavaria ;  in  Franconia,  the  fortune  of  war  w^as  rendered  dubi- 
ous by  the  courage  of  the  Nuremburgers  ;  but  in  Swabia,  where  the 
valiant  enemy  of  the  towns,  Eberhard  the  Grumbler,  of  Wirtemberg,  - 
stood  at  the  head  of  the  nobility,  the  burghers  suffered  great  loss  near 
Doflingen,  and  at  Worms  and  Frankfort,  succumbed  to  the  iron  ranks  of 
the  knights  of  Hesse  and  the  Palatinate.  About  the  same  time,  the 
Swiss  confederation  was  contending  with  far  greater  success  against  the 


DECAY   OF   Cni'\iALItY   AND   CORRUPTION    OF   THE   CHURCH.     171 

nobles  of  southera  Germany.  Duke  Leopold  of  Austria  invaded  tlie 
freedom-loving  mountaineers,  with  a  host  of  armed  nobles,  who  reve- 
renced him  as  the  flower,  of  chivalry.  But  in  the  battle  of 
Sempach,  where  the  heroic  Arnold  Winkelried  of  Unter- 
walden  wtnade  a  path  "  for  his  countrymen  into  the  iron-clad  ranks  of  tha 
knights,  by  embracing  a  number  of  their  lances  and  burying  the  points 
in  his  bosom,  the  proud  duke 
maces  of  the  Swiss  peasants. 


*  to  pronounce  WenceslauVs  deposition,  "  because  he  had  not 
aided  the  peace  of  the  Church,  had  sold  the  title  of  duke  to  the  rich  and 
crafty  Visconti  in  Milan,  had  not  maintained  the  public  peace,  and  had 
governed  tyranically  and  with  cruelty  in  Bohemia."  Rupert  of  the  *Pa- 
Kupert,  A.  D.  latinate  was  elected  in  his  place ;  he  was  the  grandson  of  that 
1400-1410.  Rupert  who,  in  the  year  of  the  battle  of  Sempach,  had 
founded  the  university  of  Heidelberg.  But  even  he,  despite  many  good 
qualities,  was  not  equal  to  the  difficulties  of  the  times.  He  was  com- 
pelled to  grant  the  princes  and  estates  the  right  of  forming  confedera- 
tions, and  of  maintaining  the.  public  peace  in  their  own  way;  and  when  he 
attempted  to  restore  Milan  to  the  empire,  he  suffered  a  defeat  from  the 
Italian  Condottieri  (§  260),  who  had  discovered  a  more  scientific  system 
of  tactics.  He  was  equally  unsuccessful  in  his  attempts  to  rfestore  tran- 
quillity to  the  Church,  an  object  that  was  first  accomplished  with  un- 
speakable difficulty  by  his  successor,  Sigismond,  the  brother  of  Wences- 
Sigismund,  l^u^'  The  great  council  of  the  Church,  that  was  held  by 
A.  u.  l4jo-  Sigismond  for  this  purpose,  exhausted  the  treasury  to  that 
■^^^'*  degree,  that  the  emperor  was  obliged  at  first  to  pledgor  the 

ISIarch  of  Brandenburg,  and  the  electoral  dignity,  to  Frederick  of  Ho- 
henzollern,  and  afterwards  to  surrender  them  to  him  as  his  private  and 
hereditary  property. 

5.    THE  DIVISION  IN    THE    CHURCH    AND    THE  GREAT    COUNCILS. 

§  2G3.  It  had  long  been  wished  that  the  papal  chair  should  be  re-' 
moved  from  Avignon  to  Rome  ;  but  the  cardinals  who  were  in  tl\e  French 
interest,  and  who  felt  themselves  i^y^r^"^  XUQre  independent  ;under  the 
mild  and  beautiful  sky  of  southern  France,  prevented  the  measure.  This, 
at  length,  induced  the  Italian  party  to  elect  a  pope  of  their  own.  By  this 
means,  the  Church  got  two  popes,  one  in  Avignon,  the  other  in  Rome, 
each  of  whom  declared  himself  the  rightfully  elected  head  of  the  Church, 
and  fulminated  anathemas  against  his  rival  and  his  adherents.  The 
whole  of  western  Christendom  was  divided,  consciences  perplexed,  and 
the  Church  rent  asunder.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  synod  of  Pisa  attempt- 
ed to  heal  the   evil  by  deposing  one  pope  and  electing  another ;  —  the 


t,  w^-r>^» 


172  THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE  AGE. 

former  two  maintained  their  claims,  so  that  the  Church  was  now  triplji 
divided.  A  general  discontent  spread  through  the  Christian  world,  and 
engendered  a  loud  demand  for  a  reformation  of  the  Church,  both  in  its 
head  and  members.  Whilst  the  moderate  party,  and  in  particular,  the 
learned  theologians  of  the  university  of  Paris  (Sorbonne),  wished  to  bring 
about  this  reformation  by  a  general  council,  which  should  be  superior  to 
the  pope,  the  disciples  and  adherents  of  the  Oxford  profes- 
sor, John  WicklifF,  aimed  at  a  thorough  change  both  in  the 
doctrine  and  constitution  of  the  Church.  Wickliff  had  not  only  declared 
the  papacy  to  be  an  unchristian  institution,  and  preached  zealously 
against  absolution,  raonachism,  the  worship  of  saints,  and  similar  matters, 
but  had  stood  forward  as  a  reformer,  by  translating  the  Bible  into  English, 
and  rejecting  many  articles  of  faith,  such  as  auricular  confession,  celibacy, 
and  transubstantiatlon.  The  most  celebrated  of  his  followers  was  John 
Huss,  professor  in  Prague,  a  man  distinguished  for  his  learning,  and  moral 
life,  as  well  as  by  Christian  gentleness.  He  preached  against  the  abuses  of 
the  papacy ;  against  the  wealth  and  secular  power  of  the  clergy  ;  against 
monachism  and  absolution :  and  although  the  pope  excommunicated  him 
and  condemned  his  writings,  the  number  of  his  adherents,  among  whom 
a  Bohemian  nobleman,  Jerome  of  Faulfisch,  distinguished  himself 
by  his  zeal,  increased  every  day.  The  Germans  in  the  university  of 
Prague  were  curtailed  of  their  privileges  for  showing  an  inclination  to 
the  new  doctrines  of  Huss,  for  which  reason  5000  students  and  profes- 
sors quitted  the  place,  and  thus  brought  about  the  foundation  of  other 
universities,  that  of  Leipsic  among  the  first. 

§  2Gi.  When  at  lengtl^..  Pope  John  XXIIL,  importuned  by  the  Empe- 
^  ^  .J  „  ror  Sigismond,  called  the  Council  of  Constance,  troops  of 
Constance,  temporal  and  spiritual  dignitaries  of  all  nations  poured  into 
A.  D.  1414-  the  town,  where  the  splendor  of  the  whole  West  was  at  once 
■^^^^'  united.       150,000  men  are  said   to   have  assembled  there. 

The  unity  and  reformation  of  the  Church  was  the  -lofty  aim  of  the  synod. 
In  the  first  place,  therefore,  the  three  popes  were  either  deposed  or  per- 
suaded to  resign  ;  and  when  John  XXIIL  seized  the  opportunity  afforded 
by  a  tournament  to  escape  in  disguise,  by  the  aid  of  Frederick  of  Aus- 
tria, and  recalled  his  abdication,  the  council  declared  itself  independent 
and  superior  to  the  pope,  and  united  with  the  emperor  in  punishing  the 
refractory.  Frederick  of  Austria  was  outlawed,  and  deprived  of  Aargau 
and  other  possessions  by  the  Swiss,  and  John  was  for  a  long  time  held 
prisoner  in  the  castle  of  Heidelberg.  But  the  efforts  of  the  French  and 
Germans,  who  wished  in  the  first  place  to  reform  the  Church,  and  then 
to  elect  a  new  pope,  were  frustrated  by  the  Italians  (Ultramontani),  who 
insisted  before  all  things  upon  an  election  of  pope.  Their  opinion  pre- 
vailed, and  JMartin  V.,  was  raised  to  the  papal  chair.  He  was  a  mode- 
rate man,  who  contrived,  by  abolishing  a  few  abuses,  and  by  skilfully 


DECAY   OP   CHIVALRY   AND    CORRUPTIOX   OF   THE   CHURCH.     17 

conducted  negotiations,  to  divide  the  votes  and  baffle  the  efforts  c»f  the 
council.  In  this  way,  the  hopes  and  wishes  of  the  people  were  disap- 
pointed ;  the  pope  retained  his  power,  and  the  Church  was  left  in  her 
corruption.  But  the  Council  of  Constance  has  enriched  history  with  one 
deed  of  horror,  —  the  burning  gf  IIuss  and  Jerome  of  Prague.  The 
council  proceeded  at  its  commencement  to  an  examination  of  doctrines 
deviating  from  those  of  the  Church,  and  had  condemned  Wickliff 's  wri- 
tings to  the  flames,  and  summoned  Huss  to  answer  for  his  opinions. 
IIuss  proceeded  to  Constance,  provided  with  an  imperial  passport,  by 
which  he  was  assured  of  a  safe  return  to  his  home,  but  was  imprisoned 
as  soon  as  he  arrived  there,  and  accused  of  disseminating  heresy.  It 
was  in  vain  that  he  defended  himself  with  dignity  against  the  charges — 
his  judges  were  his  accusers;  it  was  in  vain  that  his  friends  appealed  to 
the  imperial  safe-conduct,  —  the  synod  laid  down 'the  principle,  that  no 
faith  was  to  be  kept  with  heretics,  and  demanded  an  unconditional  abjura- 
tion. When  Huss  refused  to  do  this,  he  was  condemned  to 
suffer  death  by  fire  as  an  obstinate  teacher  of  heresy ;  a 
doom  which  he  underwent  with  the  firmness  and  composure  of  a  martyr. 
A  year  later,  Jerome  also  endured  the  agonies  of  the  burning  pile  with 
the  courage  of  a  stoic. 

§  2G5.  The  intelligence  of  this  horrible  event  at  Constance  incited  the 
Hussites  to  a  furious  religious  war.  Tlie  cup,  which,  according  to  the 
views  of  Huss,  was  not  to  be  withheld  from  the  laity,  was  borne  before  their 
armies  as  the  symbol  of  their  cause  (hence  Utraquists  and  Calixtines)  ; 
and  a  heavy  vengeance  was  exacted  from  the  priests  who  refused  to 
administer  it.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  pope  fulminated  an  interdict 
against  the  adherents  of  Huss,  their  numbers  increased  daily ;  they 
stormed   the   town-house   cf    Prague,   and   murdered   the   counsellors, 

which  so  enraged  the  old  Emperor  Wenceslaus,  that  he  died 
A.  D.  1119.  „  -  o.    .  1  ,  ,  , 

ot  apoplexy.      Sigismond  ought  now  to  have  become  king 

of  Bohemia  also;  but  the  whole  nation  flew  to  arms,  to  prevent  the 
laithlesij  emperor  from  taking  possession  of  the  country.  John  Ziska,  a 
gon3ral  expert  in  war,  valiant,  and  endowed  with  a  wonderful  talent  of 
governing  the  masses,  placed  himself  at  its  head.  It  was  in  vain  that 
Sigismond  led  three  imperial  armies  against  the  Hussites;  liis  troops  re- 
coiled in  dismay  before  the  wild  fury  of  the  enraged  people.  The  Hus- 
sites burnt  down  the  Bohemian  churches  and  convents,  and  carried  their 
ravages  into  the  neighboring  countries.  The  name  of  Ziska,  the  blind 
general,  was  a  terror  to  the  nations.  After  his  death,  the  moderate  party 
(Calixtines)  separated  themselves  from  the  radicals  (Taborites).  The 
latter,  under  the  conduct  of  Procopius  the  Great  and  the  Little,  continu- 
ed their  incendiary  course,  ravaged  Saxony,  and  extorted  tribute  from 
Brandenburg  and  Bavaria,  whilst  the  Calixtines  consented  to  a  peace 
when  the  Council  of  Basle  consented  to  the  use  of  the  cup  in  the  Lord's 
15* 


174  THE   IirSTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

Supper,  and  to  preacliing  in  the  vernacular  tongue.     It  was  only  v/lien 
the  Taborites  suffered  a  defeat  near  Pra2;ue,  and  the  two 

A.  D.  1433. 

Procopiuses  were  killed,  that  the  emperor,  by  the  dexterity 
of  his  chancellor  Schlick,  succeeded  in  bringing  them  to  a  peace ; 
whereupon  Sigismond  was  acknowledged  king.  But  the  glory  of  Bohe- 
mia was  humbled  to  the  dust.  A  few  decades  later,  a  small  party  of  the 
former  Hussites  separated  from  the  Church  and  formed  a  separate  sect, 
since  known  as  the  Bohemian  and  Moravian  Brethren,  "  poor,  scripture- 
proof,  and  peaceful." 

Council  of  §  ^^^'    ^^  ^^^®  council  of   Basle,  to  the    summoning  of 

Basle,  A.  D.  which,  Martin  Y.,  predecessor  of  Eugenius  IV.,  had,  after  long 
1431-1449.  hesitation,  consented,  the  reformation  of  the  Church,  which 
had  been  interrupted  in  that  of  Constance,  was  to  be  concluded,  and  the 
Hussite  controversy  arranged.  But  the  proceedings  here  soon  took  a 
course  that  seemed  to  endanger  the  papal  power.  The  assembly,  which 
consisted  in  part  of  the  lower  order  of  clergy,  diminished  the  money 
charges  that  the  court  of  Rome  imposed  upon  the  provincial  churches, 
and  interdicted  the  incroachments  of  the  pope  in  the  filling  up  of  bishop- 
rics and  benefices.  Eugenius  was  rendered  so  anxious  by  these  and 
other  similar  resolutions,  that  he  seized  the  first  pretext  for  removing  the 
council  to  Ferrara,  and  afterwards  to  Florence.  But  many  of  the  clergy 
would  not  attend ;  they  chose  another  pope,  and  again  asserted  the  for- 
mer principle,  that  a  synod  of  the  Church  was  superior  to  the  pope,  and 
that  the  former  and  not  the  latter  was  infallible.  Upon  this,  Eugenius, 
encouraged  by  the  fears,  entertained  both  by  princes  and  people,  of 
another  division  in  the  Church,  anathematized  the  refractory  members 
of  the  council,  and  rejected  their  decisions ;  and  for  the  purpose  of  over- 
coming more  surely  the  opposition  of  the  Germans,  gained  over  the  crafty 
Italian,  ^neas  Sylvius  (afterwards  Pius  II.),  who  was  private  secretary 
to  the  emperor  Frederick  HI.  By  the  aid  of  this  shrewd  man,  who  is 
also  known  as  an  author,  the  pope  succeeded  in  winning  over  the  weak 
emperor  to  the  AschafFenburg  concordat,  by  means  of  which,  the  Church 
remained  in  its  former  state,  and  all  the  abuses  and  extortions,  with  a 
few  trifling  exceptions,  were  continued.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  patriot- 
ically-minded Gregory  of  Heimburg  advocated  the  liberties  of  the 
Church  and  the  rights  of  Germany  with  intelligence  and  eloquence; 
abandoned  by  the  emperor  and  most  of  the  princes,  the  council,  after  a 
little  hesitation,  recognized  Eugenius's  successor,  Nicholas  V.,  as  lawful 
pope,  and  then  dissolved  itself.  In  this  way,  the  papacy  came  forth,  for 
the  second  time,  victorious  from  the  fight,  but  less  by  the  inherent  power 
of  truth  than  by  unecclesiastical  expedients. 


DECAY  OF  CniVALET  AND  CORRUPTION  OF  THE  CHURCn.   175 


6.  GERMANY  UNDER  FREDERICK  III.  AND  MAXIMILIAN  I. 

§  267.  When  the  male  line  of  the  house  of  Luxemburg  expired  with 
Albert  11  of  Sigismond,  his  son-in-law,  Albert  11.  of  Austria,  ascended 
Austria,  A.  d.  the  imperial  throne  of  Germany,  which  from  this  time 
1437-1439.  remained  in  possession  of  the  Hapsburg-Austrian  family, 
Albert  was  a  well-disposed  and  energetic  man ;  but  as  Bohemia  and 
Hungary  engaged  the  whole  of  his  exertions,  he  could  effect  nothing  of 
importance  during  the  short  period  of  his  government.  His  nephew, 
Frederick  III  ^^i'e^^'ri<-'k  HI-,  was  his  successor  in  the  empire,  a  prince  en- 
>•  D-  do  wed  with  domestic  virtues,  but  possessing  slender  talents 

1440  - 1493.  ^^j.  government,  and  who  opposed  nothing  to  the  troubles  of 
his  lengthened  reign  but  a  dull  and  passive  indifference.  He  looked 
quietly  on  while  the  Turks  took  possession , of  Constantinople,  and  carried 
tlieir  ravages  into  the  hereditary  territories  of  Austria,  when  Hungary 
and  Bohemia  elected  native  kings,  when  Charles  the  Bold  of  Burgundy 
extended  his  dominions  to  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  (§  293),  when  Milan 
and  Lombardy  were  separated  from  the  German  empire  (§  261).  In 
Germany,  the  imperial  authority  fell  into  utter  contempt,  the  princes* 
made  themselves  independent,  and  exercised  the  privilege  of  private 
warfare  without  hesitation.  The  Swabian  alliance  was  engaged  in  a 
furious  war  with  Albert  (Achilles  or  Ulysses),  the  valiant  margrave 
of  the  Brandenburg  territories  in  Franconia  (Bayreuth),  a  war  in  which 
nine  battles  were  fought  and  200  villages  reduced  to  ashes.  The  neigh- 
borhood of  the  Rhine  and  the  Neckar  was  desolated  by  the  war  of 
the  Palatinate,  during  which,  the  palgrave,  Frederick  the 
Victorious,  gained  a  glorious  victory  near  Seckenheim,  and 
made  prisoners  of  his  enemies,  Ulrifck  of  Wurtemburg,  the  margrave  of 
Baden,  and  the  bishop  of  Metz ;  but  was  unable  to  prevent  the  deposi- 
tion of  his  ally,  the  banished  archbishop.  Dieter  of  Mayence, 
*  in  whose  defence  he  had  taken  up  arms. 
§  268.  This  state  of  disorder  and  self-redress  increased  the  desire  for 
a  fresh  constitution  of  the  empire.  But  as  the  princes  refused  to  sacrifice 
any  of  their  real  or  pretended  rights,  every  proposal  that  seemed  likely  to 
increase  the  power  of  the  emperor,  or  diminish  that  of  the  princes,  encoun- 
Maximilian  I.  ^^^^d  a  resolute  opposition.  At  length,  ^Maximilian  I.  agreed 
A.  D.  with  the  Electors,  the  secular  and  spiritual  nobles,  and  the 

1493-1519.     representatives  of  the  free  towns,  at  the  imperial  diet  at 
"Worms,  to  form  a  constitution  which  restrained  the  rij'ht  of 

A.  D.  1495.  .  (. 

private  warfare,  but  completely  undermined  the  authority  of 
the  emperor.  At  this  diet,  the  eternal  Land-peace  was  established,  and 
every  act  of  self-redress  by  arms  forbidden,  under  pain  of  ban  and  out- 
lawry. An  imperial  chamber  was  at  once  established  to  compose  all 
quarrels  among  the  members  of  the  empire,  and  a  short  time  afterwards, 


176  THE    niSTOEY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

the  empire  was  divided  into  ten  circles.  1.  The  Austrian.  2.  The  Bava 
rian.  3.  The  Swabian.  4.  The  Franconian.  5.  The  llhenish  Elec- 
torate. G.  The  Upper  Rhenish.  7.  The  Lower  Rhenish  Westphalian. 
8.  Upper  Saxony.  9.  Lower  Saxony;  and  10.  The  Burgundian.  By 
this  alteration,  the  pov/er  of  the  princes  was  raised  to  a  still  greater 
height,  so  that  at  last  they  could  act  in  their  own  territories  as  absolute 
rulers.  The  Swiss  confederates,  who  were  at  that  time  in  alliance 
with  France,  refused  to  recognize  the  imperial  chamber,  and  denied  the 
contingent  of  troops.  Hereupon,  Maximilian  attempted  to  compel  them 
by  force  of  arms,  but  was  worsted  in  the  contest,  and  obliged 

A.  D.  1499.  ./  7  7  » 

*       to  forego  his  demands  in  tlie  peace  of  Ba^le,  and  to  admit 
the  independence  of  the  Swiss  of  Germany. 

§  269.  Maximilian's  reign  forms  the  transition  period  between  the 
middle  age  and  the  modern  time.  He  himself,  with  his  stately  aspect, 
his  bold  and  dangerous  huntings,  his  valiant  deeds  in  battle  and  tourna- 
ment, may  well  be  looked  upon  as  the  "  last  knight "  on  the  imperial 
throne  of  Germany ;  his  love  of  the  decaying  chivalrous  poetry,  his  mar- 
riage with  Mary  of  Burgundy,  his  wars  in  the  Netherlands  and  in  Italy, 
are  all  stamped  with  the  character  of  the  middle  age.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  was  at  this  time  that  the  commencements  of  a  more  refined  poli- 
tical science,  and  of  a  greater  intercourse  among  nations,  displayed  them- 
selves, which,  combined  with  new  discoveries  and  inventions,  brought 
about  the  modern  period. 


VI.  HISTORY  OF  THE  REMAINING  EUROPEAN  NATIONS   DURING 
THE   MIDDLE  AGE. 

1.  FRANCE. 

a.    FRANCE  UNDER  THE  HOUSE  OF  CAPET. 

§  270.  The  first  successors  of  Hugh  Capet  (§  205)  possessed  but  little 
power  and  a  narrow  territory.  The  dukes  and  counts  of  the  different 
provinces  looked  upon  the  king,  who,  properly,  was  only  lord  of  France, 
as  tlieir  equal,  and  only  allowed  him  the  first  rank  among  themselves,  in 
so  far  as  they  were  obliged  to  recognize  him  as  their  feudal  superior. 
The  nobles  dared  not  weaken  the  rights  that  appertained  to  him  in  this 
capacity,  lest  they  should  afford  an  example  of  breach  of  faith  to  their  own 
subjects,  and  encourage  them  to  similar  behavior  towards  themselves.  For 
the  rest,  the  possessions  of  the  great  vassals  were  independent  counties 
and  principalities,  which  had  no  closer  connection  with  the  French  throne 
than  the  western  territories  on  the  Seine,  Loire,  and  Garonne,  which  be- 
longed to  the  kins  of  England ;  or  the  eastern  (Burgundian)  lands  on 


FRANCE.  177 

the  Rhone  and  the  Jura,  which  were  portions  of  the  German  empire. 
But  in  the  attempt  to  increase  the  kingly  power,  the  house  of  Cape^t 
were  not  less  aided  by  their  good  fortune  than  by  their  wisdom.  It  was 
fortunate,  that,  owing  to  the  lengthened  lives  of  most  of  their  kings,  tli^ 
throne  was  seldom  vacant,  that  there  was  almost  always  a  son  of  age  to 
succeed  his  father,  and  that,  consequently,  there  was  never  an  interregnum. 
But  it  was  wisdom  in  the  first  kings  to  have  their  eldest  sons  crowned 
during  their  lives,  and  to  make  them  their  partners  in  the  government, 
so  that,  on  the  death  of  the  father,  little  or  no  change  was  suffered.  The 
Louis  Vir.  ^^^^  important  kings  after  Hugh  Capet  were  Louis  YIL, 
A.  D.  who  undertook  the  second  crusade,  and  during  his  absence 

Ph^r"^^  ^  intrusted  the  government  in  France  to  the  politic  Abbot 
Augustus  n.,  Suger  of  St.  Denis ;  Philip  Augustus  II.,  who  wrested  Nor- 
A-  !>•  mandy  and  the  otlicr  territories  in  the  west  from  the  English 

1180-1223.  kinjr,  John  Lackland;  and  Louis  VIII.,  who  enlarjred  his 
Louis  VIIL,       ...  ,  ,     ,        ,  .  1        . ,,  . 

A.  D,  dommions  on  the  south  by  the  war  agamst  the  Albigenscs 

1223-1226.  (§228).  But  the  reigns  which  had  the  greatest  influence 
a^d!^^'^'  upon  the  history  of  France  were  those  of  St.  Louis  and 
1226-1270.  Philip  the  Fair.  The  former  improved  the  laws,  and  caused 
the  royal  courts  of  justice  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  highest  in  the  land, 
and  the  disputes  of  the  nobles  among  themselves  or  with  their  vassals 
to  be  brought  before  them  for  decision :  tlie  latter,  on  the  other  hand, 
Philip  the  increased  the  consequence  of  the  towns  by  granting  various 
Fair,  A.  D.  privileges  and  liberties  to  the  cflizens,  and  by  being  the  first 
1285-1314.  who  summoned  the  representatives  of  the  towns  to  the  diet 
during  his  contest  with  the  pope.  (§  255).  After  the  death  of  Philip's 
^     three  sons,  who  reigned  one  after  the  other,  but  left  no  male 

A.  D.  1328.  '  o  ' 

heirs,  the  French  throne  passed  to  the  house  of  Valois. 

b,   FRANCE  UNDER  THE  HOUSE  OF  VALOIS  (a.  D.  1328-1589). 

§  271.  Philip  VI.  of  Valois,  brother's  son  of  Philip  the  Fair,  in- 
Fhilip  VL  herited  the  French  throne.  But  Edward  III.  of  England 
■A'D.  also  asserted  his    claims,  as  son   of  a  daughter  of  Philip 

1328-1347.^  the  Fair.  Without  regard  to  the  Salic  law,  which  pro- 
hibited the  succession  of  females,  he  assumed  the  title  of  king  of 
France,  and  made  war  upon  Philip.  After  a  bloody  con- 
test of  a  few  years,  the  battle  of  Crecy  was  fought,  in 
which  the  English  were  tlie  victors,  and  the  flower  of  the  French  chi- 
valry, together  with  John,  the  blind  king  of  Bohemia,  fell  on  the  field. 
The  possession  of  the  important  town  of  Calais  was  the  fruit  of  thT3''vic- 
John  the  ^^^J'  ^^^^^P  died  in  the  following  year,  and  his  son,  John  the 

Good,  A.  D.  Good,  succeeded  to  the  contested  crown.  Eager  to  obliterate 
1347  -  1364.  the  memory  of  Crecy,  he  attacked  the  English  army,  which 
«7as  under  the  command  of  Edward  III.'s  heroic  son,  the  Black  Prince, 


178  THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

but  suffered  a  decisive  defeat  at  Poictiers,   and  was  obliged  to  pro* 

ceed  as  a  captive  to  the  capital  of  England.     Whilst  he  was  absent, 

the  kinjrdom  was  governed  by  the  crown  prince  (Dauphin). 
A.  D.  1356.        ^     .       °.         1         ^.  .       ,      .  .     T^     ^          1 

During  his  rule,  an  insurrection  broke  out  in  i  aris  and  over 

the  whole  land,  which  was  attended  with  great  devastations  and  outrages, 

until  the  imperfectly-armed  citizens  and  peasants  were  sub- 

A.  D.  1358.  1  ./  1 

dued  by  the  French  knights,  and  visited  with  severe  punish- 
ment.    Shortly  after  this,  a  peace  was  established  between  France  and 

England,  by  wliich  Calais  and  the  south-west  of  France  was 

surrendered  to  the  English,  and  a  heavy  ransom  promised 
for  John,  whilst  Edward,  on  the  other  hand,  renounced  his  pretensions 
to  the  French  throne.    But  when  the  collection  of  the  ransom  money  was 

delayed,  John  voluntarily  returned  into  captivity,  and  died 

in  London. 
Charles  V.  §  272.    John's   son,   Charles  Y.   (the  Wise),  healed  the 

A.  D.  wounds  of  his  country.    He  quieted  men's  minds  by  his  good 

1364-1380.  r^,^j  gentle  government,  and  by  prudence  and  valor,  reco- 
vered the  lands  that  had  been  lost  on  the  Loire  and  the  Garonne  ;  so  that, 

,  ^^        when  the  Black  Prince  fell  a  victim  to  a  wastinfr  disease, 
A.  D.  1377.  .      .  " 

and  Edward  IIL  shortly  after  followed  him  into  the  grave, 

nothing  remained  to  the  English  of  all  their  conquests  but  Calais.  But 
under  his  successor,  Charles  VI.,  who  became  insane  shortly  after  coming 
Charles  VI.  ^^  ^S^'  ^^^"^ce  again  fell  into  a  state  of  confusion  and  law- 
A.  D.  lessness.     Two  powerful  court  parties,  headed  by  the  uncle 

1380-1422.  of  tjjg  li'mg  (the  duke  of  Burgund}'),  and  the  king's  brother 
(the  duke  of  Orleans),  contended  for  the  government;  whilst  the  burghers 
rebelled  against  the  heavy  imposts,  and  demanded  an  increase  of  their 
privileges.  About  the  same  time  in  which  the  towns  were  waging  war 
against  the  knights  in  Germany  (§  261),  the  Swiss  peasants  were  con- 
tending against  the  nobility,  and  a  dangerous  popular  insurrection,  under 
Wat  Tyler  and  others,  was  making  rapid  progress  in  England,  the  citizen 
and  peasant  class  rose  against  the  court  and  the  nobility  in  Flanders  and 
France  also.     But  want  of  union  amonp;  the  insurj^rcnts  £?ave 

A   D    1383  o  o 

the  latter  the  victory,  and  the  outbreak  was  followed  by  a 
diminution  of  the  privileges  of  the  people.  The  Burgundian  party 
favored  the  citizens,  the  Orleans  party  the  nobility. 

§  273.  The  chivalrous  king,  Henry  V.  of  England,  took  advanta^ge 
of  these  circumstances  to  renew  the  war  with  France.  He  demanded  the 
former  possessions  back  again ;  and  wlien  this  was  refused,  he  entered 

France  by  Calais,  and  renewed  at  Agincourt,  on  the  Somme, 
A.  D.  l4lo.  ^1^^  ^^^^g  ^^  Crecy  and  Poictiers.  The  French  army,  four 
times  the  number  of  its  opponents,  was  overthrown,  and  the  tlowx^r  of  the 
French  chivalry  either  fell  in  the  field,  or  were  taken  prisoners  by  the 
enemy ;  nothing  stood  between  the  victor  and  Paris,  where  party  violence 


FBSiNCE.  179 

had  just  now  attained  its  highest  point,  and  murders  and  insurrections 
were  matters  of  daily  occurrence.  The  Orleans  party  joined  the  Dau- 
phin, whilst  the  Burgundian  party,  with  the  queen  Isabella,  united  them- 
selves with  the  English,  and  acknowledged  Henry  V.  and  his  descendants 
as  the  heirs  of  the  French  crown.  The  whole  of  the  country  to  the  north 
of  the  Loire  was  soon  in  the  hands  of  the  Enj^lish.     But 

A.  D.  1422.  ° 

Henry  V.  was  snatched  away  by  death  in  the  midst  of  his 
heroic  course,  in  the  same  year  in  which  the  crazy  Charles  VI.  sank  into 
the  grave,  and  the  Dauphin  took  possession  of  the  throne  under  the  title 
Charles  VII.  ^^  Charles  VII.  But  this  made  little  difference  to  France. 
A.  D.  The  English  and  their  alhes  proclaimed  Henry  VI.,  who  was 

1422  - 1461.  scarcely  a  year  old,  the  rightful  ruler  of  the  country,  and 
retained  their  superiority  in  the  field,  so  that  they  already  held  Orleans 
in  siege. 

§  274.  In  this  necessity,  the  Maid  of  Orleans,  a  peasant 

girl  of  Dom  Remy  in  Lorraine,  who  gave  out  that  she  had 
been  summoned  to  the  redemption  of  France  by  a  heavenly  vision, 
aroused  the  sinking  courage  of  Charles  and  his  soldiers.  Under  her 
baimer,  the  town  of  Orleans  was  delivered,  the  king  conducted  to  Rheims 
to  be  crowned,  and  the  greater  part  of  their  conquests  wrested  from  the 
English.  The  faith  in  her  heavenly  mission  inspired  the  French  with 
courage  and  self-confidence,  and  filled  the  English  with  fear  and  despair. 

This  effect  remained  after  Joan  of  Arc  had  fallen  into  the 

hands  of  the  latter,  and  had  been  given  up  to  the  flames  on 
a  pretended  charge  of  blasphemy  and  sorcery.  The  English  lost  one 
province  after  another ;  and  when  Philip  the  Good  of  Burgundy  recon- 
A.D.  1435.        ^^^^^  himself  with  the  king,  Calais  soon  became  their  last 

and  only  possession  in  the  land  of  France.  Paris  opened 
A.  D.  1436.  j|.g  gg^fgg  j^j^ J  received  Charles  with  acclamations.  He  reigned 
over  France  in  peace  for  twenty-five  years;  but  he  was  a  weak  man,  who 
suffered  himself  to  be  guided  by  women  and  favorites.  He  was  followed 
Louis  XL  ^y  -^^"^^  ^I-j  ^  crafty  but  politic  prince,  who,  by  cunning, 
A.  u.  violence,  and  unexampled  tyranny,  rendered  the  power  of 

1161-1483.  ii^Q  throne  absolute,  and  enlarged  and  consolidated  his  em- 
pire. He  robbed  the  nobility  of  all  their  choicest  privileges,  and  gradu- 
ally united  all  the  great  fiefs  with  the  crown.  He  then,  by  the  assistance 
of  the  Swiss  (whose  hardy  youth  he  and  his  successor  engaged  as  merce- 
naries), overthrew  Charles  the  Bold,  and  made  himself  master  of  the 
Charles  VIII.,  dukedom  of  Burgundy.  The  stings  of  conscience  and  the 
A.  D.  1483-      fear  of  men  tortured  him  in  the  lonely  castles  where  he 

1498 

spent  the  last  years  of  his  life.  His  two  successors,  Charles 
A.  D.  1498-  "^^m*  ^^^  Louis  XII.,  conquered  Brittany,  but  dissipated 
1G15.  the  strength  of  the  kingdom  in  their  expeditions  to  Italy. 


a 80  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE. 


2.    ENGLAND. 

Heiir'/  n  ^  ^^^'  ^^^^^  Henry  II.,  of  Anjou,  the  great-grandson  of 

A.  D.  1154-     AVilliam  the  Conqueror  (§  207),  the  renowned  race  of  Plan- 
1189.  tagenet  ascended  the  English  throne.     They  possessed  much 

land  on  the  Loire  and  the  Garonne,  and  as  Normandy  also  belonged  to 
the  English,  the  whole  of  the  west  of  France  was  in  the  power  of  the 
kings  of  England.  Many  quarrels  and  battles  arose  from  this  state  of 
things,  for  the  kings  of  France  laid  claim  to  the  rights  of  feudal  suprema- 
cy over  these  western  lands,  which  rights  the  English  kings  refused  to 
render.  Henry  IL,  a  contemporary  of  Frederick  Barbarossa,  was  a 
powerful  and  intelligent  sovereign,  who  acquired  especial  renown  by  his 
improvement  in  the  administration  of  the  laws.  In  furtherance  of  this 
object,  he  attempted,  by  the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon,  so  to  limit  the 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  that  the  clergy  should  be  subject  to  the  royal 
tribunals  in  temporal  matters,  without  any  appeal  to  the  pope.  Upon 
this  point,  Henry  had  a  violent  contest  with  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
Thomas  a  Becket.  Becket  rejected  the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon,  and 
dismissed  every  priest  that  submitted  to  them  ;  and  when  he  was  threat- 
ened with  legal  proceedings,  he  quitted  England  and  anathematized 
Henry.  But  an  arrangement  was  brought  about,  for  a  short  time,  by  the 
intervention  of  the  pope.  But  scarcely  was  Becket  returned  to  Canter- 
bury, when  he  resumed  all  his  former  severity  against  the  clergy  who 
received  the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon.  The  king,  who  was  just  then 
in  arms  against  France,  suffered  an  exclamation  of  discontent  against 
Becket  to  escape  him,  which  induced  four  of  his  servants  to  hasten  to 
England,  and  to  slaughter  the  archbishop  on  the  steps  of  the 
altar.  This  sacrilegious  deed  occasioned  universal  horror, 
and  procured  the  pope  a  complete  triumph  in  England.  The  murderers 
w^ere  punished,  the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon  abolished,  and  Thomas  a 
Becket  canonized.  Thousands  made  pilgrimages  to  his  altar ;  and  the 
king,  a  few  years  afterwards,  gave  a  memorable  example  of  his  peni- 
tence, by  suffering  the  monks  to  scourge  his  bare  shoulders  at  the  grave 
of  the  martyr. 

§  276.  Two  of  Henry's  sons  survived  their  father;  Richard  Lionheart 
Richard  Lion-  (§  223),  and  John  Lackland.  Much  as  the  former  distin- 
heart,  a.  d.  guished  himself  by  his  courage  and  chivalrous  daring,  his 
1189-1199.  reign  was  not  advantageous  to  England.  The  latter  was 
John  Lack-  worsted  in  every  contest  in  which  he  engaged.  In  the  first 
land,  A.  D.  place,  he  lost  Normandy,  and  all  the  hereditary  possessions 
1199-1216.  of  his  house  on  the  Loire  and  the  Garonne,  to  the  shrewd 
and  enterprising  Philip  Augustus  of  France;  and  when  he  got  involved 


ENGLAND.  181 

in  a  quaiTel  with  the  pope,  about  the  appointment  to  the  chair  of  the 
archbishopric  of  Canterbury,  in  consequence  of  which  the  holy  father 
pronounced  an  anathema  and  interdict  upon  England,  released  his  sub- 
jects from  their  oath  of  allegiance,  and  summoned  the  king  of  France  to 
take  possession  of  the  land,  John  humbled  himself,  surrendered  the 
throne  of  England  by  a  solemn  act  to  the  pope,  and  received  it  back 
again  from  the  hands  of  the  legate  as  a  papal  fief,  in  return  for  a  yearly 
tribute  of  1000  marks.  John  was  now  released  from  the  interdict,  and 
the  French  king  forbidden  to  prosecute  the  expedition  against  him.  En- 
raged at  this  disgraceful  transaction  of  a  king,  who,  by  his  severity,  arbi-. 
trariness,  and  cruelty,  had  embittered  every  class  against  himself,  the 
nobles  of  England  seized  their  arms  and  compelled  John,  by 
the  grant  of  the  great  charter  (Magna  Charta),  in  a  meadow 
near  Windsor  (Runny mede),  to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  free  constitution 
Henry  III.,  0^  England.  The  long  reign  of  John's  son,  Henry  III.,  was 
A.  D.  1216-  favorable  to  the  growth  of  liberty,  melancholy  as,  on  the 
1272.  whole,  the  condition  of  the  land  under  him  was.     His  ex- 

travagant profuseness  to  favorites,  and  the  exactions  of  the  papal  legates 
and  the  Italian  clergy,  inflicted  grievous  wounds  on  the  prosperity  of  the 
country,  and  at  length  drove  the  people  to  rebel  and  seize  upon  the  king 
and  his  family,  till  the  abuses  were  removed,  and  fresh  liberties  granted. 
§  277.  Henry  III.  was  succeeded  by  his  chivalrous  son,  Edward  I., 
Edward  I.  whose  reign  is  rendered  memorable  by  a  succession  of 
A.  D.  1272-  bloody  wars.  He  added  the  hitherto  independent  Wales  to 
'^^^'^'  his    dominions,  introduced  there  the  laws  and  constitution 

of  England,  and  was  the  first  who  gave  the  title  of  Prince  of  Wales  to 
the  heir  to  the  throne.    Upon  a  quarrel  for  the  crown  break- 

A   T>    1283 

ing  out  shortly  after  in  Scotland,  between  Robert  Bruce  and 
John  Baliol,  in  which  he  was  chosen  umpire,  Edward  took  advantage  of 
the  opportunity  to  establish  the  much  contested  feudal  superiority  of  the 
English  kings  over  Scotland,  and  decided  in  favor  of  Baliol,  who  was 
ready  to  do  him  homage.  This  irritated  the  Scotch,  who  were  proud  of 
their  independence.  They  seized  the  sword,  (ind  under  the  conduct  of 
heroic  knights  like  AVallace,  fought  many  battles  for  their  liberties  which 
are  renowned  in  song  and  legend.  Furious  contests  drenched  the  plains 
of  the  south  of  Scotland  with  the  blood  of  heroes ;  Wallace  was  taken 
prisoner,  and  put  to  death  by  the  hangman.  The  coronation  stone  of  the 
Scottish  kiui>;s  at  Scone  was  brou^^lit  to  London,  were  it  still  ornaments 
Westmiuster  Abbey ;  Edward's  victorious  host  marched  through  the  whole 
of  Scotland  as  far  as  the  Highlands,  and  yet  the  Scots  still  maintained  tlieir 
independence.  Robert  Bruce,  the  grandson  of  the  before-mentioned  candi- 
date for  the  throne,  after  many  changes  of  fortune,  obtained  possession  of 
the  crown,  which  became  hereditary  in  his  family,  and  passed  at  length  to 
the  kindred  house  of  Stuart. 
16 


182  THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

Edward's  son  of  the  same  name  was  a  weak  prince,  who  could  nelthei 
Edward  XL  i^^ke  conquests  abroad,  nor  preserve  peace  and  order  at 
A.  D.  1307-  home.  The  nobles  repeatedly  took  up  arms  against  him, 
1327.  killed  his  favorites,  and  at  last  looked  quietly  on,  whilst  the 

queen  and  her  paramour,  Mortimer,  thrust  the  unfortunate  monarch  from 
the  throne,  and  had  him  put  to  a  cruel  death  in  prison.  But  when  his 
Edward  HI.  energet-ic  son,  Edward  III.,  came  of  age,  he  punished  the 
A.  D.  1327-  atrocious  deed  by  executing  Mortimer,  and  banishing  the 
1377.  queen  to  a  solitary  fortress. 

§  278.  Edward  III.  governed  with  vigor  and  renown.  He  took  mea- 
sures for  checking  the  encroachments  of  the  pope  upon  the  English 
Church,  in  which  he  was  actively  supported  by  the  Oxford  professor, 
Wicliff,  and  granted  to  many  towns  the  privilege  of  sending  represent- 
atives to  parliament,  as  his  predecessors  had  before  done.  By  this  means, 
the  number  of  representatives  increased  to  such  an  extent  that  they  were 
divided,  and  from  this  time,  the  nobles  and  bishops  formed  the  Upper 
House  (House  of  Peers),  and  the  members  for  the  towns  and  counties  the 
Lower  House  (House  of  Commons),  of  Parliament.  No  tax  could  be 
imposed  without  their  consent.  The  wars  of  succession  which  Edward  III- 
and  his  son,  the  Black  Prince,  waged  with  France,  were  to  the  advantage 
of  the  English  (§  271).  But  the  government  of  his  grandson  and  successor, 
Richard  H  Richard  II.,  was  disturbed  by  domestic  troubles  ;  a  danger- 
A.  D.  1377-  ous  insurrection  of  the  people  was  only  suppressed  with 
1399.  difficulty  by  the  ready  courage  of  the  king;  and  when  Rich- 

ard at  length  banished  his  cousin,  Henry  of  Lancaster,  who  was  the 
originator  of  the  disturbances,  from  the  kingdom,  Henry  formed  a  party, 
had  the  king  deposed  from  the  throne  by  an  act  of  parliament,  and  then 
House  of  assumed  himself  the  royal  title.  Richard  died  of  starvation 
Lancaster.  in  a  remote  castle,  whilst  Henry  IV.,  in  whose  person  the 
Henry  IV.,  house  of  Lancaster  ascended  the  English  throne,  was  s.ecur- 
A.  D.  1399  -  ing  to  himself  and  his  posterity,  by  his  prudence  and  valor, 
^^^^'  the  crown  he  had  so  flagitiously  obtained.     An  insurrection 

of  the  English  nobles  under  the  duke  of  Northumberland  and  his  heroic 
son  Percy,  surnamed  Hotspur,  ended  with  the  defeat  of  the  insurgents. 
The  followers  of  Wicliff,  called  Lollards,  were  persecuted  for  the  sake  of 
propitiating  the  clergy  in  favor  of  the  royal  house.  Henry  IV.  was  suc- 
Henry  V  ceeded  by  his  more  valiant  son,  Henry  V.,  whose  youthful 

A.  D.  1413  -  follies,  as  well  as  his  nobleness  of  soul  and  heroic  greatness, . 
1^22.  have  been  portrayed  in  so  masterly  a  way  by  the  great 

British  poet,  Shakspeare.  He  conducted  successful  wars  with  France, 
but  all  that  he  gained  by  his  fortune  and  courage  was  again  lost  in  the 
reign  of  his  infant  son,  Henry  VI. 

§  279.  This  sixth  Henry  was  the  most  unfortunate  prince  that  ever 
Bat  on  a  throne.     The  crown  of  France,  which  he  had  received  when 


SPAIN.  1S3 

R  child  of  one  year  old  (§  274),  was  wrested  from  liim  by  the  Maid  of 
Ilenrv  VI.  Orleans,  and  he  was  deprived  of.  his  English  possessions, 
A..  D.  1422-  also,  by  the  wars  of  the  Red  and  the  AVhite  Roses.  Richard, 
1461.  duke  of  York,  great-grandson  of  king  Edward  III.,  deemed 

that  he  had  better  pretensions  to  the  crown  of  England  than  Henry  VI. 
He  formed  a  powerful  party,  unfurled  the  banner  of  rebellion,  and  com- 
menced the  bloody  civil  war  which,  from  the  cognizance  borne  by  the 
chiefs  of  the  parties,  was  called  the  War  of  the  Red  (Lancaster)  and 
"White  (York)  Rose.  It  is  true  that  Richard  was  defeated  in  a  furious 
battle  by  the  forces  of  the  queen,  who  ornamented  his  head  with  a  paper 
House  of  crown,  and  placed  it  upon  the  battlements  of  York.  But 
York.  Richard's  eldest  son,  the  chivalrous  Edward,  revenged  the 

Edward  IV.,  insults  offered  to  his  father.  He  got  possession  of  the  throne, 
A.  D.  1461-      and,  despite  the  many  changes  of  fortune  he  met  with  during 

his  reign,  he  finally  maintained  hi.mself  upon  it,  after  Henry 
of  Lancaster,  who  had  four  times  exchanged  the  crown  for  a  prison,  had 
ended  his  miserable  existence  in  the  Tower,  and  his  son  had  been  put  to 
death.  But  the  blood-stained  throne  brought  no  blessing  to  the  house  of 
"ilBrk.  Edward  first  got  rid  of  his  brother  Clarence  by  assassination ; 
and  when  he  himself  died,  leaving  behind  him  two  infant  princes,  his 
Ilichard  lU.  joun^or  brother,  Richard  (HI.),  had  these  put  to  death  in 
A.  D.  1483-  the  Tower,  and  took  possession  of  the  throne,  upon  which  he 
1485.  in  vain  hoped  to  secure  himself  by  fresh  crimes.     Henry 

Tudor,  a  descendant  of  the  royal  house  of  Lancaster,  who  had  saved  him- 
eelf  from  the  general  ruin  of  his  family  by  flying  to  France,  landed  on 
A  D  1485        ^^®  coast  of  England,  and  won  crown  and  victory  in  the  field 

of  Bosworth,  where  Richard  was  slain.  Upon  this,  Henry 
Tudor.  VII.,  with  whom  the  house  of  Tudor  rose  to  the  throne, 

Hemv  VII  brought  about  a  reconciliation  between  the  Roses  by  marry- 
A.  D.  1485-  ing  the  daughter  of  Edward  IV.  The  history  of  the  -jvorld 
1509.  scarcely  relates  another  war  in  which  so  many  atrocities 

were  committed  as  in  the  contest  between  the  Red  and  the  White  Rose. 
Eighty  members  of  royal  families,  and  the  ornaments  of  the  nobility,  fell 
by  the  sword.  Owing  to  this,  the  politic  and  hard-hearted  Henry  VII. 
could  give  greater  power  to  the  crown  than  it  had  possessed  under  the 
Plantagenets. 

3.    SIXAIN. 

§  280.  For  several  centuries,  the  two  kingdoms  of  Aragon  and  Castile 
(§  194.)  stood  side  by  side  in  separate  independence.  The  former  at- 
tempted to  extend  itself  towards  the  east,  and  gained  possession,  not  only 
Alfonso  V.  ^^  ^^^®  ^^^^^  l^nds  of  Catalonia,  Valentia,  and  Murcia,  and  the 
A.  D.  1416—  Spanish  islands,  Majorca  and  Minorca,  but  subjected,  at  difier* 
liS6.  ent  times,  Sardinia  and  Sicily,  and  in  the  reign  of  Alfonso  V., 


184  THE   niSTORY    OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

even  conquered  Naples.  Castile,  on  the  otlier  hand,  enlarged  itself  on 
the  south,  and  by  successful  wars  against  the  Moors,  gained  possession  of 
Cordova,  Seville,  and  Cadiz.  These  contests  had  the  greatest  influence 
m  the  history  and  character  of  the  Spanish  nation.  First,  They  produced 
A  love  of  war  and  a  chivalrous  turn  of  mind,  and  were  the  occasion  that 
the  Spanish  nation  took  delight  in  contests  and  arms,  in  tournaments  and 
knightly  exercises,  and  in  romantic  poetry  and  minstrelsy.  Secondly, 
They  preserved  the  zeal  for  religion,  and  were  the  foundation  of  that  pre- 
dominance of  the  clergy  which  has  always  been  a  characteristic  of  Spain. 
Thirdly,  They  aroused  a  feeling  of  liberty  and  self-reliance  among  the 
people, —  hence  the  Spanish  Estates,  which  assembled  regularly  in  the 
Cortes,  and  claimed  and  exercised  privileges  which  were  to  be  met  with 
in  no  other  monarchy.  The  Estates  of  Aragon  not  only  possessed  the 
right  of  legislating  and  of  consenting  to  the  levying  of  taxes,  but  the  king 
was  obliged  to  consult  them  in  the  choice  of  his  council.  Quarrels 
between  the  Estates  and  the  king  were  decided  by  an  independent  chief 
justice  (Justitia). 

§  281.  The  chivalrous  Peter  III.,  the  conqueror  of  Sicily  (§  240),  is 
the  best  known  of  the  Aragonian  kings,  and  Alfonso  X.,  the  Wise,  of  lie 
Alfonso  X.,  Castilian.  The  latter  occupied  himself  with  astronomy  and 
A.  D.  1252-  astrology,  with  music  and  poetry,,  enlarged  the  university 
of  Salamanca,  encouraged  the  development  of  the  national 
language,  and  had  works  prepared  on  history  and  jurisprudence ;  but  he 
was  wanting  in  the  practical  wisdom  of  life.  To  gain  the  shadow  of  the 
imperial  Roman  throne,  and  to  gratify  his  taste  for  magnificence  and 
pleasure,  he  oppressed  his  people  with  taxes,  and  plunged  his  land  into 
confusion  by  extravagance,  and  by  debasing  the  coinage.  Alfonso  XL 
Alfonso  XI.,     overcame  the  Moors  on  the  river  Salado,  and  took  the  str 


•on  2 


A.  D.  1324- 


town,  Algeciras,  in  Andalusia.  To  defray  the  expenses  of 
tlie  war,  tiie  Estates  introduced  the  tax,  alcavala,  which  was 
A.  D.  1340.  levied  upon  all  movable  and  immovable  property  as  often 
as  it  was  sold  or  exchanged,  and  which  proved  extremely  detrimental  to 
trade  and  commerce.  This  impost  has  continued  to  exist  in  Spain  ever 
Peter  the  since.     Alfonso's  son,  Peter  the   Cruel,  outraged  his   wives, 

Cruel,  A.  D.      his  brothers  and  relatives,  the  nobles  and  the  people,  so  long, 
1350-1369.      iiy^i  r^i  leno-th  his  half-brother,  with   the  assistance  of  s 


some 


French  troops,  overcame  and  killed  him,  and  then  assumed  his  place. 
Isabella,  The  marriage  of  queen  Isabella  of  Castile,  with   Ferdinand 

A^.D.  1474-  ijjg  Catholic  of  Aragon,  led  to  the  union  of  the  two  king- 
f'erdinand  doms,  and  consequently  to  a  new  epoch  for  Spain,  towards 
A.  D.  1479-      the  conclusion  of  the  fifteenth  cen-tury. 

^^^^-  §  282.     Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  directed  by  the  counsels 

of  the  shrewd  cardinal  Ximenes,  strove  for  a  common  object ;  —  they 
Bought  to  diminish  the  pov/er  of  the  nobility  and  clergy,  and  exalt  tha 


SPAix.  185 

of  the  crown.  For  this  purpose,  Ferdinand  obtained  from  the  pope  tha 
grand  mastership  of  the  three  weahhy  orders  of  Castilian  knights,  and 
the  privilege  of  filling  up  the  Spanish  bishoprics.  He  next  deprived  the 
nobility  of  the  administration  of  justice,  that  he  might  transfer  it  to  the 
royal  courts,  and  established  the  armed  Hermandad  (police),  to  preserve 
the  peace  of  the  land,  and  to  abolish  robbery  and  private  warfare.  Bftt 
the  most  important  means  of  raising  the  power  of  the  throne  was  the 
court  of  Inquisition,  in  which  the  king  had  the  appointment  of  the  grand 
inquisitor  and  all  the  judges.  This  royal  court  of  faith,  provided  with 
spiritual  weapons,  was  not  only  the  terror  of  heretics  and  secret  Moiiam- 
medans  and  Jews,  but  held  the  nobility  and  clergy  in  awe,  and  imposed 
heavy  chains  upon  the  free  activity  of  the  mind.  The  slightest  suspi- 
cion, the  false  testimony  of  an  enemy,  might  lead  to  the  frightful  dun- 
geons of  the  Inquisition,  where  the  most  dreadful  tortures  of  the  rack 
were  employed  to  force  a  confession  of  guilt,  and  wiles,  equivocations, 
and  insnaring  questions  were  made  use  of  to  entrap  the  resolute.  Num- 
berless victims  were  given  up  to  the  flames  in  the  midst  of  pomp  and 
magnificence  (auto  de  fe),  or  pined  away  their  lives  in  mouldering  dun- 
geons, whilst  the  treasury  of  the  state  was  enriched  with  their  property. 
Kever  were  the  throne  and  altar  united  in  a  bond  so  dangerous  to  the 
liberties  of  the  people,  as  in  Spain  since  the  establishment  of  the  Inquisition. 
§  283.  The  banishment  of  the  Moors  is  one  of  the  most  melancholy 
phenomena  in  Spanish  history.  When  the  Moorish  kingdom  of  Grana- 
da, after  a  war  of  ten  years,  fell  before  the  arms  of  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella, the  Mohammedans  were  allowed  no  alternative  but  to  leave  their 
country  or  embrace  Christianity;  hereupon,  many  of  them  quitted  their 
native  land,  others,  with  inward  repugnance,  adopted  the  doctrines  of  the 
Gospel,  but  were  driven,  by  the  cruelty  of  the  Inquisition  and  the  op- 
pression of  the  government,  to  repeated  rebellions,  by  which  their  condi- 
tion was  always  rendered  worse  than  before.  But  their  lot  was  most  de- 
plorable under  the  fanatical  Philip  II.  and  his  successor  of  the  same 
name.  A  command  was  first  given  that  they  should  renounce  their  lan- 
guage, their  national  dress,  and  their  peculiar  customs ;  and  as  if  even 
this  tyrannical  order  were  not  suflTicient  to  destroy  the  last  traces  of  their 
Arabian  origin  and  their  foreign  fixilh,  they  were  mercilessly  driven 
away  from  the  Spanish  territory.  800,000  Moors,  men  and  women,  old 
men  and  children,  left  the  land  of  their  birth,  their  blooming  fields,  and 
the  houses  their  own  hands  had  built.  The  flourishing  plains  of  the 
south  soon  became  a  desert,  agriculture  decayed,  and  trade  stagnated ; 
prosperous  villages  were  reduced  to  ruins,  towns  once  animated  by  com- 
merce became  depopulated,  poverty,  dirt,  and  sloth,  took  possession  of  the 
once  rich  and  happy  country,  the  departed  splendor  of  which  is  still 
attested  by  magnificent  ruins.  A  similar  fate  attended  the  Jews  ;  priest! 
and  courtiers  divided  the  possessions  and  treasures  of  the  banished. 
16* 


186  THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

The  destruction  of  the  privileges  of  the  Estates  and  of  the  libertiea 
of  the  people,  were  also  consequences  of  this  mischievous  union  between 
the  crown  and  the  altar. 

4.    ITALY.  . 

a.    UPPER    ITALY. 

§  284.  In  Upper  Italy,  the  two  republics  of  Venice  and  Genoa  raised 
themselves  by  their  trade  and  navigation,  to  a  prosperity  that  recals  the 
memory  of  the  most  flourishing  period  of  ancient  Greece.  Venice 
directed  her  view  to  the  Adriatic  and  ^gean  seas,  and  sought  to  make 
conquests  on  their  coasts  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  suitable  havens, 
marts,  and  magazines ;  as  those  in  Dalmatia,  Greece,  the  Archipelago, 
Constantinople,  and  many  other  places.  This  remarkable  city,  which 
had  originated  from  the  union  of  several  islands,  became  rich  and  power- 
ful by  her  oriental  traffic.  Magnificent  churches  (the  cathedral  of  St. 
Mark),  gorgeous  palaces  (that  of  the  doge),  splendid  squares  (the  place 
of  St.  Mark),  boldly  constructed  bridges  (that  of  the  Rialto),  made 
Venice  a  wonder  of  the  world.  But  magnificence,  wealth,  and  pleasures, 
could  not  make  amends  for  the  want  of  freedom.  The  original  demo- 
cratic constitution  was  changed,  during  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  cen- 
turies, into  an  oppressive  hereditary  aristocracy.  An  elected  doge,  with 
limited  authority,  stood  at  the  head  of  the  state ;  but  the  whole  power 
rested  in  the  high  council,  to  which  only  a  limited  number  of  noble  fami- 
lies (nobili),  whose  names  were  written  in  the  golden  book,  had  admis- 
sion. For  the  purpose  of  preventing  any  alteration  in  the  constitution 
of  the  state,  a  council  of  ten  persons  was  furnished  with  dictatorial 
power,  and  provided  with  a  state  police  of  spies  and  informers,  and  a 
state  Inquisition  with  subterraneous  dungeons,  racks,  and  leaden  roofs. 
Every  motion  was  watched,  every  word  listened  to,  every  movement  of 
the  people  observed. 

In  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  Venice  attempted  to  extend 
her  rule  on  the  Italian  continent,  and  obtained  possession,  by  the  help  of 
skilful  generals,  of  Verona,  Padua,  Brescia,  and  many  other  cities  and 
territories  of  Upper  Italy.  By  this  means,  however,  she  came  into  hos- 
tile contact  with  other  European  states,  and  was  not  unfrequently  threat- 
ened with  destruction,  particularly  in  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  by  the  league  of  Cambray,  in  which,  the 
emperor  Maximilian,  Louis  XII.  of  France,  Ferdinand  the  Catholic  of 
Aragon,  and  pope  Julius  II.,  united  together  for  the  purpose  of  dividing 
the  Venetian  territory.  The  French  were  already  threatening  the  wealthy 
city,  when  the  Venetian  council  succeeded  in  dividing  the  league,  and 
gaining  over  the  pope  and  Ferdinand.  In  this  manner,  Venice  was 
saved,  and  the  French  driven  out  of  Italy.  But  the  wounds  which 
Venice  received  in  her  eastern  possessions  by  the  establishment  of  the 


ITALY.  187 

Ottoman  empire,  and  in  her  trade  by  the  discovery  of  a  sea  passage  to 
the  East  Indies,  were  incurable.  Since  then,  the  allegorical  marriage  of 
the  doge  with  the  Adriatic  in  the  state  vessel,  the  Bucentaur,  has  been  a 
ceremony  without  a  meaning. 

§  285.  Genoa  was  the  proud  rival  of  Venice.  The  mutual  jealousy  of 
the  two  republics  respecting  the  trade  with  the  East  was  the  occasion  of 
many  wars  and  many  bloody  naval  engagements,  in  which,  however,  Venice 
was  generally  the  victor.  Genoa's  splendid  marble  palaces,  her  havens 
covered  with  a  forest  of  masts,  and  her  exchange,  bore  witness  to  her 
wealth.  But  quarrels  between  democrats  and  aristocrats,  between  Guelfs 
(Fieschi  and  Grimaldi)  and  Ghibellines  (Spinola  and  Doria),  weakened 
her  internal  strength.  Incapable  of  governing  herself,  she  sought  for 
foreign  rulers,  till  at  length  she  fell  alternately  under  the  power  of  the 
French  and  Milantse.     The  excellent  constitution  which  the 

A  D  1528 

naval  hero,  Andreas  Doria,  planned  in  the  sixteenth  century 
for  his  native  city,  after'  he  had  overthrown  the  French  government 
there,  and  brought  back  the  republican  forms,  restored  the  state  to  its 
outward  independence,  but  by  no  means  to  its  internal  tranquillity. 
Twenty  years  later,  the  handsome,  rich,  and  accomplished 
Fiesco  attempted  to  deprive  the  house  of  Doria  of  the  office 
of  doge  ;  but  the  enterprise  was  frustrated  by  the  unexpected  death  of 
the  daring  conspirator. 

§  286.  Milan  came  gradually  under  the  government  of  the  wealthy 
family  of  Visconti,  who  obtained  the  ducal  title  from  the  emperor,  and 
conquered  the  greater  part  of  Lombardy  by  the  aid  of  condottieri  and 
mercenary  troops.     When  the  male  line  of  the  Visconti  became  extinct 
in  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Milanese  trans- 
ferred the  sovereignty  of  their  beautiful  land,  which  was 
aimed  at  both  by  the   French  and  Spaniards,  to  Francisco  Sforza,  the 
most  able  of  these  condottieri.     The  conquest  of  the  country 
'by   Louis   XII.  of  France  was    facilitated  by  quarrels  in 
Sforza's  family.     Louis  carried  away  the  duke  (Louis  Moro)  prisoner, 
and  suffered  him  to  pine  for  ten  years  in  a  subterranean  dungeon.     The 
French  were  indeed  di'iven  out  of  Italy  a  few  years  later,  and  the  son 
of  the  captive  Moro  raised  to  the  dukedom  of  Milan ;  but  the  first  war- 
^,,^        like  action  of  the  chivalrous  Francis  I.  was  the  *' battle  of 

A.  D.  1d15. 

giants  "  of  Marignano,  in  which  the  duke  and  his  Swiss  were 
defeated,  and  Milan  again  joined  to  the  French  kingdom.  Ten  years 
afterwards,  the  dukedom  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards,  who 
remained  in  possession  of  it  for  nearly  two  hundred  years. 

§  287.  The  western  states  of  Upper  Italy  fell,  for  the  most  part,  under 
the  power  of  the  counts  of  Savoy,  who,  by  prudence,  good  fortune,  and 
force  of  arms,  gradually  enlarged  their  originally  narrow  territory  to  a 
dukedom,  which  extended  northward  over  the  south  of  Switzerland  to 


188  THE   HISTOllY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

Jura  (Geneva,  Vaud,  Yalais),  and  included  on  the  south,  Piedmont,  with 
Turin,  the  county  of  Nice,  and  other  territories.  But  when  the  warlike 
Swiss  confederates  on  the  north,  and  on  the  west,  France,  which  was 
now  united  into  a  powerful  kingdom,  became  the  neighbors  of  Savoy's 
frontiers,  its  circumference  began  gradually  to  lessen.  The  Valais  was 
lost  in  the  Burgundian  war  (§  293),  Geneva  freed  itself  during  the  con- 
tests of  the  Reformation,  and  in  the  wars  which  Francis  I.  carried  on  with 
Charles  V.,  for  the  possession  of  Milan,  duke  Charles  III.  of  Savoy,  the 
ally  of  the  latter,  lost  the  greater  part  of  his  hereditary  estates,  which 
his  son  again  received,  with  some  loss,  at  the  peace  of  Cam- 
bresis.  But  his  successors,  by  taking  advantage  of  favorable 
opportunities,  amply  repaid  themselves  for  their  losses  by  conquests  in 
other  quarters  (Sardinia,  Genoa),  and  at  length  obtained  possession  of  the 
kingly  power. 

h.    MIDDLE    AND    LOWER    ITALY. 

§  288.  The  trading  town  of  Pisa  was  the  first  to  flourish  in  Tuscany. 
AVhen  this  city  had  fidlen  before  the  army  of  the  Genoese,  Florence 
raised  itself  above  the  other  towns,  and  at  length  reduced  Pisa  itself  to 
subjection.  Florence  was  at  first  governed  by  the  nobility ;  but  when 
this  class  had  been  weakened  by  the  party  contentions  of  the  Guelfs 
(Black)  and  Ghibellines  (White),  the  government  was  obtained  by  the 
people,  who  were  divided  into  guilds,  and  who  consisted,  for  the  most  part, 
of  masters  of  manufactories  and  workers  in  wool.  But  scarcely  was  a 
complete  democracy  established  in  Florence,  when  a  new  quarrel  for 
supremacy  sprang  up  between  the  rich  merchants  and  the  poorer  artisans, 
the  result  of  which  was,  that  the  state  was  governed  alternately  by  a 
money  aristocracy  and  by  the  democratic  guilds.  Love  of  freedom, 
patriotism,  and  refinement  were  developed  in  the  midst  of  these  contests, 
so  that  Florence  might  be  compared  to  the  ancient  Athens.  At  length, 
the  wealthy  family  of  the  Medici  succeeded  in  so  completely  winning  to 
themselves  the  affections  of  the  poor  by  their  kindness  and  benevolence, 
Cosmo  de  ^^^^  those  of  the  illustrious  by  their  friendly  affability,  that 
Medici,  A.  d.  Cosmo  de  Medici,  a  man  of  lofty  mind  and  patriotic  spirit, 
1428-1464.  without  assuming  either  rank  or  title,  governed  the  Floren- 
tine state  with  almost  unlimited  power,  and  rendered  it  flourishing 
and  powerful  by  successful  wars  abroad,  and  by  encouragement  of  the 
arts  and  sciences  at  home.  To  him  belongs  by  right  the  surname  of 
"  Father  of  his  Country." 

Lorenzo  tlie  §  ^^^*  Cosmo's  grandson,  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  trod 

Magnificent,  in  the  path  of  his  ancestors,  and  rendered  Florence  the  seat 
1472-1492.  of  every  art  and  science,  and  a  seminary  for  all  Europe. 
His  court  was  ornamented  with  artists,  poets,  and  writers ;  learned  men 
from  Byzantium,  who  were  flying  from  the  sword  of  the  Turks,  taught 


ITALY.  189 

the  Greek  language   and  literature  in  Florence.     Under  his  rule,  the 
arts  of  sculpture,  painting,  and  music  began  to   unfold  their  choicest 
blossoms.     After  Lorenzo's  deatli,  the  animated  discourses  of  the  Domi- 
nican, Savondrola,  induced  the  Florentines  to  drive  out  the  Medici,  and 
to  restore  the  democratic  republic.     But  when  the  pope  excommunicated 
the  bold  "  prophet  of  Florence,"  and  the   priests,  against  whose   wealth 
and  luxurious  lives  his  zeal  had  been  chiefly  directed,  rose  against  him, 
his  enemies  succeeded  in  effecting  his  overthrow ;  upon  which,  he  was 
condemned  to  be  burnt  as  a  disturber  of  the  Church  and  a  corrupter  of 
the  people.     The  Medici  soon  returned ;  and  when  a  demo- 
cratic spirit,  after  some  time,  again  awoke,  and  a  second  ban- 
ishment followed,  the  emperor,  Charles  V.,  having  an  understanding  with 
the  Medician  pope,  Clement  VIP.,  marched  upon  Florence,  compelled  it  to 
surrender  after  a  close  siege,  and  placed  the  cruel  Alexander 
de  Medici  as  duke  over  the  humbled  republic.     Alexander, 
after  many  years'  tyranny,  was  killed  by  the  people,  but  the  government, 
nevertheless,  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Medici.     Among  the  many 
Michicl  artists  and  writers   that  lived  about  this  time  in  Florence, 

Angelo,  A.  D.  Michael  Angelo,  who  was  equally  distinguished  as  an  archi- 
1474— 15G3.  tect,  sculptor,  and  painter ;  and  the  clever  statesman,  Mac- 
Macchiavelli,  chiavelli,  author  of  "  The  Prinlb,"  the  "  History  of  Flo- 
A.  D.  1527.  rence,"  and  "  Discourses  on  Titus  Livius,"  are  the  most 
distinguished  names. 

§  2U0.  During  the  residence  of  the  popes  in  Avignon  (§  255),  violence 
and  lawlessness,  occasioned  by  the  bloody  family  quarrels  of  the  Colonna 
and  Orsini,  had  reigned  in  the  ecclesiastical  state  of  Rome.   This  inspired 
Cola  di  Rienzi,  a  man  filled  with  enthusiasm  for  ancient  Rome,  with  the 
project  of  bringing  back  peace  and  the  ancient  greatness  to  the  state  by 
the  restoration  of  the  republican  constitution.     His  fiery  eloquence  trans- 
ported the    Romans.      They   established  a  new  republican 
Rome,  raised  the  popular  orator  to  the  office  of  tribune,  and 
drove  the  nobles  from  their  walls.     But  Rienzi's  splendid  part  was  soon 
played  out.     Pride  and  vanity  blinded  him ;  oppressive  taxes  deprived 
him  of  the  fiwor  of  the  people;  so  that  his  enemies  succeeded  ih  procur- 
ing his  overthrow,  and  compelled  him  to  fly.  *  He  returned,  indeed,  a  few 
years  after,  but  it  was  only  to  meet  with  his  death  in  a  popu- 

A.  D.  1354.  .  .,,....,        ^,,  ,  • 

lar  commotion.  After  arrangmg  the  division  in  the  Church 
(§  263),  a  few  distinguished  popes  made  an  attempt  to  heal  the  wounds 
of  the  state  and  the  Church.  Among  these,  may  be  particularly  men- 
A.  D.  tioned  Nicholas  V.,  the  founder  of  the  Vatican  library,  and 

1450-1460.  Pius  11.  (iEneas  Silvius,  §  260),  known  as  a  clever  and  ver- 
satile writer,  —  both  of  them  patrons  of  cultivation  and  science.  On 
the  other  hand,  Alexander  VI.  (Borgia)  was  the  scandal  of  all  Chris- 
tendom by  hisabandoneil  life,  and  his  family  (Caesar  and  Lucretia  Bor- 


190  THE   HISTORY    OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

gia,  in  particular)  were  guilty  pf  frightful  crimes.  Alexander's  successor, 
Julius  II.,  possessed  a  magnanimous  disposition^  but  his  pas- 
sion for  war  suited  ill  with  his  spiritual  office.  He  marched 
into  the  field  himself,  and  enlarged  the  possessions  of  the  Church  by  the 
Addition  of  Bologna,  Ancona,  Ferrara,  and  other  towns  and  territories. 
Leo  X.,  the  highly  accomplished  son  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  united  in 
the  Vatican  all  the  splendor  of  art  and  refinement  as  an  inheritance  of 
his  house.  But  in  studying  the  productions  of  Greek  and  Roman  pagan- 
ism, he  lost  sight  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  and  of  reverence  for  the 
Gospel ;  yet  he  taxed  the  religious  faith  of  the  people  by  the  sale  of 
Kaphael  indulgences,  that  he  might  be  able  to  support  the  expense  of 

A.  D.  building  the  magnificent  church  of  St.  Peter,  and  to  reward 

1483-1520.  artists  with  a  liberal  hand.  -The  "  divine"  painter,  Raphael, 
was  the  ornament  of  his  court. 

In  Ferrara,  during  the  fifteenth  century,  reigned  the  younger  branch 
of  the  house  of  Este,  which  was  not  less  distinguished  for  refinement 
and  encouragement  of  the  arts  and  sciences  than  the  Medici.  Ariosto, 
the  writer  of  "  Orlando  Furioso,"  and  Torquato  Tasso,  the  poet  of"  Jeru- 
salem Delivered,"  were  the  ornaments  of  the  ducal  court  of  Ferrara. 

§  291.  The  descendants  of  Charles  of  Anjou  reigned  in  Naples,  which, 
since  the  fall  of  the  hous%  of  Hohenstaufen  (§  239,  240),  had  become  a 
papal  fief.  The  Guelfic  party  found  in  them  as  zealous  defenders,  as  the 
Ghibelline  in  the  kings  of  Sicily  of  the  princely  house  of  Aragon.  Two 
wicked  queens,  Joanna  I.  and  Joanna  IL,  filled  the  kingdom 
A.  D.  1343-  "^^th  acts  of  cruelty,  war,  and  confusion.  The  latter,  before 
1382.  her. childless  departure,  named,  first,  an  Aragonian,  and  after- 

Joanna  IL,       wards  a  French  prince,  for  her  heir,  and  by  this  means  pro- 
A.  D.  1414—     duced  two  parties,  a  French  and  an  Aragonian,  that  con- 
^'  tended  till  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  with  great  bitter- 

ness and  various  success,  for  the  possession  of  Naples,  till  Frederick  the 
Catholic  of  Aragon  at  length  gained  possession  of  it  by  craft 
and  the  success  of  his  arms,  and  again  united  it  with  Sicily. 
The  kingdom  of  Naples  and  Sicily  remained  subject  to  the  Spanish 
sceptre  for  two  hundred  years,  and  was  governed  by  a  vice-king.  In- 
crease of  taxation,  and  the  destruction  of  the  privileges  of  the  Estates, 
gradually  produced  poverty  and  loss  of  freedom. 

5.    THE   NEW    BURGUNDIAN   TERRITORY. 

Philip  the  ^  ^^^'  I*hilip  the  Bold  had  received  the  dukedom  of  Bur- 
Bold,  A.  D.  gundy  from  his  father,  king  John  of  France,  in  fief.  He 
1363-1404.  united  to  this,  by  inheritance  and  marriage,  the  Burgundian 
John  sans  Franche  Comte,  formerly  an  appanage  of  the  German  em- 
Peur,  A.  T).  pire,  and  the  rich  lands  of  Flanders,  together  with  Artois, 
1404-1419.  Mechlin,  Antwerp,  and  some  other  towns.     His  son,  Jolm 


BURGUNDY.  191 

sans  I*eur,  and  his  grandson,  Philip  the  Good,  extended  their  possessions 
Philip  the  ^^^^^  farther  over  the  other  states  of  the  Netherlands,  and 
GDod,  A.  D.  established  a  kingdom  that,  in  civilization,  industry,  and  pros- 
1419-1467.  perity,  could  vie  with  Italy.  Philip  the  Good  was  one  of  the 
most  powerful  and  richest  princes  of  his  time,  and  his  Netherland  chivalry 
were  distinguished  by  their  splendor,  adroitness,  and  polished  manners. 
The  wealthy  trading  and  manufacturing  towns  of  Ghent,  Brussels,  Ant- 
werp, Bruges,  Louvain,  &;c.,  possessed  great  privileges  and  liberties,  and 
a  warlike  militia. 

§  293.  Philip's  son,  Charles  the  Bold,  enlarged  the  dukedom  and  raised 
Charles  the  *^^^  Splendor  of  the  chivalrous  court  to  the  highest  point. 
Bold,  A.  D.  He  v/as  a  man  of  vigor,  courage,  and  warlike  spirit ;  but 
14G7— 1477.  ambition  and  violent  passions  rendered  him  rash,  insolent, 
and  obstinate.  His  efforts  were  directed  to  the  enlargement  of  his  duke- 
dom into  a  Gallo-Burgundian  kingdom,  with  the  Rhine  for  its  eastern 
boundary.  But  his  undertakings  were  frustrated  by  the  crafty  and  faith- 
less Louis  XI.  of  France.  For  when  Charles  the  Bold  threatened  the 
duke  of  Lorraine  (whose  lands  and  chief  city,  Nancy,  he  was  longing 
for),  with  war,  Louis  brought  about  an  alliance  between  Lorraine  and 
the  Swiss.  Hereupon,  Charles,  with  a  stately  and  splendidly  equipped 
army,  marched  across  the  Jura  against  the  Swiss,  but  suffered  such  a 
defeat  in  the  battle  of  Granson,  that  the  survivors  were  dis- 
persed in  disorderly  flight ;  and  the  admirable  artillery, 
together  with  a  magnificent  camp,  filled  with  costly  stuffs,  gold,  silver, 
and  precious  stones,  fell  into  the  hands  of  an  enemy  who  did  not  know 
their  value.  Maddened  by  this  disgrace,  Charles,  a  few  months  after- 
wards, marched  with  a  fresh  army  against  the  confederates.  But  the 
battle  of  Murten  ended  in  the  same  way  :  the  victors  were  again  enriched 
with  an  enormous  booty ;  Berne  wrested  the  Valais  from  the  ducal  house 
of  Savoy,  which  was  in  alliance  with  Burgundy,  and  the  duke  of  Lor- 
raine again  gained  possession  of  his  lands,  which  had  been  seized  upon 
by  Charles.  -  Misfortune  confused  the  mind  of  the  Burgundian  duke: 
blind  with  rage,  and  meditating  nothing  but  vengeance,  he  rejected  every 
proposal  of  accommodation,  and  marched  for  the  third  time  against  the 
enemy,  who  were  prepared  for  the  encounter.  But  in  January,  1477, 
his  army  suffered  a  third  frightful  overthrow  in  the  frozen  fields  before 
Nancy,  partly  by  the  swords  of  the  brave  Swiss,  Alsacians,  and  Lor- 
rainers,  and  partly  by  the  treachery  of  his  Itahan  condottieri.  Charles 
himself  was  killed  in  a  frozen  morass  during  the  flight. 

§  2^4.  After  the  death  of  Charles,  Louis  XL  seized  upon  the  proper 
dukedom  of   Burgundy   (Bourgogne),  as  a  vacant  fief   of   the  French 
crown,  and  attempted  to  get  possession  of  the  other  lands.     At  this  junc- 
^  ture,  Charles's  daughter,  Mary,  was  married  to  the  chival- 

rous   Maximilian  of  Austria,  who    overcame  the   Frencli. 


192  THE  HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

and  compelled  them  to  relinquish  their  purpose.  Mary  died  shortly  after* 
wards  by  a  fall  from  her  horse,  whilst  hawking.  The  French  king  again 
renewed  his  treacherous  intrigues  for  the  purpose  of  exciting  the  towns 
of  the  Netherlands  against  Maximilian,  who  had  been  appointed  guard- 
ian of  his  infant  son,  Philip  of  Burgundy.  Ghent  fell  off;  the  guilds  of 
Bruges  kept  him  for  some  time  a  prisoner ;  Brabant  wavered ;  but  never- 
theless, Maximilian,  by  his  courage  and  conduct,  brought  the  whole  of 
the  Netherlands  to  acknowledge  his  rights  of  guardianship.  Philip's 
Bon,  Charles  (V.),  who  was  born  to  him  by  the  Spanish  Joanna,  and  who 
was  born  in  the  beginning  of  the  century  at  Ghent,  inheri- 
ted all  the  lands  of  his  parents  and  grandparents.  Yet  his 
heart  w^as  with  the  rich,  cultivated,  and  industrious  Netherlands,  which 
he  had  united  into  a  whole  by  the  acquisition  of  Utrecht,  Gueldres,  and 
some  other  towns,  and  added  to  the  German  empire,  under  the  title  of 
the  Burgundian  Circle. 

6.    SCANDINAVIA. 

§  295.  After  the  daring  sea  expeditions  and  wanderings  of  the  Nor- 
mans and  Danes  (§  204,  206)  had  ceased,  an  enterprising  prince  was 
here  and  there  successful  in  raising  himself  above  the  other  heads  of 
tribes  (fylken  kings),  and  in  founding  a  kingdom  by  uniting  several 
tribes  (fylken)  together.  This  was  effected  in  Norway  by  Ilarald  Fair- 
A  D  875  ^^^^ '  ^^  Denmark,  by  Gorm  the  Old ;  and  in  Sweden,  by 

the  Ynglians.  But  it  was  with  reluctance  that  the  warlike 
Norman  chiefs  bowed  beneath  the  authority  of  a  supreme 
king,  and  many  of  the  discontented  renewed  the  expeditions  by  sea,  and 
sought  for  a  new  liome  abroad.  Thus,  Polio  (Robert)  in  Normandy 
(§  205).  The  contests  of  the  kings  with  the  chiefs  of  the  tribes  lasted 
for  many  centuries,  and  impeded  the  rapid  and  effectual  introduction  of 
Christianity  into  the  Scandinavian  kingdoms.  For  although  the  Gospel 
had  been  preached  in  the  three  kingdoms  as  early  as  the  ninth  century, 
by  Ansgar,  the  "  Apostle  of  the  North,"  and  single  kings,  as  Harald 
Bluetooth  in  Denmark,  and  Olaf  Skotkonung  in  Sweden,  had  been  con- 
verted to  it  as  early  as  the  tenth  centiiry,  yet  the  pagan  worship  of  Odin 
still  wrestled  with  Christianity  for  the  mastership,  for  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years.  In  Denmark,  Harald's  grandson,  Canute  the 
*■"'''■  Great  (§  207),  and  in  Norway,  Olaf  the  Saint,  gave  the  vic- 
tory to  the  doctrine  of  a  crucified  Saviour  ;  but  this  did  not  take  place  in 
Sweden  till  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  in  the  reign  of  Eric  the 
Pious,  and  not  till  even  later  than  this  among  the  half-savage  Fins. 
Christianity  produced  the  most  beneficial  effects  in  the  Scfindinavian 
kingdoms.  The  Benedictine  monks  not  only  laid  the  germ  of  spiritual 
development,  but  they  also  improved  the  manner  of  living,  and  made  the 
people  acquainted  with  the  advantages  of  civilization.     They  introduced 


I 


SCAXDINAYIA.  193 

the  art  of  writing,  and  banished  the  rude  and  defective  Runic  characters 
by  the  Latin  alphabet;  thej  encouraged  agriculture  and  planted  new 
kinds  of  corn ;  thej  built  mills,  opened  mines,  and  accustomed  the  war- 
like people  to  the  arts  of  peace,  to  trade  and  agriculture.  Christianity 
diminished  the  vast  gulf  that  had  hitherto  existed  between  freemen  and 
slaves,  by  awakening  in  every  breast  the  sentiments  of  the  dignity  of 
human  nature,  and  the  equality  of  all  men  in  the  sight  of  God.  The 
clerg}%  moreover,  obtained  great  wealth,  privileges,  and  possessions,  so 
that  they  could  place  themselves  on  terms  of  equality  by  the  side  of  the 
freeholders  of  land.  But  the  peasant  class,  on  the  other  hand,  remained 
in  a  state  of  dependence,  and  the  towns  arrived  at  neither  prosperity  nor 
importance. 

§  29G.  Denmark,  to  which  Norway  was  united,  acquired  a  great  extent 
Waldeiriar  H.  ^"  ^^^^  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  under  a  few  warlike 
A.  D.  1202  -  kings.  AValdemar  II.,  the  Conqueror,  prosecuted  tlie  con- 
^^'*^'  quests  of  his  father  and  grandfather  on  the  coasts  of  the  Baltic 

with  such  success,  that  he  at  last  united  all  the  Slavic  lands  on  the 
south  and  east  coasts  of  the  Baltic,  from  Ilolstein  to  Esthonia,  —  Lauen- 
burg,  Mecklenburg,  Pomerania,  a  part  of  Prussia,  the  coast  land  of 
Courland,  Livonia,  and  Esthonia,  with  his  other  possessions,  and  could 
call  himself  king  of  the  Danes  and  Slavi,  and  lord  of  Nordalbingia 
(Sleswick-Holstein).  But  his  severity  engendered  hate  and  bitterness  ; 
60  that  when,  whilst  engaged  in  the  chase,  he  fell  into  the  power  of  count 
Henry  of  Schwerin,  whom  he  had  deeply  injured,  and  was  kept  prisoner 
by  him  for  more  than  two  years  in  the  stronp^  castle  of  Dan- 

A   D    1227  JO 

neberg;  the  princes  who  were  his  vassals  revolted  from  him 
and  maintained  their  independence  with  the  sword ;  so  that,  in  a  short 
time,  the  proud  fabric  of  Waldemar  fell  to  the  ground.  Hamburg  and 
Lubeck  became  free  imperial  towns;  the  present  republic  of  the  Dit- 
niarsens  regained  its  independence,  and  the  German  provinces  returned  to 
the  government  of  the  emperor.  After  Waldemar  II.'s  death,  there  oc- 
curred a  time  of  internal  confusion,  which  was  taken  advantage  of  by 
the  aristocracy  of  nobles  to  increase  their  privileges.  In  addition  to 
Waldemar  III.  their  freedom  from  taxes,  the  holders  of  land  now  obtained  a 
A.  D.  1340-  jurisdiction  peculiar  to  themselves.  TValdemar  HI.  again 
1375.  governed  with  a  firm  hand  :  his  daughter,  Margareta,  united 

A.  D.  1397.       ^^^^  three  Scandinavian  kingdoms  under  one  sceptre,  by  the 
Union  of  Calmar. 
§  297.  In  Sweden  also,  the  power  of  the  kings  had  been  much  dimin- 
ished, and  that  of  the  chivalrous  nobility  increased,  by  the  protracted 
contests  for  the  crown.     Even  the  powerful  family  of  the  Folkungs, 
which  had  ascended  the  throne  about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, succumbed  in  a  few  generations  to  the  strokes  of  fate  which  smote 
all  the  princely  houses  of  Sweden.     Of  the  seven  kings  of  this  royal 
17 


194  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGE. 

house,  five  were  dethroned,  and  died  either  in  prison  or  banishmenti 
After  the  deposition  of  the  last  Folkung,  Magnus  II.,  the 
Swedish  throne  descended  upon  his  sister's  son,  Albert  of 
Mecklenburg,  who,  however,  after  a  few  years,  was  conquered  and  robbed 
of  kis  kingdom  by  the  Danish  Margareta;  whereupon  Swe- 
den concluded  the  Union  of  Calmar  with  Denmark. 
This  Union  of  Calmar  proved  a  blessing  to  neither  of  the  three  king- 
doms.    In  Denmark  and  Norway,  under  the  weak  kings  who  succeeded 
Margareta,  the  power  of  the  state  fell  more  and  more  into  the  hands  of 
the  rich  nobles,  whilst  Sweden  was  treated  and  governed  by  the  Danish 
kings  almost  as  though  it  were  a  conquered  country.     Dissension  soon 
loosened  the  bonds  of  the  Union  of  Calmar,  without,  however,  tearing 
them  completely  asunder.     The  Hanseates,  who  sought  to  "prevent  a  firm 
union  of  the  three  kingdoms  by  every  possible  method,  encouraged  these 

^,  .  .  _  divisions  from  interested  motives.  The  house  of  Oldenburc' 
Christian  I.,  /^    t-.  i      •        i  5 

A.  D.  1448-     assumed   the   government   of  Denmark,  m  the  person  ot 

1481.  Christian  I.     Sweden,  also,  at  the  same  time,  obtained  a 

Steno  Sture      sagacious  and  valiant  ruler  in  Steno   Sture.     This  prince 

A.  D.  1471-     curbed  the  insolence  of  the  nobles,  elevated  the  peasant  and 

^^^^'  burgher  classes,  founded  the  university  of  Upsala,  and  invited 

men  of  learning  and  printers  from  foreign  lands  into  the  country.     Steno 

Sture  governed  the  kingdom  with  almost  absolute  power ;  but  when  his 

second  successor,  Steno  Sture  the  younger,  quarrelled  with  the  archbishop 

of  Upsala,  the  tyrannical  Christian  II.  succeeded,  by  the  aid  of  the  latter, 

in  establishing  anew  the  supremacy  of  Denmark  over  Sweden.     Steno 

Sture  was  overcome  in  the   field    and  mortally  wounded, 

whereupon  Christian  11.  commanded  ninety-four  of  the  most 

influential  and  powerful  persons  to  be  beheaded  in  Stockholm.     But  this' 

cruelty,  after  a  few  years,  dissolved  forever  the  bonds  between  Denmark 

and  Sweden. 

7.   HUNGARY. 

§  298.  Shortly  after  Otho's  victory  on  the  Lechfeld  (§  210) 
had  put  an  end  to  the  incursions  of  the  Plungarians,  Geisa 
became  a  convert  to  Christianity,  and  ordered  the  doctrines  of  the  Gos- 
pel to  be  taught  to  his  own  people  by  German  missionaries.  What  he 
Stephen  the  ^^gan  was  brought  to  a  conclusion  by  his  son,  Stephen  the 
Pious,  Pious,  who  received  the  kingly  dignity  from  the  pope.     He 

A.  D.  1000.  provided  for  the  diffusion  of  Christianity,  (to  which  the  Mag- 
gyars,  partly  from  inherent  barbarism,  an^  partly  from  dislike  of  the 
Germans,  were  averse,)  by  founding  monasteries,  and  calling  the  Bene- 
dictine monks  into  the  country ;  he  reduced  the  state  to  order  by  dividing 
the  kingdom  into  comitates  (shires),  and  by  intrusting  the  management 
of  the  affairs  of  the  army,  the  government,  and  the  administration  of 


o 
C 
A.  D.  1520. 


mns^GARY  195 

justice,  to  intendants  appointed  by  himself:  he  became  a  legislator,  inas- 
much as  he  accustomed  his  subjects  to  civil  order,  agriculture,  and  indus- 
try. But  the  warlike  character  of  the  Magyars,  and  their  repugnance  to 
the  Christian  worship  of  the  West,  which  brought  servitude,  soccage 
duties,  and  the  troublesome  labors  of  agriculture  with  it,  in  place  of  the 
old  wild  freedom,  occasioned  desolating  wars  and  fresh  confusion  after 
the  death  of  Stephen. 

GeisaH.,  Under   Geisa  II.,  troops  of  Flemish  and  Low-German 

A.  D.  1150.  settlers  established  themselves  in  Transylvania,  who,  under 
the  name  of  Saxons,  retain  to  this  day  the  manners,  customs,  and  institu- 
tions of  their  fatherland.  By  patience  and  industry,  they  have  con- 
verted the  land  from  a  desert  into  a  blooming  region,  with  rich  towns 
and  prosperous  villages,  and  have  vigorously  defended  their  liberties 
against  all  attacks.  In  the  thirteenth  century,  the  Hungarian  nobles 
(magnates)  wrested  a  charter  ("  the  golden  privilege")  from 
the  king,  Andreas  II.,  which  secured  important  privileges  to 
the  clergy  and  nobility,  and,  like  the  Magna  Charta  of  England  (§  276), 
formed  the  foundation  of  the  free  constitution  of  Hungary.  An  infringe- 
ment of  the  "  golden  privilege "  by  the  king  justified  the  nobles  in  an 
armed  opposition. 

§  299.  When  the  royal  hous^f  Arpad  was  extinguished  by  the  death 
Louis  the  ^^  Andreas  IH.,  Hungary  became  an  elective  kingdom. 
Great,  a.  d.  Hereupon,  Louis  the  Great,  of  the  royal  Neapolitan  house 
1342-1348.  Qf  Anjou,  was  raised  to  the  throne.  Under  this  distinguished 
king,  Hungary  reached  the  highest  point  of  its  external  power  and  domes- 
tic prosperity.  He  obtained  the  crown  of  Poland,  extended  the  frontiers 
of  Hungary  to  the  Lower  Danube,  and  made  the  Venetians  his  tribu- 
taries. The  hills  around  Tokay  were  planted  with  vines,  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice  was  improved,  the  citizens  and  peasants  were  secured 
against  oppression  and  arbitrary  treatment ;  schools  for  education  wero 
established.  After  the  death  of  Louis,  who  conducted  many  wars  in 
Italy,  long  and  violent  contests  were  carried  on  for  the  throne,  at  the  ter- 
mination of  which,  the  German  emperor,  Sigismond,  united  the  Hunga- 
rian crown  with  his  others,  and  arranged  the  representation  of  the  king- 
dom by  means  of  'Estates.  Under  the  weak  successors  of  his  daughter, 
Hungary  would  have  fallen  a  prey  to  the  Ottoman  Turks,  had  not  the 
heroic  Huniades  saved  the  land  by  his  valor  and  military  skill.  The 
nation,  out  of  gratitude,  conferred  the  throne  of  Hungary  upon  his  ener- 
Matthias  Ck)r-  S^^^^  ^o"j  Matthias  Corvinus,  who  occupied  it  for  thirty-two 
vinus,  A.  D.  years,  as  the  worthy  successor  of  Stephen  the  Pious  and 
1458-1490.  Louis  the  Great.  Matthias  shone  in  the  arts  of  peace  as 
well  as  in  those  of  war.  He  held  the  power  of  the  Ottomans  in  check, 
enlarged  his  territories  towards  Austria  and  Germany,  and  improved 
the  affairs  of  the  army.     A  new  university  was  founded  by  him  in  Buda, 


196  THE    HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

a  library  established,  and  the  civilization  of  the  people  promoted  by  the 
introduction  from  all  quarters  of  men  of  learning  and  artists,  printers  and 
architects,  gardeners,  persons  skilled  in  agriculture,  and  artificers.  These 
advantages  were  again  lost  under  his  successors.  The  Turks  carried 
their  victorious  arms  over  Belgrade,  the  western  acquisitions  were  sur- 
rendered by  treaties  of  peace ;  at  the  same  time,  the  royal  power  was  so 
curtailed,  that  henceforth,  not  only  the  levying  of  taxes,  but  even  war 
and  peace  were  dependent  upon  the  National  Diet,  and  at  length,  the 
magnates  took  possession  of  the  whole  authority  for  themselves.  The 
fall  of  Louis  11.  at  Mohacs  (§  307)  occasioned  a  contest  for 

A.  D.  1526.  ,  ,  T        n       1  •   1  1  1 

the  crown,  the  result  ot  which  was,  that  the  country  was 
divided  into  two  halves :  Transylvania  and  East  Hungary,  as  far  as  the 
Theiss,  which  was  under  the  dominion  of  the  Turks  ;  and  West  Hungary, 
which  Ferdinand  of  Austria  incorporated  for  some  time  with  his  other 
dominions,  till  the  whole  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  successors. 

*  8.    POLAND. 

§  300.  The  vast  plains  of  the  Vistula  and  the  lands  on  the  Oder  and 
the  Wartha  were  inhabited  by  Slavonic  tribes,  who  were  sometimes 
governed  by  a  single  chief,  and  sometimes  divided  into  several  princi- 
palities. From  the  time  of  the  conver^ipn  of  duke  Miesco  (Mieceslav) 
to  Christianity  by  German  missionaries,  Poland  was  looked  upon  as 
a  fief  of  the  German  empire,  but  was  very  slightly  connected  with  itj 
and  in  the  time  of  Frederick  H.  rendered  itself  entirely  independent. 
The  kingdom  of  Poland  was  torn  and  weakened  by  many  divisions, 
so  that,  in  the  twelfth  century,  the  Silesian  principality  on  the  Oder 
was  entirely  dissevered  from  it,  and  united  with  Germany.  Poland 
Viadislaus  ^^^st  rose  to  importance  in  the  fourteenth  century,  when 
IV.,  A.  D.  1320.  Viadislaus  IV.  permanently  united  the  principalities  on  the 
"Wartha  (Posen,  &c.),  as  Great  Poland,  with  the  lands  on  the  Vistula 
(Little  Poland)  ;  had  himself  crowned  in  Cracow,  and  transmitted  the 
Casimir  the  ^^^^^  ^^  ^mg  to  his  posterity.  His  son,  Casimir  the  Great, 
Great,  A.  D.  who  extended  his  domains  over  Gallicia  and  Eed  Russia, 
1333  -  1370.  ^jj(j  built  a  university  in  Cracow,  also  deserved  well  of  Po- 
land by  his  merits  as  a  legislator.  But  despite  his'  efforts  to  diminish 
the  power  of  the  nobility  and  to  increase  that  of  the  cities,  no  free  bur- 
gher class  could  flourish  in  a  nation  so  addicted  to  war  and  so  deficient 
in  civilization.  The  dominion  that  rested  on  the  sword  still  remained 
with  the  nobles, — money,  retail  traffic,  and  trade,  with  the  Jews;  the 
peasant  led  a  wretched  life  as  a  serf,  and  won  but  a  miserable  support 
from  the  fertile  corn-fields  of  the  Vistula. 

§301.  With  Casimir,  the  male  line  of  the  Piasti  became  extinct; 
whereupon,  the  Poles  transferred  the  crown  to  his  sister's  son,  Louis  the 
Great  of  Hungary.     From  this  time  forth,  Poland  became  an  elective 


THE  RUSSIAN   EMPIRE.  197 

kingdom ;  the  nation,  nevertheless,  adhered  for  two  hundred  years  to  the 

Louis  the         race  of  the  Jagellons,  which,  however,  was  obhged  to  grant 

Great,  a.  d.     i\^q  nobles   an  immunity  from  taxes  and  other  great  privi- 

1?/^'  ,  '  leores  in  return  for  its  election.  Under  the  first  king  of  this 
TheJagel  °  .  . 

Ions  A.  D.        race,  Jagello  (Vladislaus),  Lithuania  was  added, to  the  Polish 

1386-1572.  empire,  after  Christianity  had  been  established  and  the 
idols  overthrown  there.  The  woolen  garments  that  were  distributed 
during  baptism  attracted  thousands  of  half-willing  Lithuanians  to  the 
Casimir  IV.  "Gw  faith.  Jagello's  second  successor,  Casimir  IV.,  induced 
A.D.  1447-  the  German  orders  to  relinquish  Culm,  Elbing,  and  Marien- 
1492.  werder,  and  to  recognize  the  suzerainship  of  Poland;  in  doing 

which,  he  was  obliged  to  purchase  by  fresh  concessions  the  aid  of  the 
nobles,  who,  in  the  Polish  diet,  alone  possessed  the  privilege  of  con- 
senting to  the  raising  of  taxes  and  the  levying  of  troops.  That  every 
noble  might  not  always  be  obliged  to  appear  personally  at  the  Diet,  it  was 
arranged  that  a  certain  number  of  autliorized  deputies  should  be  sent 
from  all  the  Voiwodeschafts,  to  whom  tlic  king  added  besides  a  few  re- 
presentatives of  the  clergy  and  of  the  higher  otficials.  Without  the  con- 
sent of  this  assembly,  to  which  the  burgher  class  was  not  admitted,  the 
king  could  adopt  no  measure,  either  of  taxation  or  legislation,  nor  take 
any  important  step  in  tlie  government  or  in  the  conduct  of  war.  The 
nobles  were  regarded  as  the  only  true  citizens  of  the  state  :  and  the 
principle  that  they  were  all  exactly  on  an  equality,  raised  their  power  in 
the  same  proportion  that  frequent  changes  of  the  throne  and  wars  of 
succession  depressed  that  of  the  king. 

In  the  century  of  the  Reformation,  king  Sigismond  established  the 
suzerainship  of  Poland  over  the  dukedom  of  Prussia,  which  had  been 
recently  founded  by  the  grand  master  of  the  German  Order,  Albert  of 
Brandenburg,  who  was  a  convert  to  Lutheranism,  and  enfeoffed  Gotthard 
Keltler,  chief  commander  of  the  Order  of  the  Sword,  who  had  also  gone 
over  to  Protestantism,  with  Courland  :  but  owing  to  the  selfishness  of 
the  nobles  and  internal  dissensions,  the  Polish  kingdom  was  unable,  for  a 
permanency,  to  afford  any  sufficient  opposition  to  the  advance  of  the 
Turks  and  Russians. 

9.    THE    RUSSIAN    EMPIRE. 

§  302.  When  the  great  grandson  of  the  Varangian  chief,  Ruric  (§  206), 
Vladimir  tlie  ^l^tiiii^ii'  the  Great,  who  held  his  residence  in  Kiow,  intro- 
Great,  duced  the  Greek  Christian  Church  into  his  dominions,  the 

A.D.  1000-  latter  extended  from  the  Dnieper  to  the  lake  of  Ladoga  and 
to  the  banks  of  the  Dwina.  But  they  suffered  so  much  in  their  union 
and  strength  under  his  successors,  by  divisions  among  heirs  and  internal 
A.  D.  1237.  wars,  that  the  Lithuanians,  Poles,  and  Brethren  of  the  Sword, 
&c.,  in  the  West,  gained  possession  of  large  portions  of  terri- 
17* 


198  THE   HISTOEY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

torj,  and  at  length,  the  Moguls  conquered  all  the  land  from  the  Dniepei 
to  the  Vistula,  and  made  Russia  tributary.  The  great  khan  of  the  Golden 
Horde  of  Kaptschak,  whose  residence,  and  fixed  quarters  were  on  tha 
east  bank  of  the  Volga,  exacted,  during  two  hundred  years,  an  oppressive 
tribute  from  the  Russian  princes  and  their  subjects.  It  was  not  until  the 
power  of  the  Golden  Horde  had  been  broken  by  dissension,  that  the  chief 
Ivan  Vasily-  P^i^^e,  Ivan  Vasilyevitsch  the  Great  of  Moscow,  succeeded 
e^ntsch,  A.  u.  in*  freeing  his  kingdom  from  tribute,  and  in  extending  it  in 
1462-1505.  all  directions  by  successful  wars.  The  rich  city  of  Novo- 
gorod,  which  belonged  to  the  Hanseatic  confederation,  and  which  had 
possessed,  for  centuries,  a  republican  constitution,  and  had  known  how  to 
defend  its  liberties  by  a  stout  militia,  was  subjected  and  robbed  of  its 
privileges,  and  a  number  of  its  chief  citizens  were  removed  to  other 
towns.  Ivan  was  not  only  a  conqueror,  but  a  legislator  and  politician, 
although  in  mind  and  manners  he  remained  a  rude  and  cruel  barbarian. 
He  adopted  measures  respecting  the  succession  of  the  throne,  to  the  end 
that  the  kingdom  might  not  be  farther  divided ;  and  he  invited  masons 
and  mechanics  from  Germany  and  Italy,  to  plant  the  seeds  of  civilization 
among  his  barbarous  people.  He  built  the  Kremlin  (citadel)  for  the  de- 
fence of  his  chief  city,  Moscow. 

Since  the  destruction  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks,  the  Russian 
metropolitan  (afterwards  called  Patriarch)  had  been  elected  by  the  native 
bishops,  and  thus  the  independence  of  the  church  maintained.     Ivan*s 

-      ,^   .,        erandson,  Ivan  Vasilyevitsch,  who  first  assumed  the  title  of 

Ivan  Vasily-     »  ^  j  ■> 

evitschlL        Tzar,  or  ruler  of  all  the   Russians,  conquered  Kasan  and 

^-  ^'  Astracan,  extended  his  kingdom  to  the  Caucasus,  and  made 

preparations  for  the  discovery  and  subjection  of  Siberia.    He 

laid  the  foundation  of  a  standing  army  by  the  establishment  of  the  bri- 
gade of  arquebusiers  (Strelitzes).  The  male  line  of  Ruric 
became  extinct  with  Ivan's  son,  Feodor. 

10.   MOGULS    AND    TURKS. 

Zengis-Klian,  §  303.  In  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  Zengis- 
A.  D.  1227.  Khan  (Temudschin),  the  chief  of  a  warlike  nomadic  horde, 
marched  forth  to  conquest  from  the  elevated  plains  of  Middle  Asia.  He 
scaled  the  Chinese  wall  and  subdued  the  "  celestial  empire."  Neither 
Hindostan,  nor  the  vast  empire  of  the  Carismans  on  the  Caspian  Sea  and 
in  Persia,  could  withstand  the  savage  strength  of  this  advancing  pastoral 
tribe.  Bochara,  Samarcand,  and  Balch,  with  all  their  treasures  of  art 
and  science,  perished  in  the  flames.  Zengis-Khan's  sons  and  grandsons 
pursued  his  conquests.  Batu  subdued  the  lands  to  the  north  of  the  Black 
Sea,  made  Russia  tributary,  burnt  Cracow,  and  filled  Poland  and  Hun- 
gary with  slaughter  and  desolation.  At  length,  the  Moguls  (who  arg 
also  called  Tatars)  crossed   the  Oder ;    Breslau  was  reduced  to  ashes, 


MOGULS  AND   TURKS.  199 

duke  Henry  of  Lower  Silesia  fell,  with  the  flower  of  his  Christian  war- 
riors, on  the  field  of  battle  near  Leignitz,  beneath  the  blows  of  the  pagan 
nomads;  the  people  took  refuge  in  the  mountains;  the  whole  West 
trembled ;  the  pope  and  the  emperor,  engaged  in  a  furious  quarrel 
(§  236),  did  nothing  towards  aiding  Christendom.  Happily  the  enemy 
proceeded  no  farther.  The  bravery  of  the  European  warriors  and  the 
strength  of  their  castles  scared  them  away.  They  turned  back  from  a 
land  where  there  were  no  riches  to  attract  them,  and  carried  their  arms 
against  the  luxurious  khalifate  of  Bagdad,  for  which  they  prepared  a 
bloody  end.  After  the  last  khalif,  with  200,000  Moslems  had  fallen,  and 
the  ancient  seat  of  the  empire  of  the  Abassides  had  been  plundered  for 
forty  days,  the  Tatars  pressed  forward  upon  Syria,  where  they  destroyed 
the  magnificent  Haleb  (Aleppo)  and  Damascus,  and  trampled  the  Chris- 
tian and  Arabian  culture  under  the  hoofs  of  their  horses.  In  a  few  gene- 
rations, the  empire  of  the  Moguls  separated  into  a  number  of  independent 
states.  But  the  Russians  on  the  east  of  the  Volga  still  bore  for  more 
than  two  centuries  the  yoke  of  the  **  Golden  Horde,"  and  Hungary  and 
Poland  recovered  but  slowly  from  their  devastations. 

^Jk)4.  Towards  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the  Ottomans, 
pressed  upon  by  the  Moguls,  left  the  region  they  had  hitherto  occupied, 
on  the  east^coast  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  descended  upon  Asia  Minor. 
They  were  a  warlike,  nomadic  race,  professing  the  Mahommedan  reli- 
gion, and  incited  by  their  priests  (dervishes)  to  make  war  upon  the 
Christians.  Othman  marched  into  Bithynia,  chose  Prusa 
(Bursa)  for  the  seat  of  his  empire,  and  maintained  his  con- 
quests against  the  indolent  Greeks  and  their  western  mercenaries.  His 
successors  improved  their  army  by  forming  the  strongest  and  handsomest 
youths,  whom  they  selected  from  their  Christian  captives,  into  an  efiective 
Amuratlil.  infantry  (janissaries),  by  means  of  a  military  education. 
A-  D-  After  Amurath  I.  had  reduced  the  whole  of  Asia  Minor 

under  his  yoke,  he  passed  into  Europe,  and  subjected,  in  a 
few  campaigns,  the  whole  country  between  the  Hellespont  and  the 
Haemu3.  Adrianople  was  taken,  embellished  with  splendid  mosques,  and 
selected  for  the  seat  of  Amurath's  government.  His  son,  the  energetic 
but  cruel  Bajazet,  continued  the  victorious  course  of  his  predecessor  with 
Bajazet,  ^^^^  success,  that  he  was  called  the  "  lightning."     He  con- 

A.  D.  quered  Macedonia  and  Thessaly,  penetrated  through  Ther- 

3  9-1403.  mopylae  into  the  desolated  Greece  and  Peloponnesus,  took 
Argos  by  storm,  and  allowed  his  swift  horsemen  to  wander  to  the  south- 
ernmost point  of  the  ancient  Laconia.  At  length,  the  West  armed  itself 
against  this  terrible  enemy.  Sigismond  of  Hungary,  John  of  Burgundy, 
the  flower  of  the  French  chivalry,  and  many  German  and  Bohemian 
nobles,  together  more  than  100,000  strong,  marched  to  the  Lower  Danube, 
But  in  the  bloody  battle  of  Nicopolis,  the  Christians,  despite  their  valor, 


200  THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   MIDDLE   AGE. 

Buffered  a  great  defeat.  Many  counts  and  knights  full  into  tlie  hands  of 
the  Turks,  and  only  obtained  their  liberty  by  a  heavy  ransom.  10,000 
prisoners  of  inferior  rank  were  put  to  death  by  the  order  of  Bajazet. 

§  305.  The  victorious  course  of  this  mighty  prince  was  checked  by  an 
enemy  who  trod  a  more  vast  and  bloodier  path  than  himself.  This  enemy 
was  the  Mogul  ruler,  Timour  the  Lame  (Tamerlane),  a  descendant  of 
Zengis-Khan,  whose  dilapidated  kingdom  he  determined  to  restore.  He 
left  Samarcand,  the  charmingly  situated  seat  of  iiis  empire,  at  the  head 
of  his  warlike  pastoral  tribes,  for  the  purpose  of  subjecting  every  nation 
between  the  wall  of  China  and  tie  Mediterranean,  by  the  edge  of  the 
sword.  After  he  had  marched  triumphantly  through  India  and  Persia, 
and  destroyed  Bagdad  and  Damascus,  he  filled  Asia  Minor  with  desola- 
tion and  terror.  Smoke,  ruins,  and  hills  of  slain  marked  his  victorious 
path.  At  this  point,  Bajazet  relinquished  the  siege  of  Constantinople, 
and  marched  against  the  conqueror  of  the  world.  A  fearful 
battle  was  fought  near  Angora  (Ancyra),  which,  despite  the 
valor  and  conduct  of  the  Turks,  terminated  to  the  advantage  of  the 
Moguls.  Bajazet  was  taken  prisoner,  and  died  the  following  year  of 
grief.  Timour's  empire  fell  to  pieces  as  rapidly  as  it  had  been  formed. 
Arauratlill.  §  ^^^'  I^ajazet's  grandson,  Amurath  II.,  restored  the  shat- 

A.  D.  1421-  tered  Ottoman  kingdom  to  its  ancient  strength  and  former 
1451.  compass  in  Asia  and  Europe.     He  reduced  the  Byzantine 

empire  to  the  strong  chief  city  and  a  few  neighboring  places,  and  made  it 
tributary.  At  this  juncture,  John  VII.  (Paloeologus),  determined  to 
gain  the  aid  of  the  West,  by  uniting  the  Eastern  church  with  the  Roman. 
With  this  object,  he  proceeded  to  Italy,  accompanied  by  the  Patriarch 
and  a  few  bishops,  where,  after  a  long  and  vehement  dispute  upon 
certain  religious  and  ecclesiastical  questions,  an  ambiguous  union  was 
effected,  which,  however,  was  rejected  by  the  zealous  confessors  of  both 
churches,  and  the  division  made  greater  than  before.  Nevertheless,  the 
composition  w^as  attended  with  this  result,  that  the  pope,  by  his  legate, 
Julian,  united  the  Christian  princes  in  a  campaign  against  the  Turks, 
and  in  the  mean  while,  attempted  to  persuade  the  Hungarians  and  Poles 
to  an  attack  upon  the  Ottoman  empire.  Ladislaus,  king  of  Hungary  and 
Poland,  and  the  heroic  Huniades  of  Transylvania,  crossed  the  Danube, 
but  were  totally   defeated  in  the  bloody  battle  of  Warna. 

A.  D.  1444. 

The  young  king  was  one  of  the  slain ;  his  head  was  carried 
about  on  a  spear ;  the  legate,  Julian,  was  overtaken  by  death  during  the 
flight. 

§  307.  The  last  hour  of  the  Byzantine  empire  was  approaching,  when, 
upon  the  death  of  Amurath  II.,  his  energetic  but  bloodthirsty  son, 
Mohammed  Mohammed  II.,  became  sultan  of  the  Ottomans.  Resolved 
II.,  A.  D.  upon  making  Constantinople  the  seat  of  his  government,  he 

1451-1481.      advanced  to  the  siege  of  the  city,  and  harrassed  it  for  fifty 


MOGULS  AND   TURKS.  201 

days  by  repeated  assaults  to  such  a  degree,  that,  despite  a  gallant  defence, 
it  could  hold  out  no  longer.  When  the  walls  were  scaled,  the  last  empe- 
ror, Constantine,  who  still  possessed  some  feeling  for  the  old  Roman 
greatness — for  freedom,  for  religion,  and  for  his  country, — joined  in  the 
comhat,  and  fell  bravely  fighting  on  the  walls  of  his  capital.  The  ancient 
Beat  of  Byzantine  magnificence  became  the  residence  of  the  sultan.  The 
church  of  St.  Sophia  was  turned  into  a  mosque,  and  the  half-moon  of 
Islam  was  planted  on  the  ruins  of  Christian  civilization.  Many  learned 
men  fled  in  terror  to  the  West,  and  were  instrumental  in  diffusing  the 
Greek  language  and  literature.  The  fall  orConstantinople  was  followed 
by  the  conquest  of  Greece  and  the  Morea  (Peloponnesus),  and  the  sub- 
jection of  the  countries  on  the  Danube ;  it  was  only  in  the  mountainous 
regions  of  Albania  and  Epirus,  that  the  warlike  hero,  Alexander  Castriota 
A.  D.  1467.  (Scanderbeg),  maintained  an  independent  authority  till  his 
death,  whilst  the  independence  of  Hungary  was  secured  by 
Maff^ficent  ^^®  victory  of  Huniades  at  Belgrade.  But  under  Solyman 
A. D.  1520-  the  Magnificent,  who  wrested  the  island  of  Rhodes  (§  227) 
1606.  from  the  knights  of  St.  John,  after  a  most  gallant  resistance, 

the  half  of  Hungary,  together  with  Buda,  fell,  after  the  terrible  battle  of 
JMohacs,  into  the  bands  of  the  Ottomans,  who  now  extended 
their  ravages  to  the  walls  of  Vienna,  and  alarmed  the  whole 
West.     It  was  under  Solyman  that  the  Turkish  empire  attained  its  most 
extended  limits  and  its  greatest  internal  strength.     In  Asia,  it  embraced 
Syria  and  the  whofc  country  as  far  as  the  Tigris ;  in  Africa,  Egypt,  with 
the  sea-coast,  and  the  piratical  states  of  Algiers,  Tunis,  and  Tripolis. 
,^  ^        After  Solyman,  who  died  at  an  advanced  age  before  Si^reth, 

A.  D.  1566.  ./  '  o  o        ' 

in  Hungary,  (in  defence  of  which  the  magnanimous  Zriny 
met  with  the  death  of  a  hero),  the  warlike  power  of  the  Turks  gradually 
decayed  under  the  exhausting  influence  of  debauchery  and  sensual  indul- 
gence. 


BOOK     THIRD. 

THE  MODERN   EPOCH. 


^     < 


1.  THE  EORERUNNEES  OF  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 

1.   THE    SEA   PASSAGE    TO    THE    EAST   INDIES,  AND    THE    DISCOVERT    OH 

AMERICA. 

§  308.  In  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  many  great  inven- 
tions began  to  be  applied,  by  which  the  condition  of  the  middle  ages 
experienced  a  complete  revolution.  An  Italian,  Flavio  Gioja,  prepared 
a  compass  by  means  of  the  magnetic  needle,  by  which  a  mighty  impulse 
was  given  to  navigation  ;  gunpowder,  which,  according  to  some,  was  the 
invention  of  a  German  monk,  Berthold  Schwarz,  and  in  the  opinion  of 
others,  had  been  known  at  a  remote  period  by  the  Chinese  and  Arabians, 
came  into  use  in  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  prepared  the 
downfall  of  chivalry.  But  the  invention  w^hich  was  most 
fertile  in  results  was  the  art  of  printing,  which  was  called 
into  existence  by  John  Guttenburg  of  Mayence.  His  assistants  in  the 
work,  who  alone  derived  any  advantage  from  the  discovery,  were  Fust  or 
Faust,  a  goldsmith  of  Mayence,  and  Peter  SchoefTer,  a  writer  of  books. 
The  latter  introduced  types  of  metal  in  place  of  the  wooden  ones  which 
Guttenburg  had  employed.  At  first,  the  art  was  kept  secret ;  but  it  was 
carried  by  German  workmen  into  all  the  countries  of  civilized  Europe. 
By  this  means,  books,  which  had  hitherto  been  only  attainable  by  the 
rich,  came  into  the  hands  of  the  people,  inasmuch  as  their  cost  was  ma- 
terially lessened  by  the  ease  with  which  they  were  multiplied. 

§  309.  By  the  use  of  the  compass,  it  became  possible  to  extend 
navigation,  which  had  hitherto  been  confined  to  the  coast  and  the  Medi- 
terranean, over  the  ocean.  This  was  first  done  by  the  Portuguese.  The 
discovery  of  the  islands  of  Porto  Santo  and  Madeira,  where  the  culture 
of  the  vine  and  sugar-cane  succeeded  admirably,  was  soon  followed  by  the 
possession  of  the  Azores  and  by  the  discovery  of  the  Cape  de  Verd  and 


MARITIME   DISCOVERIES.  203 

the  coast  of  Upper  Guinea,  rich  in  gold  dust,  ivory,  gum,  and  Necrro 
slaves.  Lower  Guinea  (Congo)  was  also  discovered  in  the  reign  of  king 
John  II.  It  was  from  this  point  that  the  daring  Bartholo- 
mew Dias  reached  the  southern  extremity  of  Africa,  the 
original  name  of  ,^iefa,  "  the  Cape  of  Storms,"  was  soon  changed  by  the 
ganguine  king>.irit^Wlt  of  "the  Cape  of  Good  Hope."  Eleven  years 
afterwards  (14:9Y)i^BPinterprising  Vasco  da  Gama  discovered  from  this 
point,  in  the  reig^^f  Emmanuel  the  Great,  the  sea  passage  to  the  East 
Indies,  when  he  sailed  from  the  east  coast  of  Africa  over  the  Indian  Ocean 
to  the  coast  of  Malabar,  and  entered  the  haven  of  Calicut.  It  was  here 
that  the  Portuguese,  after  some  sharp  encounters  with  the  natives,  esta- 
blished the  first  European  commercial  colony,  —  an  undertaking  which 
they  completed  with  perseverance  and  courage. 

After  Vasco  da  Gama  and  Cabral  (who  discovered  Brazil  during  the 
passage,  [a.  d.  1500],  and  took  possession  of  it  for  Portugal),  came  the 
gallant  Almeida,  who  reduced  many  of  the  Indian  princes  to  pay  tribute 
and  compelled  them  to  submit  to  the  establishment  of  factories  in  their 
chief  cities.  After  he  had  been  killed  by  the  wild  Hottentots  on  his  re- 
turn, Albuquerque,  in  whom  heroic  courage  was  united  with  wisdom, 
received  the  governorship  of  India.  He  conquered  Goa, 
^'  ^'  '  and  made  it  the  capital  of  the  Indian  colony  ;  he  stormed 
Malacca,  the  emponum  of  the  trade  of  Father  India,  reduced  the  ruler 
of  Ormuz  in  the  Gulf  of  Persia  to  subjection,  and  caused  the  name  of 
Emmanuel  to  be  feared  and  respected.  But  the  latter  rewarded  his 
fiiithful  servant  with  ingratitude ;  and  grief  at  this  broke  the  hero's  heart. 
During'  the  next  ten  years,  the  Portuguese  established  colo- 

A     D     1515  nl  '  o 

nies  and  factories  on  the  island  of  Ceylon,  and  the  coast  of 
Coromandel,  and  subjected  the  spice-bearing  Molucca  and  Sunda  islands. 
Lisbon  became  the  seat  of  the  commerce  of  the  world;  but  avarice  and 
selfishness  soon  stifled  the  nobler  emotions  in  the  hearts  of  the  Portu- 
guese. 

§  310.  The  zeal  for  discovery,  which  was  awakened  by  the  enterprises 
of  the  Portuguese,  inspired  the  bold  Genoese,  Christopher  Columbus 
(Colon),  with  the  thought  of  discovering  a  new  way  to  the  vaunted  In- 
dies, by  a  w^estern  passage.  He  imparted  his  project  to  his  native  city, 
Genoa,  and  begged  for  support ;  but  there,  as  well  as  by  the  Portuguese 
and  English,  he  was  refused.  At  length,  Isabella  of  Castile,  in  the  joy 
of  her  heart  at  the  fortunate  conquest  of  Granada,  allowed  herself  to  be 
persuaded  to  fit  out  three  vessels,  and  to  intrust  them  to  the  bold  voya- 
ger. The  title  of  Great  Admiral  and  Viceroy  of  all  the  lands  and 
islands  that  should  be  discovered,  and  a  tenth  part  of  the  revenue  that 
might  be  expected  to  be  received  from  them,  were  promised  to  himself 
and  his  posterity,  as  the  reward  of  his  success.  On  the  3d  of  August, 
1492,  the  little  fleet  left  the  Andalusian  harbor  of  Palos,  and  passed  the 


204  THE    MODERN  EPOCH. 

Canary  islands,  sailing  constantly  to  the  westward.  The  fear  and  anxie- 
ty of  the  seamen  increased  with  the  distance  they  traversed,  and  at 
length  broke  into  murmuring  and  open  mutiny.  The  crew  were  already 
threatening  their  magnanimous  leader  with  death  unless  he  returned, 
when  the  discovery  of  the  island  Guanahani  (since  then  called  St.  Sal- 
vador), on  the  12th  of  October,  saved  him.  They  found  a  beautiful  and 
fruitful  country,  with  naked  copper-colored  savages,  who  looked  on  with- 
out the  slightest  suspicion,  whilst  their  land  was  taken  possession  of  iu 
the  names  of  the  royal  pair  of  Spain,  and  who  exchanged  their  goods 
for  toys  and  spangles ;  but  the  anticipated  treasures  in  gold,  precious 
stones,  and  pearls,  were  not  met  with  in  the  abundance  that  was  hoped 
for,  either  here  or  on  the  two  larger  islands  of  Cuba  and  Hayti  (His- 
paniola,  St.  Domingo),  which  were  shortly  afterwards  discovered.  After 
Columbus  had  established  a  colony  on  Hispaniola,  he  returned  to  Spain, 
and  after  a  dangerous  voyage,  brought  back  to  astonished  Europe  the  in- 
telligence of  a  new  world,  which,  in  consequence  of  the  original  error, 
received  the  name  of  the  West  Indies.  In  the  course  of  his  three  fol- 
lowing voyages,  Columbus  discovered  more  islands  (for  example,  Jamai- 
ca), and  at  length,  also,  the  north-east  coast  of  South  America,  not  far 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Oronoco.  But  this  new  portion  of  the  world  did 
not  bear  the  name  of  its  discoverer,  but  that  of  its  describer,  the  Flor- 
entine, Amerigo  Vespucci.  Columbus  shared  the  lot  of  many  other 
great  men  ;  he  was  not  permitted  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  labors.  The 
colony  that  had  been  left  behind  in  Hispaniola  had  fallen  into  confusion, 
in  consequence  of  quarrels  among  themselves  and  with  the  natives. 
When  Columbus,  for  the  purpose  of  restoring  order,  wished  to  punish 
some  of  the  most  licentious  disturbers  of  peace,  the  latter  made  an  accu- 
sation against  him  at  the  Spanish  court.  Hereupon,  king  Ferdinand 
sent  a  narrow-minded  official  to  make  inquiries,  who  commenced  his  un- 
dertaking by  depriving  Columbus  of  his  governorship,  and  ordering  him 
to  be  carried  in  fetters  to  Spain.  Here  he  was  indeed  released  from  his 
chains,  but  nothing  was  thought  about  the  fulfilment  of  the  stipulated 
contract.  Columbus,  deprived  of  his  offices  and  dignities,  died, 
shortly  after  another  and  unfortunate  voyage,  in  Valladolid, 
whence  his  dead  body  was  afterwards  carried  to  Cuba.  The  fetters  in 
which  he  had  been  brought  bound  to  Spain,  were  placed  with  him  in  his 
grave,  by  his  son  Diego. 

§  311.  A  new  spirit  of  heroism  had  been  awakened  by  Columbus;  all 
courageous  men  who  were  acquainted  with  the  sea  went  forth  to  make 
discoveries.  Who  could  wish  to  remain  idle  when  so  rich  a  field  for 
gold,  renown,  and  ambition  stood  open  ?  The  hardy  and  enterprising 
Balboa  surmounted  the  rocky  isthmus  of  Panama  under  in- 
credible difficulties,  and  discovered  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The 
Portuguese  Magelhaens,  sailed  through  the  straits,  named  after  him,  into 


CONQUEST   OF   MEXICO   AXD    PERU.  205 

the  Pacific,  reached  the  East  India  islands,  after  enduring  the  extremities 
of  famine,  and  thus  made  the  first  voyage  round  th^  world.    Both  died  vio- 
lent deaths,  the  former  by  order  of  Davila,  governor  of  Darien,  the  latter 
by  the  hand  of  an  assassin  on  the  Philippines. 
A  D  w^o  ^^^  most  remarkable  event,  however,  was  the  discovery 

and  conquest  of  Mexico  by  Ferdinand  Cortez.  The  contest 
A.  D.  1521.  here  carried  on  was  not  with  savages,  but  with  a  people  who 
dwelt  in  towns,  exercised  arts  and  trade,  clothed  themselves  in  cotton 
stuffs,  and  lived  under  a  regular  system  of  government,  with  a  king,  a 
rich  nobility,  and  a  powerful  priesthood.  With  500  valiant  Spaniards, 
who  were  accompanied  by  a  few  native  tribes  (the  Tlascalans)  as  allies, 
Cortez  subjected  a  populous  nation,  who  w^ere  deficient  neither  in  warlike 
spirit  nor  patriotism,  took  their  king,  Montezuma,  prisoner  in  his  own 
palace,  and  conquered  the  chief  city,  Mexico.  The  frightful  effects  of 
the  thundering  ordnance,  the  stately  cavalry,  the  splendor  of  the  Euro 
pean  military  accoutrements,  engendered  a  notion  among  the  natives,  that 
the  Spaniards  must  be  a  higher  order  of  beings,  whom  it  was  impossible 
for  them,  with  their  feeble  strength  and  miserable  weapons  (iron  was 
unknown  to  them),  to  withstand.  "Within  two  years,  Cortez  conquered 
the  land,  and  put  an  end  to  the  horrible  idol-worship,  in  which  thousands 
of  men  were  every  year  offered  in  sacrifice;  but  he  was  prevented  by  the 
suspicious  government  from  establishing  a  new  and  regulated  system. 
He  was  recalled,  and  died  forgotten  in  Spain,  A.  D.  1547. 
A.  D.  1529-  AVith  still  smaller  means  than  Cortez,  Pizarro  and  Alma- 

1535.  gro,  men  of  great  courage  and  enterprise,  but  without  culti- 

vation, and  governed  by  selfishness  and  the  coarser  passions,  effe^ed  the 
conquest  of  the  golden  land  of  Peru.  The  Peruvians,  ruled  over  by  the 
rich  royal  race  of  Incas,  were  a  civilized  nation  of  mild  character,  un- 
stained by  the  frightful  idolatry  of  the  Mexicans,  but  also  devoid  of  their 
military  virtue.  A  contest  for  the  throne  among  the  royal  family  facili- 
tated the  conquest  of  the  land  by  the  Spaniards.  After  the  cruel  Pizarro 
liad  made  himself  master  of  the  king,  and,  despite  his  promise  to  set  him 
free  in  re*urn  for  an  enormous  mass  of  gold,  ordered  him  to  be  executed, 
he  subjected  the  beautiful  land  which  abounded  in  the  precious  metals, 
A.  D.  1535-  and  founded  the  new  capital,  Lima.  Francis  Pizarro  and 
1538.  his  brother  soon  quarrelled  with  Almagro  (who  in  the  mean 

time  had  discovered  Chili),  and  they  turned  their  arms  against  each  other. 
Almagro  was  overcome  and  beheaded,  but  his  son  avenged  the  death  of 
his  father  on  Francis  Pizarro.  The  land  w^as  reduced  to  the  brink  of 
destruction  by  the  wild  rage  of  the  discoverers.  At  this  crisis,  Charles 
V.  sent  a  wise  and  prudent  priest,  Gasca,  as  governor  to  Peru :  Gasca 
1548        subdued  the  rebellious  troops,  had  the  last  Pizarro  hung  on 

the  gallows,  and  then  arranged  the  state  anew. 
§  312.  Much  as  we  may  admire  the  heroic  courage  and  the  enterprise 
18 


206  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

ing  spirit  displayed  by  Europeans  in  the  conquest  of  the  New  World, 
wo  must  equally  deplore  the  severity  and  avarice  which  impelled  them 
to  the  most  cruel  ill-usage  of  the  natives.  Those  who  escaped  from  the 
sword,  the  destructive  effects  of  gunpowder,  and  the  multiplied  diseases, 
were  mercilessly  destroyed  by  severe  labors.  They  were  compelled  to 
take  care  of  the  plantations  which  the  conquerors  made  on  their  pro- 
perty, to  dig  in  the  gold  and  silver  mines  which  were  opened  in  their 
country,  and  to  carry  burdens  for  which  their  feeble  bodies  were  not 
fitted.  It  was  in  vain  that  well-meaning  priests,  who  attempted  as  mis- 
sionaries to  bring  Christianity  to  the  savages,  preached  kindness  and 
humanity, — selfishness  hardened  the  hearts  of  the  Europeans  and  ren- 
dered tliem  insensible  to  the  teaching  of  the  Gospel ;  and  when  at  length 
the  noble  priest  Las  Casas,  with  the  purpose  of  lightening  the  lot  of  the 
Indians,  recommended  the  more  robust  African  negro  for  the  severe 
labors  of  the  plantations,  this  gave  occasion  to  the  horrible  slave-trade, 
which  was  a  curse  upon  the  black  population,  without  preventing  the 
gradual  extinction  of  the  copper-colored  native.  The  discovery  of  the 
New  World  and  the  introduction  of  American  productions  were  attended 
with  vast  results  on  the  European  manners  and  mode  of  living.  Have 
not  colonial  wares,  coffee,  sugar,  tobacco,  &c.,  since  they  have  been  in 
general  use,  become  indispensable  necessaries  ?  Do  not  potatoes,  which 
we  received  from  thence,  form  the  most  important  part  of  the  food  of  the 
people  ?  What  influence  has  not  the  increased  quantity  of  the  precious 
metals,  which  the  mines  of  Peru  have  yielded,  exercised  upon  all  the  rela- 
tions of  life  and  upon  the  value  of  property  ?  The  natural  sciences  and 
geograjphy  have  been  so  enriched,  that  since  then  they  have  had  an 
entirely  different  aspect.  Trade  also  took  a  different  direction:  —  as 
formerly  the  Italian  trading  towns,  so  now  the  western  states,  Portu- 
gal, Spain,  the  Netherlands,  and,  somewhat  later,  England,  became 
the  centre  of  commerce  and  the  seat  of  wealth.  But  as  both  the  for- 
mer fettered  their  trade  from  its  very  commencement,  and  excluded  other 
nations  from  their  colonies,  the  season  of  their  prosperity  was  but 
transient. 

2.    THE    REVIVAL    OF    THE    ARTS    AND    SCIENCES. 

§  313.  In  the  fifteenth  century,  Italy  was  the  central  point  of  Western 
civilization ;  many  splendid  courts  and  opulent  cities  contended  for  the 
glory  of  becoming  patrons  of  the  arts  and  sciences.  The  Medici  in  Flo- 
rence (§  288,  289),  and  several  popes,  caused  manuscripts  to  be  pur- 
chased, and  founded  libraries  and  academies ;  the  printing  establishments 
which  arose  in  all  quarters  came  to  the  assistance  of  their  efforts.  At 
first,  attention  was  exclusively  directed  to  the  Latin  language  and  Utera- 
ture  ;  but  when,  after  the  taking  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks,  many 
of  the  learned  men  of  Byzantium  took  refuge  in  Italy  Greek  also  came 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  THE  ARTS  AND   SCIENCES.  207 

into  fashion.  Dictionaries  and  grammars  were  compiled ;  the  compre- 
hension of  the  ancient  authors  was  facilitated  by  commentaries  and  trans- 
lations, and  a  classical  Latin  style  became  the  distinguishing  mark  of  an 
educated  man.  The  next  consequence  of  the  revival  of  classical  studies 
was  the  establishment  of  fresh  seminaries  of  education,  iSrst,  in  Italy,  and 
afterwards,  in  the  other  countries  of  Europe.  Many  universities,  gymna- 
siums, and  educational  establishments  of  all  sorts  arose,  especially  in  Ger- 
many, which  had  long  maintained  a  close  intercourse  with  Italy ;  and 
many  learned  men,  as  John  Reuchlin  from  Pforzheim  (a.  d.  1521), 
Erasmus  of  Rotterdam  (a.  d.  153G),  and  Ulrick  of  Ilutten  (a.  d.  1523), 
rivalled  the  great  Italians  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  lan- 
guages and  of  science.  The  friends  of  the  new  culture  were  called  Hu- 
manists ;  their  opponents,  the  supporters  of  the  scholastic  wisdom  of  the 
middle  ages,  and  above  all  others,  the  Dominicans,  were  named  Obscu- 
rantists. The  Humanists  of  all  countries  were  connected  with  one 
another.  Latin,  then  the  universal  language  of  all  learned  and  educated 
men,  and  a  rapid  interchange  of  letters,  which  supplied  the  place  of  news- 
papers, facilitated  this  intercourse.  The  contest  between  the  new  culture 
and  the  Obscurantists,  with  tlieir  barbarous  Latin,  reached  its  liighest 
point  in  the  dispute  which  was  conducted  by  Reuchlin  with  the  Domini- 
cans of  Cologne.  The  latter  wished  to  burn  all  the  Hebrew  books, 
because  they  were  supposed  to  contain  blasphemies  against  Jesus  Christ. 
Reuchlin,  who  was  appointed  umpire  in  the  matter  by  the  emperor,  de- 
clared the  charge  to  be  untrue,  and  opposed  himself  to  the  design.  This 
so  enraged  the  monks,  that  they  accused  Reuchlin  of  heresy,  openly  burnt 
one  of  his  works,  and  condemned  the  study  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew 
languages.  This  produced  a  literary  war,  in  which  all  the  friends  of 
education  took  the  part  of  Reuchlin,  and  the  cause  of  the  Humanists 
obtained  a  complete  triumph.  The  pope  at  length  put  an  end  to  the  con- 
test :  the  Dominicans  were  condemned  to  pay  the  costs  of  the  process ; 
and  when  they  delayed  to  do  this,  they  were  forced  to  discharge  their 
obligations  by  Francis  Sickingen.  From  the  crowd  that  assembled 
itself  around  Reuchlin,  proceeded  the  Ejyistolce  ohscurorum  virorurrif 
which  are  said  to  have  been  chiefly  the  production  of  Ulrick  von  Hutten. 
In  these  letters,  the  proceedings  and  stupid  insolence  of  the  monks  are 
faithfully  but  satirically  displayed  in  their  own  barbarous  Latin.  Hutten, 
one  of  the  boldest  and  most  powerful  advocates  of  Germany's  freedom 
and  independence,  died,  persecuted  and  a  fugitive,  on  the  island  of  Uflfiau 
in  the  lake  of  Zurich,  in  the  36th  year  of  his  life.  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam, 
an  elegant  scholar  in  ancient  literature,  fought,  with  all  the  weapons  of 
wit  and  intellect,  against  schoolmen  and  monks.  Among  his  numerous 
works,  the  most  important  are  The  Praise  of  Folly, — a  satirical  compo- 
sition, and  an  edition  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  original  Greek  text, 
with  a  Latin  translation  and  paraphrase.     At  first,  a  friend  of  Luther 


208  THE   MODERN    EPOCH. 

and  Hutten,  lie  afterwards  turned  from  them  and  opposed  them  in  vehe- 
ment controversial  writings. 


II.   THE   TIME   OF   THE   REFORMATION. 

1.  THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION. 
«.  DR.  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

§  314.  The  cry  that  passed  through  Europe  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
for  a  reformation  of  the  Church  both  in  its  head  and  members,  had 
remained  unheeded  by  the  popes;  and  the  great  ecclesiastical  synods 
(§  264,  266)  had  been  followed  by  no  results.  The  Church  had  refused 
the  voluntary  self-purification  that  had  been  required  of  her,  and  turned 
a  deaf  ear  to  the  voice  of  the  people.  Since  then,  the  abuses  had  not 
been  diminished.  The  court  of  Rome  derived  a  vast  revenue  from  the 
churches  of  other  countries  ;  the  lower  clergy  were  lazy,  immoral,  and 
ignorant,  and  took  little  or  no  interest  in  the  new  culture  and  the  impulse 
that  had  been  produced  by  it ;  the  higher  clergy  led  an  entirely  worldly 
life,  found  their  enjoyment  in  sensual  indulgences  and  princely  magnifi- 
cence, and  in  the  study  of  works  of  art  and  literature,  and  of  the  philo- 
sophy of  heathen  antiquity,  frequently  lost  sight  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
Gospel.  Nothing  but  an  impulse  was  wanting  to  unite  the  dissatisfied 
members  of  the  Church  in  a  mighty  opposition.  This  impulse  was  given 
by  Pope  Leo  X.  For  the  purpose  of  defraying  the  expenses  of  the 
erection  of  the  church  of  St.  Peter,  and  of  other  works  of  art,  Leo  offered 
an  indulgence  for  sale,  through  the  Elector,  Albert  of  Mayence,  in  which 
forgiveness  of  sins,  reattainment  of  God's  grace,  and  remission  from  the 
punishments  of  purgatory,  were  assured  to  the  purchaser.  Albert,'  who 
received  one  half  of  the  profits,  employed  in  Saxony  the  Dominican  monk 
Tetzel,  in  the  sale,  who  went  so  audaciously  to  work,  that  the  Augustine 
monk,  Dr.  Martin  Luther,  who  saw  that  real  penitence  and  respect  for 
the  confessional  were  thereby  endangered,  felt  himself  compelled  to  affix 
ninety-five  theses  to  the  castle  church  at  Wittenberg,  on  the  eve  of  All- 
Saints,  with  the  offer  to  defend  them  against  any  one.  In  these,  he  con- 
tesfed  the  efficacy  of  absolution  without  repentance,  and  denied  the  power 
of  the  pope  to  grant  remission  of  sins  to  any  except  the  penitent. 

§  315.  Martin  Luther  was  born  on  the  10th  of  November,  1483.  Des- 
tined to  study  by  his  father,  a  respectable  miner,  he  had  devoted  himself 
to  jurisprudence,  for  four  years,  in  Erfurt,  when  anxiety  for  the  salvation 
of  his  soul,  and  the  sudden  death  of  a  friend  during  a  heavy  thunder- 
storm, determined  him  to  enter  a  cloister.     He  once  more  entertained 


THE    GERMAN   REFORMATION.  209 

himself  among  his  friends  with  cheerful  singing,  music,  and  wine,  and 
then  shut  himself  up  in  the  silent  cell  of  an  Augustine  monastery  at 
Erfurt.  He  here  submitted  himself  to  all  the  duties  and  servile  offices 
of  a  mendicant  monk,  but  without  thereby  obtaining  alleviation  of  hia 
melanclioly,  or  of  the  sufferings  of  his  soul.  It  was  not  until  he  arrived 
at  the  conviction  that  man  can  only  be  saved,  not  by  his  own  works, 
but  by  the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ,  that  his  heart  found  repose.  By 
the  recommendation  of  the  chief  of  the  order,  Staupitz,  Luther  was 
summoned  to  Wittenberg,  in  1508,  to  give  lectures  in  the  University 
newly  established  by  Frederick  the  Wise.  He  had  attended  with 
great  diligence  to  his  duties  as  teacher,  preacher,  and  pastor  of  souls, 
when  he  was  now  called  by  Providence  to  a  more  extended  sphere  of 
exertion. 

§  316.  This  bold  stepping  forward  of  Luther,  in  whom  a  deep  reli- 
gious earnestness  was  not  to  be  mistaken,  found  great  sympathy  in  the 
whole  of  Germany.  A  summons  was  soon  issued  to  him  to  come  and 
defend  himself  in  Rome ;  but  upon  the  intercession  of  the  Elector  of 
Saxony,  who  was  favorably  disposed  to  the  reformer,  the  papal  nuncio, 
Cajetanus,  undertook  the  examination  in  Augsburg.  Luther,  provided 
with  a  safe  conduct,  appeared  in  a  poor  plight  at  Augsburg :  the  proud 
Dominican  thought  to  refute  the  humble  monk  by  his  theological  learn- 
ing ;  but  Luther  displayed  more  depth  and  reading  than  the  former  had 
given  him  credit  for.  After  a  short  disputation,  Cajetan  commandtMl  him 
to  be  gone,  and  not  to  appear  again  before  him  till  he  (Cajetan)  should 
call  him.  After  drawing  up  an  appeal  to  the  pope  better  informed^ 
Luther  fled  hastily  from  Augsburg  during  the  night.  It  was  in  vain 
that  Cajetan  required  the  Elector  either  to  send  the  audacious  preacher  to 
Rome,  or  at  least  to  banish  him  from  his  states.  Frederick  replied,  that 
Luther's  wish  to  be  brought  before  an  imi)artial  tribunal  appeared  to  him 
to  be  reasonable.  This  protection  of  the  Elector  was  of  the  more  impor- 
tance to  Luther,  as  the  former,  since  the  death  of  the  emperor  Maxi- 
mihan,  was  conducting  the  government,  until  the  princes  could  agree 
respecting  a  fresh  elections.  For  as  the  pope  wished  to  exercise  an  influ- 
ence on  the  election  of  emperor,  he  attempted  to  gain  over  the  Electors  to 
his  own  side.  He  sent  his  chamberhiin,  Miltitz,  an  adroit  Saxon  noble- 
man, with  a  golden  rose,  to  Wittenberg.  He  was  commissioned  at  the 
same  time  to  dissuade  Luther  from  farther  proceedings  against  the 
Church.  Luther  promised  to  let  the  contest  drop  if  the  trade  in  indul- 
gences was  put  a  stop  to,  and  silence  imposed  upon  his  adversaries  as 
well  as  on  himself;  and  to  prove  his  sincerity,  he  required,  in  one  of  his 
writings,  every  man  to  give  respect  and  obedience  to  the  Roman  Church, 
and  assured  the  pope,  in  a  humble  letter,  that  it  had  never  been  hia 
intention  to  attack  the  privileges  of  the  Roman  chair. 

§  317.  But  the  wished-for  reconciliation  did  not  take  place.  John  von 
18* 


210  THE  MODERN   EPOCH. 

Eck  (Eckius),  professor  in  Ingolstadt,  a  learned  man  and  skilful  in  argu- 
ment, had   a  disputation  with    Luther   in    Leipsic.     Here 

June,  1519.      -r     ,         .       1       ,  o  ..-.,, 

Liuther,  m    the   heat  or    controversy,  mamtained  that   the 

bishop  of  Rome  had  become  the  head  of  the  Church,  not  by  the  ordi- 
nation of  Jesus,  but  by  human  arrangements  made  centuries  later,  and 
threw  doubts  upon  the  infallibility  of  popes  and  councils.  Irritated  at 
this  audacity,  Eckius  at  once  composed  a  learned  book,  in  which  he 
attempted  to  prove  that  the  papacy  was  derived  from  Christ  himself 
through  Peter,  and  that,  consequently,  it  must  be  a  Divine  institution. 
Eckius  hastened  to  Rome  with  this  book,  and  procured  a 
Bull,  in  which  a  succession  of  Luther's  doctrines  were  con- 
demned as  heretical,  his  writings  sentenced  to  be  burnt,  and  he  himself 
threatened  with  excommunication  unless  he  recanted  within  sixty  days. 
This  proceeding  of  the  Roman  court,  which  condemned  the  German 
reformer  upon  the  accusation  of  an  opponent,  without  so  much  as  hear- 
ing his  defence,  was  disapproved  of  by  all  Germany.  The  Bull  of 
excommunication,  which  was  made  known  by  Eckius,  produced,  there- 
fore, very  little  effect ;  it  was  only  in  Cologne,  Mayence,  and  Louvain, 
that  the  order  for  burning  Luther's  writings  was  carried  into  effect ;  the 
Bull  was  not  even  admitted  into  Saxony.  By  so  much  the  greater  was 
the  effect  of  some  vigorous  pamphlets  of  Luther,  "  To  the  Christian 
Nobles  of  the  German  nation,"  and  "  On  the  Babylonian  Captivity  and 
Christian  Freedom,"  in  which  he  exposed  without  reserve  the  abuses  and 
failings  of  the  existing  Church,  and  demanded  their  removid.  Encouraged 
by  the  enthusiasm  with  which  these  writings  were  received,  and  the  cry 
for  freedom  that  resounded  through  the  German  nation,  Luther  now  ven- 
tured to  take  a  step  that  separated  him  by  an  impenetrable  gulf  from 
the  Romish  Church.  He  proceeded,  at  the  head  of  all  the  students,  to 
December  10,  the  Elster  gate  of  Wittenberg,  and  there  cast  the  Bull  of  ex- 
1520.  communication,  together  with  the  canons  and  decretals  of  the 

Church,  into  the  flames. 

§  318.  In  the  mean  time,  Maximilian's  grandson,  Charles  Y.  of  Spain 
and  Burgundy  (§  294),  was  elexited  emperor* of  Germany,  and  his  first 
undertaking  was  to  be  an  arrangement  of  the  contentions  of  the  Church, 
lie  appointed  a  diet  at  Worms,  and  ordered  Luther,  under  the  assurance 
of  a  safe  conduct,  to  appear.  Full  of  courage  and  confidence  in  God,  but 
not  without  fear  of  experiencing  the  fate  of  Huss  (§  264),  Luther 
arrived  at  Worms  in  the  midst  of  the  sympathizing  crowd  that  was 
streaming  thither.  The  splendid  assembly,  in  which,  besides  the  emperor 
and  the  papal  ambassador  (Alexander),  there  were  present  many  princes, 
nobles,  prelates,  and  deputies  from  the  states,  at  first  disconcerted  him. 
When  called  upon  to  recant,  he  begged  till  the  following  day  for  consi- 
deration. At  his  second  appearance,  he  had  recovered  the  whole  of  his 
strength   and  resolution.     He  declared  himself,  freely  and  openly,  to  be 


THE    GERMAN   REFORMATION.  211 

the  author  of  the  writings  that  were  produced  before  him ;  rejected  the 
invitation  to  recant,  with  the  words  "  That  so  long  as  he  should  not  be 
convinced  out  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  that  he  was  in  error,  he  could  not 
and  would  not  retract,  for  that  his  conscience  was  imprisoned  in  God's 
Word ;"  and  concluded  with  the  exclamation,  "  Here  I  stand,  I  can  take 
no  other  course ;  God  help  me.  Amen."  All  attempts  to  induce  him  to 
soften  this  declaration  failed ;  yet  no  violent  proceeding  was  ventured 
upon.  Luther  departed  in  safety ;  many  princes  and  members  of  the 
diet  did  the  same ;  then,  the  ban  of  the  empire  was  first  uttered  against 
Luther  and  his  adherents,  and  his  writings  condemned  to  the  flames. 
Charles  V.,  at  this  time  in  more  close  alliance  with  the  pope,  was  deter- 
mined to  exterminate  heresy.  But  Luther  was  already  secure.  During 
his  return  home,  the  Elector  Frederick  had  him  seized  upon,  and  carried 
as  a  prisoner  to  the  castle  of  "Wartburg,  under  the  title  of  Bitter  George. 
He  lived  here  nearly  a  year ;  at  first,  he  was  lamented  by  his  friends, 
till  some  bold  fugitive  pieces,  and  an  angry  letter  against  Albert  of  May- 
ence,  who  was  again  practising  the  sale  of  indulgences,  convinced  them 
that  he  was  still  alive  and  active.  Albert  repented,  and  discontinued  the 
traffic. 

§  319.  "Whilst  Luther,  although  troubled  by  sickness  and  melancholy, 
was  leading  an  active  life  at  the  Wartburg,  proceedings  calculated  to 
disturb  tranquillity  arose  in  Wittenberg,  which  were  not  repressed  with 
sufficient  earnestness  by  the  pious  and  peace-loving  Elector.  Dr.  Carl- 
stadt,  a  man  of  confused  mind  and  unsettled  in  his  principles,  abolished 
the  mass,  extended  the  cup  to  the  laity,  and  exercised  his  zeal  against 
images  and  ceremonies.  He  was  soon  joined  by  the  so-called  Zurickhauer 
prophets,  —  men  without  education,  and  under  the  dominion  of  fanatical 
feelings,  —  who  declaimed  against  the  baptism  of  infants,  insisted  upon 
the  robaptism  of  adults  (hence  called  Anabaptists),  and  believed  in  im- 
mediate inspirations  from  God.  Images,  and  the  garments  used  in  the 
celebration  of  the  mass,  were  destroyed  in  some  churches,  monks  fled 
from  their  cloisters,  and  confusion  took  possession  of  men's  minds.  Lu- 
ther was  no. longer  at  peace  in  the  castle  of  Wartburg.  He  hastened  to 
Wittenberg,  preached  daily  for  a  week  against  the  overhasty 
and  uncharitable  innovations,  dismissed  the  Zurickhauer  fa- 
natics, and  won  men's  minds  to  a  peaceable  development  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. Wittenberg  now  became  the  centre  of  German  culture.  It  was 
here  that  Philip  Melancthon  of  Bretten,  who,  when  a  youth  of  twenty, 
had  already  fathomed  the  depths  of  learning,  and  by  whose  means  the 
Saxon  schools  and  church  attained  a  high  degree  of  prosperity,  labored 
by  the  side  of  Luther.  Luther's  impetuous  and  boisterous  energy  was 
well  fitted  to  pluck  down,  whilst  Melancthon's  mild  and  yielding  nature 
was  adapted  to  the  work  of  restoration ;  and,  as  Melancthon,  the  great 
adept  in,  and  promoter  of,  humane  studies,  sought,  by  his  learned  Latin 


212  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 

writings  to  establish  the  new  Church  doctrines  on  a  scientific  basis,  so 
Luther  won  the  hearts  of  the  people  by  his  German  writings  and  songs, 
and  especially  by  his  translation  of  the  Bible.  This  Lutheran  Bible, 
which  was  begim  in  the  castle  of  Wartburg  and  finished  in  "Wittenberg, 
after  careful  consultation  with  his  friends,  appeared  completed  in  1534, 
a  master-piece  of  the  German  language  and  of  the  German  spirit. 

§  320.  The  new  doctrine  soon  spread  beyond  the  limits  of  Saxony. 
Besides  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  the  energetic  landgrave,  Philip  of  Hesse, 
the  founder  of  the  university  of  Marburg,  was,  in  particular,  a  zealous 
promoter  of  the  Gospel.  But  it  was  the  educated  burghers  of  the  imf)e- 
rial  cities  who  distinguished  themselves  beyond  all  others  by  their  zeal. 
The  assembled  people  would  often,  of  their  own  accord,  set  up  a  psalm  or 
a  hymn,  and  by  this  means  gave  an  impulse  to  the  abolishing  of  the 
mass.  Where  the  church  was  denied  to  the  evangelically-minded  people, 
they  held  their  devotions  in  the  open  air,  in,  fields  and  meadows ;  and 
where  religious  motives  were  not  sufficiently  powerful,  there  the  view  of 
the  Church  property  and  worldly  advantages  helped  out  what  was  want- 
ing. The  whole  of  Germany  appeared  to  be  hurried  away  in  this 
church  movement,  and  a  national  Church,  independent  of  Rome,  to 
spring  up  from  it.  But  the  pope  won  over  Ferdinand  of 
Austria,  the  duke  of  Bavaria,  and  several  South-German 
bishops,  to  the  alliance  of  Regensburg,  in  which  they  vowed  mutually  to 
support  each  other,  and  to  exclude  the  innovations  of  Wittenberg  from 
their  dominions.  Thus  were  the  seeds  of  an  unhappy  division  spread 
abroad  in  Germany  at  the  very  moment  when  the  freedom  and  inde 
pendence  of  the  nation  was  the  aspiration  of  her  noblest  spirits. 

I.   THE   PEASANT    WAR. 

§  321.  The  general  call  to  freedom  and  independence,  that,  since  Lu- 
ther's appearance,  had  resounded  through  all  Germany,  filled  the  peasants 
with  the  hope  of  alleviating  their  condition  by  their  own  exertions.  In 
this  way  originated  the  peasant  war.  At  first,  patriotically  disposed 
men,  like  Sickingen  and  Hutten,  appeared  to  wish  to  place  themselves  at 
the  head  of  the  movement,  and  to  carry  through  the  renovation  of  Ger« 
many,  both  in  state  and  Church,  by  the  sword.  But  Sickingen's  early 
death  during  the  siege  of  his  castle  of  Landstuhl,  and  Hutten's  flight,  de- 
layed the  outbreak,  and  robbed  it  of  plan  and  proportion.  The  fanatical 
discourses  of  the  fickle  Anabaptist,  Thomas  Miinzer,  who  talked  of 
abolishing  temporal  and  spiritual  power,  and  of  setting  up  a  heavenly 
kingdom  where  all  men  should  be  equal,  and  every  distinction  between 
rich  and  poor,  noble  and  base,  should  disappear,  confused  the  understand- 
ings of  the  excited  peasants.  It  was  not  long  before  the  people,  from 
the  Boden  Lake  to  Dreisam,  assembled  themselves  around  Hans  Miiller 
of  Bulgenbach,  who  had  formerly  been  a  soldier.     He  marched  in  a  red 


THE   PEASANT   WAR.  213 

mantle  and  cap  from  village  to  village,  at  the  head  of  his  followers.  The 
chief  banner  was  borne  behind  him  on  a  carriage  decorated  with  boughs 
and  ribbons.  They  carried  twelve  articles  with  them,  the  importance  of 
which  they  were  ready  to  maintain  with  their  swords.  By  these  arti- 
cles, they  demanded  the  liberty  of  hunting,  fishing,  cutting  wood,  &c.; 
the  abolition  of  serfdom,  soccage  duties,  and  tithes ;  the  right  of  choosing 
their  own  ministers  ;  and  the  free  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  Their  ex- 
ample was  soon  followed  by  the  peasants  m  the  Odenwald,  and  by  those 
on  the  Neckar  and  in  Franconia,  under  the  conduct  of  the  audadous  pub- 
lican, George  Metzler.  They  compiled  the  counts  of  liohenlohe,  Low- 
enstein,  Wertheim,  Gemmingen,  th^superiors  of  the  German  Order  in 
Mergentheim,  and  others  to  accept  the  articles,  and  to  concede  the  privi- 
leges demanded,  to  their  subjects;  whoever  dared  to  resist  them,  as  count 
Helfenstein  von  Weinsberg,  was  put  to  a  cruel  death.  They  marched 
through  the  land  burning  and  devastating ;  they  destroyed  the  monaste- 
ries and  castles,  and  took  a  bloody  revenge  on  their  oppressors  and  ad- 
versaries. Under  the  conduct  of  brave  knights,  like  Florian  Geier  and 
Gotz  von  Berlichingen  ofthe  Iron  Hand,  tliey  penetrated  into  Wurzburg, 
whilst  other  bands  ravaged  the  lands  of  Baden.  The  insurrection  soon 
extended  itself  over  the  whole  of  Swabia,  Franconia,  Alsacia,  and  the 
lands  of  the  Rhine.  The  spiritual  and  tem|)oral  princes  became  alarmed, 
and  conceded  a  part  of  the  demands  of  the  irritated  peasants.  In  Thu- 
ringia  and  the  Ilarz,  the  revolt  assumed  more  of  a  religious  character. 
In  Muhlhausen,  Thomas  Munzer  had  acquired  great  respect  and  the 
reputation  of  a  prophet.  lie  rejected  Luther's  moderate  views,  girded 
himself  with  the  sword  of  Gideon,  and  wished  to  establish  a  Divine 
kingdom,  the  members  of  which  should  be  all  free  and  equal.  The  peo- 
ple, excited  by  his  preaching,  destroyed  castles,  monasteries,  and  the  me- 
morials of  antiquity,  in  their  barbarous  fury. 

§  322.  In  the  commencement,  before  the  insurrection  had  yet  assumed 
so  formidable  an  aspect,  Luther  attempted  to  restore  peace :  he  represent- 
ed to  the  nobles  and  princes  that  they  had  been  guilty  of  acts  of  vio- 
lence ;  and  at  the  same  time,  exhorted  the  peasants  to  refrain  from  rebel- 
lion. But  when  the  danger  increased,  when  temporal  and  spiritual 
things  were  mingled  together,  he  published  a  forcible  tract  "against  the 
plundering  and  bloodthirsty  peasants,"  in  which  he  called  upon  the  magis- 
trates to  attack  them  with  the  sword,  and  to  show  them  no  sort  of  mercy. 
Upon  this,  the  nobles  and  knights  assembled  themselves  from  all  quarters 
against  the  rebels.  The  elector  John  of  Saxony,  the  landgrave  Philip 
of  Hesse,  and  others,  marched  into  Thuringia  and  won  an  easy  victory, 
by  means  of  their  artillery,  over  Thomas  Munzer  and  his  half-armed 
peasants.  A  place  of  execution  w^as  set  up  before  Muhlhausen,  on  which 
the  Thuringian  "prophet"  was  put  to  a  bloody  death  after  undergoing 
frightful  toi'tures. 


214  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

Truchsess  of  Waldburg,  captain  of  the  Swabian  league,  restored  peace 
m  Swabia,  and  then  marched,  in  conjunction  with  the  Elector  of  the  Pa- 
latinate and  the  warlike  archbishop  of  Treves,  against  the  bands  of  Fran- 
conia,  who  were  besieging  the  strong  castle  of  Wurzburg.  Here,  again, 
superior  military  skill  and  better  arms  triumphed  over  the  disorderly 
crowd.  The  insurgents,  after  a  short  defence,  betook  themselves  to  a 
headlong  flight,  in  which  most  of  them  were  killed;  the  prisoners  were 
put  to  death,  and  a  severe  punishment  inflicted  on  the  citizens  of  tha 
Franconian  towns,  who  had  sided  with  the  rebels.  The  axe  of  the  execu- 
tioner was  long  busy  in  Wurzburg.  The  same  was  the  case  in  Alsacia, 
and  the  Middle  Rhine-land,  and  als^ie  Black  Forest,  and  at  the  sources 
of  the  Danube,  where  the  insurrection  had  lasted  longest.  At  length, 
Truchsess  of  Waldburg  and  the  renowned  condottiere,  George  of  Frends- 
berg,  succeeded,  by  dint  of  severity,  in  restoring  order.  In  the  majo- 
rity of  places,  the  peasants  were  again  oppressed  wdth  all  their  for- 
mer burdens,  and  in  many  spots  the  cry  was  loudly  echoed,  "  If  they 
have  formerly  been  chastised  with  rods,  they  -h?\\  now  be  scourged  w4th 
scorpions." 

C.    THE    PROTESTATION   AND    THE   COIsFESSION    OF   AUGSBURG. 

§  323.  The  new  Church  g|^w  stronger  and  stronger  in  the  midst  of 
battles  and  disturbances,  and  Luther's  energy  increased  with  oppo- 
sition. He  left  the  cloister  of  the  Augustines  in  1524,  and,  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  married  Catherine  of  Bora,  who  had  been  formerly  a  nun. 
Surrounded  by  a  circle  of  sincere  friends,  and  by  his  brothers  in  office, 
he  now  led  the  life  of  domestic  happiness  which  w^as  so  w^ell  suited  to  his 
disposition.  His  energy  and  "cheerful  confidence  in  God  were  neither 
broken  nor  disturbed  by  his  poverty,  or  the  repeated  attacks  of  illness  he 
experienced.  By  his  two  Catechisms  he  laid  the  foundation  of  a  uniform 
confession  of  faith,  and  of  a  better  religious  education.  Melancthon, 
upon  whom  the  Elector,  about  this  time,  devolved  the  troublesome  task  of 
holding  a  general  visitation  of  the  churches  all  over  Saxony,  w^as  not  less 
active.  The  Eeformation  made  such  advances  by  the  united  efforts  oi 
these  two  men,  that  the  Catholic  princes,  both  temporal  and  spiritual, 
became  alarmed.  They  therefore  passed  a  resolution  at  the  diet  of  Spire, 
that  no  farther  innovations  should  be  made  in  religion,  that 

A  D  1529 

the  new  doctrines  should  not  be  farther  disseminated,  and  that 
no  impediment  should  be  given  to  the  celebration  of  the  mass.  It  was 
against  this  decree  of  the  Diet,  by  which  the  Reformation  would  have 
been  condemned  to  a  fatal  pause,  that  a  Protest  was  entered  by  many  of 
the  princes  and  imperial  towns.  It  w^as  for  this  reason  that  they,  in  com- 
mon with  all  those  who  rejected  the  authority  of  the  pope  and  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  received  the  name  of  Protest- 
ants.    As  the  emperor  would  not  receive  the  protestation,  which  was 


UI.RIC   ZWINGLE.  215 

brought  to  him  in  Italy,  the  protesting  princes  and  towns  would  at  once 
have  arranged  a  confederacy  for  their  mutual  defence,  had  not  Luther 
and  the  evangelical  theologians,  with  "  a  magnanimous  scrupulousness/' 
rejected  every  defence  of  the  Word  of  God  by  worldly  weapons. 

§  324.  In  the  following  spring,  the  emperor  opened  the  splendid  Diet 
of  Augsburg.  It  was  here  that  the  protesting  Estates  presented  their 
Confession,  which  had  been  drawn  up  by  Melancthon  both  in  the  German 
and  Latin  languages,  and  approved  of  by  Luther.  In  this  Confession, 
they  endeavored  to  show  that  they  had  no  wish  to  establish  a  new  Church, 
but  only  to  purify  and  restore  the  old  one.  This  Confession  of  faith, 
which  was  composed  with  great  temperance  and  clearness,  embraced,  in 
the  first  part,  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformers,  laid  down  in  as  close  accord- 
ance as  was  possible  with  the  faith  of  the  Catholic  Church ;  and  in  the 
second  part,  the  abuses  against  which  the  Reformers  were  contending. 
After  the  reading  of  the  Augsburg  Confession,  the  assembly  embra- 
ced the  resolution  of  justifying  the  doctrines  and  usages  of  the  Catholic 
Church  by  a  refutation,  and  then  seeing  if  it  would  not  be  possible  to 
bring  about  a  composition  by  a  conference  between  men  of  moderate 
tempers  selected  from  both  parties.  But  the  "  Refutation,"  drawn  up  by 
Eckius,  Cochlajus,  and  some  others,  produced  but  little  effect,  owing  to 
the  weakness  of  its  arguments,  and  was  entirely  overthrown  by  Melanc- 
thon's  "Apology;"  the  conference  also  led  to  nothing,  since  both  the 
pope  and  Luther,  who,  during  the  Diet,  had  remained  at  Coburg,  were 
averse  to  any  further  concessions.  It  seemed  that  the  unity  of  the  Church 
could  be  only  restored  by  the  sword.  The  protesting  princes  and  the 
principal  imperial  towns  rejected  the  decision  of  the  Diet,  by  which  they 
were  prohibited  from  extending  their  doctrine  and  were  proscribed  as  a 
sect,  and  quitted  Augsburg.  The  resolution  of  the  Diet  that  was  deter- 
mined on  after  their  departure,  in  which  the  new  sect  was  threatened 
wuth  a  rapid  extirpation,  and  the  sentence  of  excommunication  denounced 
against  all  those  who,  within  a  certain  space,  should  not  renounce  their 
arbitrary  innovations,  alarmed  neither  the  princes,  the  peace  of  whose 
consoien^^es  was  a  matter  of  higher  importance  to  them  than  the  favor  of 
the  empsror,  nor  the  reformer  of  "Wittenberg,  whose  confidence  and 
cheerful  trust  in  God  was  at  that  time  at  its  height,  as  is  testified  by  the 
immortal  hymn,  "  The  Lord  is  a  strong  castle,"  which  was  composed 
during  the  storms  of  those  days. 

d.    ULRIC    ZWINGLE. 

§  325.  The  Protestant  Church  of  Germany  was  unhappily,  even  at 
this  time,  divided  into  the  Lutheran  and  Zwinglian.  Ulric  Zwingle  (born 
1484),  a  classically-educated,  liberally-minded  priest  of  republican  princi- 
ples, exerted  himself  zealously  as  canon  of  Zurich  against  the  sale  of 
indulgences  by  the   Franciscan   monk,   Samson;    against  ecclesiastical 


216  THE    MODERN  EPOCH. 

abuses  of  all  kinds ;  and  against  the  custom  of  the  Swiss,  of  engaging 
themselves  as  mercenaries  in  foreign  services.  Zwingle,  a  man  of  prac- 
tical understanding,  without  the  religious  depth  of  mind  or  the  disposition 
of  Luther,  did  not  busy  himself  with  the  reformation  of  doctrine  and 
articles  of  faith,  but  with  the  improvement  of  life  and  morals.  He  set 
about  the  work  also  with  far  less  ceremony,  inasmuch  as  he  wished  to 
restore  primitive  Christianity  in  its  simplest  form.  Having  a  good  under- 
standing with  the  chief  council  of  Zurich,  he  undertook  a  complete  revo- 
lution of  ecclesiastical  doctrine  and  practice,  banished  all  images,  crosses, 
candles,  altars,  and  organs,  from  the  churches,  and  administered  the 
Lord's  Supper,  in  which  he  recognized  nothing  but  a  token  of  remem- 
brance and  fellowship,  after  the  manner  of  the  early  Christian  love-feasts; 
that  is,  the  communicants  received  the  consecrated  elements  whilst  sit- 
ting. This  latter  proceeding  entangled  Zwingle  in  a  fatal  controversy 
•with  Luther.  Luther  would  not  receive  the  words  employed  in  institut- 
ting  the  sacrament,  "  this  is  my  body,"  in  the  sense  of  "  this  represents 
my  body,"  as  Zwingle  explained  them,  but  asserted  the  bodily  presence 
of  Christ  in  the  Lord's  Supper.  It  was  in  vain  that  Philip  of  Hesse 
attempted  to  prevent  this  dangerous  division  by  a  disputation  at  Mar- 
burg. Luther  saw  a  denial  of  Christ  in  the  doctrine  maintained  b/  his 
opponent,  and  thrust  back  the  brotherly  hand  that  Zwingle  offered  him 
with  tears.  He  also  opposed  himself  to  any  union  with  the  towns  of 
Upper  Germany  which  had  adopted  Zwingle's  views,  so  that  these  pre- 
sented their  own  confession  of  faith  to  the  Aunjsburg  Diet. 

§  326.  The  same  disturbances  succeeded  the  appearance  of  Zwingle 
in  Switzerland  as  had  followed  that  of  Luther  in  Germany.  In  Zurich, 
Basle,  Berne,  in  Schaffhausen,  the  Rhinethal,  and  other  cantons,  the 
Church  was  reformed  according  to  the  principles  of  Zwingle  ;  in  Appen- 
zell,  the  Grisons,  St.  Gall,  Glarus,  and  other  places,  the  adherents  of  the 
old  Church  contended  with  those  of  the  new ;  but  in  the  four  forest  can- 
tons (Schwitz,  Uri,  Unterwalden,  and  Lucerne),'  and  in  Zug,  the  Catholic 
faith  remained  predominant.  This  was  occasioned,  in  addition  to  the  in- 
fluence exercised  on  the  simple  inhabitants  of  these  original  cantons  by 
the  monks  and  clergy,  by  the  circumstance  that  the  engaging  in  foreign 
military  services,  a  custom  opposed  by  the  Reformers,  here  formed  one 
of  the  principal  means  of  support.  These  five  places  concluded  an  alli- 
ance with  Austria,  and  suppressed  every  innovation  with  a  strong  hand; 
wliilst  Berne  and  Zurich,  on  the  other  hand,  afforded  their  assistance 
with  uncharitable  zeal  and  violence  in  the  frontier  towns  of  the  Reform- 
ation. In  this  excited  state  of  men's  minds,  a  war  was  inevitable,  particu- 
larly as  Zwingle  entertained  the  project  of  effecting  such  a  political  revo- 
lution in  Switzerland  as  would  give  the  supremacy  to  the  two  most  power- 
ful cantons,  Berne  and  Zurich.  Mutual  revilings  of  the  clergy,  which 
remained  unpunished,  increased  the  irritation  and  provoked  hostilities 


THE   WARS   OF   THE   HOUSE   OF  HAPSBURG.  217 

Zurich  and  Berne  blocked  up  the  public  roads,  and  prevented  the  trans- 
port of  goods  and  of  the  necessaries  of  life.  This  proceeding  enraged  the 
Catholic  cantons.  They  made  preparations  in  secret,  and  fell  upon  the 
people  of  Zurich.  The  latter,  surprised,  irresolute,  and  forsaken  by  the 
Bernese,  marched  with  a  troop  of  2,000  men  against  an  enemy  of  four 
times  their  number,  but  sustained  a  bloody  defeat  in  the 
battle  of  Kappel.  The  courageous  Zwingle,  who  had  march- 
ed with  them  as  field  preacher,  fell  beside  the  banner  of  the  city,  and 
with  him  fell  the  staunchcst  friends  of  the  Reformation.  His  dead  body, 
after  being  exposed  tp  the  insults  of  the  enraged  multitude,  was  at  length 
burnt  and  the  ashes  scattered  to  the  winds.  This  event  restored  the  old 
Church  in  many  places  that  were  favorably  disposed  to  the  Reformation, 
and  was  the  occasion  of  the  religious  divisions  that  since  that  time  have 
prevailed  in  Switzerland. 

2.  THE  WARS  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  HAPSBURG  WITH  FRANCE. 

Charles  V.  §  ^^^'  Charles  V.  reigned  over  an  empire  such  as  had  not 

A.  D.  existed  since  the  days  of  Charlemagne.     Before  arriving  at 

"  years  of  maturity,  he  was  already  lord  of  the  rich   Nether- 

lands, which  had  devolved  upon  him  as  his  maternal  inheritance  ;  when  a 
youth  (after  the  death  of  Iiis  paternal  grandfather,  Ferdinand  tlie  Catho- 
lic), he  obtained  possession  of  the  united  Spanish  empire,  with  tlie  beau- 
tiful kingdoms  of  Naples  and  Sicily,  and  the  newly-discovered  territories 
in  America  in  the  West  Indies ;  he  inherited  in  early  manhood  the 
Hapsburgo-Austrian  States  (which  he  relinquished  to  his  brother  Fer- 
dinand), and  became  the  successor  of  his  grandfather,  Maximilian,  on  the 
imperial  throne  of  Germany,  by  the  choice  of  the  Electors.  He  might 
say  with  truth,  that  the  sun  never  set  in  his  dominions.  He  was  a  man 
of  rare  sagacity  and  indefatigable  activity;  great  in  the  cabinet,  as  director 
of  the  affairs  of  state,  and  brave  in  the  field,  as  leader  of  the  ranks  of 
war.  His  antagonist  and  rival  was  Francis  I.  of  France,  who  was  as  much 
renowned  for  his  love  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  for  his  chivalrous 
conduct  in  the  field,  as  he  was  infamous  for  his  tyranny,  his  luxury,  and 
love  of  pleasure,  and  his  devotion  to  his  mistresses.  An  unextinguish- 
able  jealousy  subsisted  between  Francis  and  Charles.  Each  wished  to 
be  the  first  prince  in  Europe ;  and  each  eagerly  contested  the  possession 
of  the  imperial  throne  of  Germany,  which  could  alone  procure  him  this 
supremacy.  Charles  triumphed,  and  from  that  moment  Francis  became  his 
decided  enemy,  and  sought  every  means  of  weakening  his  power.  Four 
wars  arose  out  of  this  contention,  which  were  principally  occasioned  by 
Milan.  This  beautiful  dukedom  had  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  French 
Bince  the  battle  of  Marignano  (§  286)  ;  but  Charles  claimed  it  as  a  fief 
of  the  German  empire,  and  led  a  vast  army,  composed  chiefly  of  German 
peasants,  under  the  conduct  of  the  valiant  condottieri,  Frundsberg, 
19 


218  THE    MODERN-    EPOCH. 

Scliartlln,  and  others,  against  the  French  and  their  allies,  the  Swiss.  At 
that  time,  war  was  carried  on  with  mercenary  troops  exclusively ;  no 
nation  could  venture  to  oppose  themselvos  to  the  Helvetians  and  Ger- 
mans ;  the  knightly  tactics  of  an  earlier  period  had  fallen  before  their 
matchlocks,  as  the  castles  before  their  heavy  artillery.  The  French  were 
conquered.  They  lost  Milan  and  Genoa,  after  several  bloody  encoun- 
ters, and  were  forced  to  retreat  over  the  Alps.  It  was  during  the  retreat, 
that  the  gallant  Bayard,  "the  knight  without  fear  and  without  reproach," 
fell  by  a  ball  from  a  German  arquebusier.  The  imperial  army,  conducted 
by  the  Constable  of  Bourbon,  the  richest  and  the. most  powerful  of  the 
French  nobles,  who  had  entered  into  Charles's  service  for  the  purpose 
of  revenging  his  injuries  and  wrongs  upon  the  French  court,  marched 
into  the  south  of  France,  but  soon  found  itself  compelled  to  retreat  by  the 
gallant  resistance  of  the  burghers  of  Marseilles. 

§  328.  Francis  I.  himself  now  marched  into  Italy,  at  the  head  of  a 
stately  and  well-appointed  army,  for  the  purpose  of  wiping  off  the  dis- 
grace of  the  defeat,  and  winning  back  that  which  had  been  lost.  But 
being  detained  for  a  long  time  before  the  walls  of  Pavia,  the  active  Bour- 
bon succeeded  in  collecting  a  fresh  army  of  peasants,  and  uniting  himself 
with  the  Spanish  general,  Pescara.  But  want  of  money  and  the  neces- 
saries of  life  soon  reduced  the  united  forces  to  the  greatest  distress,  whilst 
the  wealthy  camp  of  the  French  was  abundantly  supplied  with  every 
thing  needful.  Bourbon  and  Frundsberg  took  advantage  of  this  circum- 
stance to  excite  the  peasants  to  attempt  the  storm  of  the  French  camp. 
The  bloody  fight  of  Pavia,  in  which  the  French  were  de- 
feated, originated  in  a  nocturnal  attack.  Francis  I.  himself, 
after  a  chivalrous  defence,  was  compelled  to  surrender,  and  to  proceed 
as  a  prisoner  to  Madrid.  10,000  gallant  warriors  found  their  deaths  on 
the  field  of  battle,  or  in  the  waters  of  the  Ticino.  After  a  year's  captivity, 
Francis,  with  inward  reluctance,  consented  to  the  Peace  of  Madrid,  in 
which  he  swore  to  renounce  his  claims  upon  Milan,  and  to  surrender  the 
dukedom  of  Burgundy. 

Scarcely,  however,  had  Francis,  after  giving  up  his  two  sons  as  host- 
ages, regained  his  own  kingdom,  than  the  pope  released  him  from  his 
oath,  and  concluded  a  holy  alliance  with  him,  the  king  of  England,  and 
some  Italian  princes,  for  the  purpose  of  delivering  Italy  from  the  Span- 
ish yoke.  The  flames  of  war  burst  forth  anew  in  Italy ;  the  beat  of  the 
drum  was  again  heard  in  the  German  states  to  summon  the  peasants  to 
the  standard.  As  this  was  an  expedition  against  the  pope,  the  Lutherans 
came  forward  in  crowds,  so  that  the  brave  Frundsberg  was  soon  enabled 
to  lead  a  gallant  army  across  the  Alps,  and  to  unite  himself  with  Bour- 
bon. But  money  w^as  soon  wanting  to  pay  the  troops ;  a  rebellion  in  the 
army  gave  such  a  shock  to  Frundsberg  that  he  was  deprived  of  speech 
by  an  attack  of  apoplexy,  and  shortly  after  lost  his  life.     The  troops  de- 


THE  WARS  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  HAPSBURG.        219 

tnanded  to  be  led  to  Rome,  and  Bourbon  yielded  to  their  wishes.  It  waj 
on  the  6th  of  May,  1527,  that  the  Spanish  and  German  soldiers  scaled 
the  walls  of  Rome.  Bourbon  was  one  of  the  first  who  fell.  The  licen- 
tious bands,  unchecked  by  the  presence  of  a  leader,  dispersed  themselves 
through  the  city  and  committed  every  sort  of  outrage.  The  rich  palaces 
and  dwelling-houses  were  plundered,  the  churches  robbed  of  their  ves- 
sels and  ornaments  ;  the  Germans  insulted  the  pope  and  cardinals  by 
ridiculous  processions  and  mummeries.  Clement  was  obliged  to  purchase 
his  freedom  under  harsh  conditions,  and  made  use  of  the  first  opportunity 
to  escape.  The  emperor  affected  a  display  of  grief  and  displeasure  at 
the  injuries  suffered  by  the  head  of  the  Church,  though  inwardly  pleased 
at  his  humiliation. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  French  had  made  some  conquests  in  upper 
Italy,  and  then  marched  into  Naples,  for  the  purpose  of  wresting  this 
kingdom  from  the  Spaniards.  But  their  army  suffering  severely  from 
pestilence,  and  the  troops  of  the  emperor  being  reduced  one  half  by  their 
excesses  in  Rome,  both  parties  became  desirous  of  peace.  The  contend- 
ing kings  arranged  their  differences  by  the  interposition  of  the  mother  of 
Francis  and  the  aunt  of  Charles,  in  what  was   called  the 

A.  D.  1529.  . 

Ladies'  Peace  of  Cambray ;  in  virtue  of  which,  Francis  re- 
linquished his  pretensions  to  Milan,  and  paid  two  million  crowns  for  the 
ransom  of  his  two  sons,  but  retained  possession  of  Burgundy.  The  pope 
also,  and  the  Italian  princes,  soon  made  their  peace.  Charles  was 
invested  with  the  Roman  and  Lombard  crowns  by  Clement,  who  lived 
with  him  in  Bologna  under  the  same  roof,  and  promised,  in  return,  to 
exterminate  heresy,  and  to  bring  back  the  expelled  Medici  to  Florence. 
The  latter  project  was  accomplished ;  Florence  was  conquered  and  de- 
prived of  its  republican  constitution  (§  289).  But  the  restoration  of  the 
unity  of  the  Church  was  no  longer  in  the  power  of  man.  The  Diet  of 
Augsburg,  that  was  appointed  for  this  purpose,  did  not  conduce  to  the 
desired  result  (§  324). 

§  329.  Francis,  however,  did  not  relinquish  the  thought  of  again 
recovering  the  dukedom  of  Milan,  and  even  entered  into  an  alliance  with 
the  Turks  a  short  time  after,  for  the  purpose  of  attaining  this  object. 
In  the  same  year  in  which  Charles  took  Tunis  by  a  gallant  attack, 
l53o  P^^  ^^  ^"^  *^  ^^^®  piracies  of  the  Mohammedan  prince,  Hay- 
raddin  Barbarossa,  and  set  20,000  Christian  captives  at 
liberty,  Francis  made  a  sudden  campaign  into  upper  Italy,  and  took  pos- 
session, as  a  preliminary  step,  of  Savoy  and  Piedmont,  the  duke  of  which 
was  a  relative  and  ally  of  Charles.  But  in  the  following  year,  Charles 
marched  with  a  stately  army  into  Provence,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying 
the  w^ar  into  his  enemy's  own  territorj  ;  but  was  compelled  to  retreat 
with  loss,  in  consequence  of  the  French  general,  the  Constable  Mont- 
morenci,  reducing  the  whole  of  the  level  country  between  the  Rhone  and 


220  THE   MODERN   EPOCH, 

the  passes  of  the  Alps  to  a  desert,  and  thus  producing  scarcity  and 
disease  in  the  emperor's  army.  But  as  the  whole  of  Christendom  was 
indignant  at  the  alliance  between  Francis  and  the  Ottomans,  who  com- 
mitted horrible  devastations  in  lower  Italy  and  the  Greek  islands.  Pope 
Paul  III.  interposed  as  a  mediator,  and  brought  about  the 

A  D   1538  '  o 

conclusion  of  the  third  war  by  the  ten  years'  truce  of  Nice, 
which  allowed  every  one  to  retain  that  of  which  he  was  then  in  posses- 
sion. A  personal  interview  between  the  two  monarchs  was  to  have  obli- 
terated all  their  differences  forever;  and  Charles  was  so 
convinced  of  the  knightly  faith  of  his  rival,  that,  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  when  an  insurrection  in  Ghent  required  his  immediate  pre- 
sence in  the  Netherlands,  he  took  his  road  thither  through  Paris.  But  this 
friendship  was  not  of  long  duration.  In  the  year  1541,  Charles  undertook 
A  D  1541  ^  second  African  expedition,  for  the  purpose  of  completely 
destroying  the  corsairs,  who  rendered  the  Mediterranean 
insecure  from  Algiers,  as  they  had  formerly  done  from  Tunis.  But  this 
time,  the  attack  was  frustrated  by  the  storms  and  rains  of  the  later 
autumn,  and  by  the  attacks  of  the  enemy,  which  were  rendered  particu- 
larly dangerous  by  the  swampy  character  of  the  ground.  The  emperor, 
who  magnanimously  shared  all  the  dangers  and  sufferings  of  the  meanest 
of  his  followers,  was  obliged  to  retreat  without  effecting  his  object,  after 
suffering  a  considerable  loss  in  ships  and  troops.  This  termination  of  the 
enterprise  may  have  filled  the  French  king  with  the  hope  that  he  might 
at  length  be  able  to  overpower  his  adversary.  He,  therefore,  after  effecting 
A.  D.  an  alliance  with  the  sultan,  commenced  a  fourth  war  against 

1542-1544.      the  emperor.     But  when  the  latter  marched  wdth  a  vast 
army  out  of  Germany  into  Champagne,  and  approached  within  two  days' 

march  of  the  terrified  capital,  Francis  hastened  to  conclude 

A.  D.  1544.         ,  „  ^  1-,  1  .       .  ,  /, 

the  peace  oi  Lrespy.     Irom   this  tmie,  the  supremacy  of 

the  house  of  Ilapsburg  in  Italy  remained  undisputed.     Francis  I.  died 

Henry  H.         three  years  afterwards,  but  his  son  and  successor,  Henry  II., 

A.  D.  followed  the  same  path.    During  the  war  of  religion  in  Ger- 

1547  -  i>o  .      n^any,  he  entered  into  an  alliance  with  the  Protestant  princes 

(§  337),  whilst  in  his  own  dominions  he  suppressed  the  new  doctrines  by 

bloody  persecutions.   When  Charles  V.  at  length  quitted  the  world's  stage, 

the  war  was  still  continued  for  a  few  years  between  his  son,  Philip  II., 

and  the  French  kinp^,  till  at  length  the  peace  of  Chateau- 

A.  D.  1559.         ^       ,         .  IT  , 

Lambresis  put  an  end  to  the  open  contest  between  the  two 
monarchs,  without,  however,  extinguishing  the  hereditary  animosity 
between  the  royal  houses  of  France  and  Hapsburg. 

3.    THE    WAR    OF    RELIGION    IN    GERMANY. 

§  330.  This  war,  and  the  apprehensions  that  were  entertained  of  the 
Turks,  who  led  army  after  army  into  the  Austrian  territories,  prevented 


THE    WAR   OF   RELIGION   IN   GERMANY.  221 

the  emperor  from  putting  into  effect  the  resolution  of  the  Diet  of  Augs^ 
burg  against  the  German  Protestants,  and  compelling  them  by  force  to 
return  to  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic  Church.  When,  in  consequence  of 
this  order,  the  imperial  chamber  began  to  proceed  against  the  evangelical 
states  on  account  of  their  confiscation  of  ecclesiastical  property,  the  Lu- 
theran princes  and  cities,  under  the  conduct  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony  and 
the  landn^rave  of  Hesse,  formed  themselves  into  a  league  at 

A.  D   1£31.  o  '  o 

Smalcald,  in  the  Thuringian  forest,  for  their  mutual  defence 
in  case  any  of  them  should  be  attacked  for  the  word  of  God's  sake.  In 
the  following  year,  the  emperor  concluded  the  peace  of  Nuremberg  with 
this  league,  in  which  both  parties  promised  to  refrain  from  hostilities  till 
a  Council  of  the  Church,  the  calling  of  which  was  vehemently  urged 
upon  Clement  VII.  by  the  emperor,  should  be  assembled.  The  law  pro- 
ceedings were,  in  the  mean  time,  to  cease.  This  treaty  bound  the  hands 
of  the  Protestants,  without  giving  them  any  assurance  for  the  future ;  but 
afforded  great  facilities  for  the  diffusion  of  the  Gospel  over  the  whole  of 
Germany.  The  introduction  of  the  Lutheran  form  of  worship  into  Wir- 
temberg  was  an  event- of  the  greatest  importance.  Duke  Ulrick,  a  hasty- 
tempered  and  cruel  man,  who,  from  motives  of  jealousy,  had  slain  a 
knight  of  his  court  (Hans  von  Hutten)  with  his  own  hand,  had  compelled 
his  wife  to  take  flight  by  his  bad  treatment,  had  oppressed  his  subjects 
and  conquered  the  imperial  city  of  Reutlingen,  was  at  length  outlawed 
for  disturbing  the  peate  of  the  country,  and  driven  from  his  land  and 
vassals  by  the  Swabian  league.  For  fourteen  years,  Ulrick  was  com- 
pelled to  lead  a  wandering  life  abroad,  and  to  shun  his  dukedom,  which, 
in  the  mean  time,  was  placed  under  the  government  of  Austria,  when  the 
landgrave  Philip  of  Hesse  embraced  the  resolution  of  restoring  to  Wir- 
temberg  the  duke,  who  was  then  living  at  his  court.  He  marched  into 
Svvabia  with  a  well-appointed  army,  defeated  the  Austrian  governor  at 
Laufen  on  the  Neckar,  and  reestablished  the  lawful  ruler.  Ulrick  was 
received  with  joy  by  his  people,  who  had  forgotten  his  former  tyranny, 
and  who  were  easily  induced  to  receive  the  evangelical  doctrines  which 
Ulrick  had  adopted  in  his  misfortunes,  and  which  he  now  had  dissemi- 
nated by  Brenz  and  Schnepf.  The  Church  in  Wirtemberg  soon  became 
Lutheran,  and  Tubingen  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  seminaries  of 
evangelical  learning. 

§  33L  But  the  new  Church  was  not  wanting  in  spurious  growths. 
The  doctrine  of  the  Anabaptists,  who  mistook  their  own  passions  for 
divine  inspirations,  had  not  been  suppressed  by  the  death  of  Thomas 
MiJnzer  (§  322.)  Notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the  Reformers  and 
the  discouragement  given  by  every  lawful  magistrate,  it  would  re-appear 
here  and  there,  in  places  where  it  had  been  secretly  carried  by  fugitives. 
The  doctrines  of  these  Anabaptists  displayed  themselves  in  their  most 
frightful  shape  in  Munster.  It  was  in  this  place  that  the  Reformation 
ID* 


222  .  THE    MODERN   EPOCH. 

had  made  violent  way  for  itself,  and  had  compelled  the  bishop  and  canons 
to  take  flight.  But  it  soon  became  evident  that  Rottman,  the  most  influ- 
ential of  its  preachers,  entertained  Anabaptist  notions.  When  two  vaga- 
bond prophets  from  the  Netherlands,  Jan  Matthys  and  his  countryman 
and  disciple,  the  tailor,  John  Bockhold  (called  John  of  Leyden,)  joined 
themselves  to  him,  the  Anabaptist  party  in  a  short  time  attained  so  com- 
plete a  supremacy,  that  they  got  possession  of  all  the  city  offices,  drove 
all  the  inhabitants  who  were  not  of  their  own  way  of  thinking  out  of  the 
town  in  the  midst  of  winter,  and  divided  their  property  among  them- 
selves. They  now  established  a  religious  commonwealth,  in  which 
Matthys  possessed  unlimited  power,  introduced  community  of  goods,  and 
conducted  the  defence  of  the  city  against  the  besieging  army  of  the  bishop 
of  Munster.  The  fanaticism  rose  to  its  height  when  Matthys  was  killed 
in  a  sally  against  the  enemy,  and  Bockold  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
commonwealth.  This  man  transferred  the  government  of  the  city  to 
twelve  elders,  whom  he  selected  from  the  most  violent  of  the  fanatics, 
and  among  whom,  Knipperdoling,  who  was  burgomaster  and  executioner, 
played  the  most  distinguished  part.  He  then  introduced  the  practice  of 
polygamy,  and  mercilessly  put  to  death  those  who  indignantly  denounced 
this  outrage  to  Christian  morality.  When  this  crazy  fanaticism  had 
reached  its  highest  pitch,  the  prophet  assumed  the  title  (from  Divine 
inspiration)  of  "  King  of  the  New  Israel."  This  "  tailor  king,"  orna- 
mented with  the  insignia  of  his  rank  (a  crown  and  a  globe  suspended  by 
a  golden  chain),  and  magnificently  clothed,  held  his  sittings  for  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice  in  the  market-place  of  Munster,  where  the  "  chair 
of  David  "  was  set  up,  and  introduced  a  government  of  mixed  tyranny 
and  fanaticism,  in  which  spiritual  pride  and  carnal  lust  were  most  repul- 
sively associated. 

For  a  long  time,  the  Anabaptists  resisted  the  attacks  of  their  imper- 
fectly armed  enemies  with  courage  and  success ;  when  the  besieging 
army  had  been  reinforced  by  the  empire,  and  the  closely  pressed  town 
began  to  suffer  the  horrors  of  famine,  they  still  resolutely  maintained 
their  defence ;  and  even  when  the  enemy  were  within  their  walls,  they 
still  resisted  with  the  courage  of  desperation.  Rottman  fell  fighting ; 
John  of  Leyden  and  Knipperdoling  were  put  to  death  by  torture,  and 
their  dead  bodies  suspended  in  iron  cages  on  the  tower ;  the  others  were 
either  executed  or  expelled  the  city.  The  bishop,  the  canons,  and  the 
nobility,  returned  and  introduced  Catholicism  again  in  all  its  rigor,  which 
since  that  time  has  retained  its  preeminence  in  Munster. 

After  a  few  decenniums,  the  Anabaptists  experienced  a  wholesome 
reformation  of  their  doctrines  and  discipline  from  Menno,  in  which  they 
have  continued  to  the  present  day,  under  the  name  of  Mennonites.  They 
are  still  distinguished  by  simplicity  of  dress  and  manner  of  living,  by 
their  rejection  of  a  separate  priesthood,  of  infant  baptism,  of  oaths,  of 


THE   WAR   OF   RELIGION   IN    GERMANY.  223 

military  service,  &c. ;  but  they  have  given  up  those  principles  of  an  ear- 
lier period  which  were  dangerous  to  morality  and  the  state.  They  lead 
a  quiet  life  as  tenant  farmers  and  peasants. 

§  332.  Shortly  after  this,  the  Reformed  doctrines  gained  admission  into 
the  duchy  of  Saxony  and  the  electorate  of  Brandenburg,  by  the  death 
of  two  princes  who  had  hitherto  clung  resolutely  to  the  Roman  Cathohc 
creed.  Duke  George  of  Saxony  was  followed  by  his  brother 
Henry,  who,  like  his  son  Maurice,  was  devoted  to  the  Refor- 
mation, and  ordered  the  Reformed  worship  to  be  established  in  Leipsic, 
Meissen,  and  Dresden.  In  the  same  year,  Joachim  II.  received  the 
Lord's  Supper  under  both  forms  in  Spandau,  upon  which  the  countiy 
embraced  the  Protestant  doctrine.  The  conversion  of  Saxony  and 
Brandenburg  was  decisive  for  the  whole  north  of  Germany.  Henry  of 
Brunswick- AVolfenbiJttel,  a  cruel  and  profligate  man,  alone  adhered  to  the 
ancient  CImrch,  less  from  conviction  than  from  animosity  to  the  landgrave 
of  Hesse,  the  former  friend  of  his  youth. 'But  the  Gospel  triumphed  even 
in  Wolfenbuttel,  when,  after  a  furious  controversy,  injurious  alike  to  the 
dignity  of  princes  and  human  nature,  Henry  was  overpowered  by  Hes- 
sian, and  Saxon  troops  and  carried  into  captivity.  Otho  Ileinrich  order- 
ed the  Lutheran  doctrines  to  be  taught  in  the  Upper  Palatinate,  by  the 
Nuremburger  preacher,  Osiander ;  and  a  few  weeks  before  Luther's 
death,  the  Eucharist  was  administered  in  both  forms  in  the  Palatinate  of 
the  Rhine,  after  the  congregation  which  assembled  on  the  3d  of  January 
to  hear  mass,  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  had  set  up  the  evangeli- 
cal hymn,  "  Salvation  hath  visited  us."  Baden  Durlach  also  acknow- 
ledged the  Reformed  confession ;  and  when  the  Elector,  Hermann  of 
Cologne,  proposed  a  moderate  plan  of  reformation  to  his  Estates,  and  the 
duke  of  Cleves  appeared  inclined  to  join  the  league  of  Smalcald,  it  seem- 
ed that  the  Catholic  Church  of  Germany  must  succumb,  unless  a  stop 
were  put  to  the  progress  of  the  Reformation  by  force.  The  emperor 
was  convinced  that  neither  Diets  nor  religious  discussions  could  heal  the 
division  in  the  Church ;  his  hopes  rested  entirely  on  the  general  Council, 
which  Pope  Paul  III.  had  summoned  at  Trent.  But  the  Protestants, 
who  foresaw  that  their  doctrines  would  be  condemned  in  a  Council  that 
was  thus  held  under  the  authority  of  the  pope,  rejected  it,  as  being  nei- 
tlier  free  nor  impartial,  and  demanded  a  general  Synod  of  the  Church 
of  Germany.  This  destroyed  the  emperor's  last  hope  of  an  amica- 
ble arrangement,  and  determined  him  to  attempt  the  restoration  of 
Luther  dies,  the  Church  by  force  of  arms.  One  year  after  Luther's 
Feb.  18th,  death,  at  his  native  city  of  Eisleben,  whither  he  had  been 
^^*^-  summoned  to  compose  a  difference,  the  war  of   Smalcald 

broke  out  between  Charles  V.  and  the  Protestant  princes  and  cities  of 
Germany. 

§  333.  When  the  emperor  had  determined  upon  war,  he  entered  into  a 


224  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

secret  alliance  with  the  pope,  who  promised  him  subsidies  of  money, 
with  the  spiritual  Electors,  and  with  the  duke  of  Bavaria ;  but  he  found 
the  most  important  of  his  allies  in  the  Protestant  duke,  Maurice  of  Saxo- 
ny. This  young,  shrewd,  and  military  prince,  who,  since  1541,  had  been 
the  ruler  of  Albertine  Saxony,  had  long  separated  himself  from  the 
league  of  Smalcald  and  joined  the  emperor,  out  of  envy  and  hatred  to 
his  cousin,  John  Frederick,  although  Philip  of  Hesse  was  his  father-in- 
law.  This  alliance  was  again  renewed.  Maurice  promised  obedience 
and  devotion  to  the  emperor,  and  submission  to  the  resolutions  of  the 
Tridentine  Council,  provided  it  gave  its  sanction  to  the  three  chief  points 
in  the  Protestant  view, — justification  by  faith,  the  cup,  and  the  marriage 
of  the  clergy.  Charles,  in  return,  held  out  the  prospect  of  an  increase 
of  his  territories  and  the  electorship  of  Saxony.  The  Protestants  had  so 
little  suspicion  of  this  arrangement,  that  when  the  Smalcald  forces  march- 
ed into  the  field,  the  Elector,  during  his  absence  with  the  army,  made 
over  the  government  of  Courland  to  his  cousin  Maurice.  The  brave 
Schartlin,  whom  the  Upper  German  cities  had  chosen  general,  wished  to 
bring  matters  to  a  conclusion,  by  making  a  rapid  advance  upon  Eegens- 
burg,  where  the  emperor  was  posted  with  a  handful  of  troops  ;  but  the 
council  of  war,  fearful  of  doing  injury  to  Bavaria,  forbade  the  enter- 
prise. Upon  this,  Schartlin  turned  towards  Tyrol,  with  the  purpose  of 
cutting  off  the  advance  of  the  Italian  troops,  or  of  dispersing  the  Coun- 
cil of  Trent ;  —  but  this  undertaking  was  also  disapproved  of,  lest  Ferdi- 
nand should  be  offended.  In  this  manner,  Charles,  who  had  already 
pronounced  the  ban  against  the  Elector  and  Landgrave  for  treason 
against  the  emperor  and  the  empire,  gained  time  to  draw  his  auxiliaries 
from  Italy,  and  to  occupy  a  strong  position  at  Ingolstadt.  Here,  also, 
the  Protestants  threw  away  the  time  in  trifling  and  useless  encounters, 
till  the  troops  of  the  Netherlands  having  united  themselves  to  the  impe- 
rial army,  Charles  was  in  a  position  to  assume  the  offensive.  He  march- 
ed into  Swabia,  whither  he  was  followed  by  the  army  of  Smalcald.  The 
damp  and  cold  weather  occasioned  sickness  among  the  Spanish  and 
Italian  troops,  and  afforded  the  Protestants  a  hope  of  effecting  a  favora- 
ble composition,  when  the  intelligence  that  Maurice  and  his  friends  and 
companions  in  the  faith  had  proved  traitors,  and  had  marched  an  hostile 
army  into  Courland,  changed  the  whole  face  of  affairs.  John  Frederick 
at  once  hastened  back  to  his  states  ;  the  landgrave  and  the  other  leaders 
soon  returned,  and  in  a  short  time  the  whole  army  of  Smalcald  was  dis- 
solved. 

§  334.  South  Germany  now  stood  open  to  the  emperor.  \Yell-inten- 
tioned  advisers  endeavored  to  persuade  him  to  allow  free  toleration  to  re- 
ligious opinions,  and  by  this  means  to  bring  back  his  estates  to  their 
former  obedience  and  devotion.  But  Charles  was  bent  upon  bringing 
back  the  unity  of  the  Church,  and,  at  the  same  time,  on  restoring  the 


THE  WAK   OF  RELIGION  IN   GERMANY.  225 

imperial  authority  to  its  ancient  dignity.  With  this  object,  he  required 
the  princes  and  cities  of  southern  Germany  to  submit  themselves,  and  to 
renounce  the  league  of  Smalcald.  The  terrified  imperial  cities  soon 
yielded  obedience  to  the  demand.  Ulm  surrendered  her  artillery,  and 
purchased  the  favor  of  the  emperor  by  large  sums  of  money  ;  Heilbron, 
Esslingen,  Reutlingen,  and  many  others,  did  the  same.  Augsburg  was 
so  well  provided  with  artillery  and  provisions,  that  Schartlin  offered  the 
magistrates  to  defend  it  for  a  year  and  a  day,  till  Protestant  Germany 
should  have  recovered  itself  and  be  prepared  for  fresh  encounters ;  but 
the  pusillanimous  council  of  traders  (Fugger,  in  particular)  gained  the 
victory.  The  emperor  took  possession  of  the  town,  and  with  it,  the  ad- 
mirable artillery  and  a  large  sum  of  money.  Frankfort  and  Strasburg 
soon  followed.  The  old  duke  of  Wirtemberg  humbled  himself,  paid  his 
contributions  to  the  war,  and  surrendered  his  most  important  fortresses 
to  the  imperial  troops.  The  old  Elector  of  Cologne,  anathematized  by 
the  pope,  threatened  by  the  Spanish  troops,  and  at  last  abandoned  by  his 
estates,  renounced  his  office  in  favor  of  a  follower  of  the  old  creed,  who 
soon  thrust  aside  by  the  mass  the  German  worship  of  God.  By  the 
spring  of  1547,  the  whole  of  southern  Germany  was  reduced  to  obedi- 
ence without  a  blow  being  struck. 

§  335.  In  the  mean  time,  John  Frederick  had  repulsed  the  troops  of 
Maurice,  taken  possession  of  his  own  territories  with  but  little  trouble, 
and  conquered  the  greater  part  of  Albertine  Saxony,  as  far  as  Dresden 
and  Leipsic.  Wherever  he  went,  he  was  received  with  acclamations 
by  the  Protestant  part  of  the  population,  and  it  would  not  have  been 
difficult  for  him  to  collect  a  considerable  force,  and  to  bid  defiance 
to  the  enemies  of  the  evangelical  doctrines ;  but  John  Frederick 
was  not  an  enterprising  man,  and  despite  the  ban,  respect  for  the  em- 
peror was  not  yet  extinguished  in  his  pious  heart ;  —  he  rejected  the 
proffered  aid.  Maurice  in  his  need  invoked  the  assistance  of  the  empe- 
ror. The  latter  hastened  with  his  army  into  Bavaria,  in  defiance  of  the 
gout,  and,  uniting  his  forces  with  those  of  Maurice  and  Ferdinand, 
marched  against  his  enemy,  who  was  posted  on  the  Elbe  with  6000  men. 
Upon  the  approach  of  the  emperor,  John  Frederick  wished  to  fall  back 
upon  the  strong  town  of  Wittemberg,  until  he  could  collect  the  scattered 
divisions  of  his  army ;  but  the  imperial  force,  27,000  strong,  crossed  the 
Elbe  under  the  guidance  of  a  peasant,  surprised  the  cavalry,  who  were 
engaged  in  a  retreat,  on  a  Sunday  morning,  when  the  Elector  was  attend- 
ing Divine  worship,  and  won  an  easy  victory  in  the  battle  of  Muhlberg. 
John  Frederick,  a  heavy  man,  was  wounded  in  the  face  and  taken  pri- 
soner after  a  brave  defence.  In  prison,  he  displayed  the  serenity  of  soul 
which  is  the  fruit  of  a  good  conscience  and  a  firm  trust  in  God.  He 
heard  the  sentence  of  death  that  was  pronounced  upon  him  by  the  empe- 
ror with  the  greatest  composure,  and  without  even  interrupting  the  game 


226  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 

of  chess  in  whicli  he  was  engaged.  But  Charles  did  not  venture  to  carry 
the  sentence  into  execution.  He  proposed  to  change  the  punishment  of 
death  into  that  of  imprisonment  for  life,  upon  condition  that  John  Frede- 
rick should  give  up  his  fortresses  to  the  emperor,  and  surrender  his  terri- 
tories, together  with  the  electoral  dignity,  to  Maurice.  In  this  manner, 
the  electorship  of  Saxony  passed  from  the  line  of  Ernest  to  that  of 
Albert. 

It  was  now  the  turn  of  the  landgrave  of  Hesse  to  be  punished.  Mau- 
rice and  Joachim  of  Brandenburg  interceded  for  him,  and  obtained  the 
assurance,  "  that  if  he  would  make  an  unconditional  surrender,  apolo- 
gize for  his  proceedings,  and  deliver  up  his  castles,  he  should  be  punished 
neither  with  death  nor  with  perpetual  imprisonment."  These  conditions 
were  afterwards  modified  during  a  personal  interview,  and  the  two  princes 
assured  the  landgrave  of  the  safety  of  his  person  and  possessions.  In 
reliance  on  this  assurance,  Philip,  provided  with  a  safe  conduct,  present- 
ed himself  at  Halle,  where  the  imperial  camp  was  posted.  It  was  here 
that,  after  having  asked  pardon  on  his  knees  in  the  midst  of  a  magnifi- 
cent assembly,  he  was  invited  to  supper  by  the  duke  of  Alba,  and  on 
going  to  the  castle,  was  retained  prisoner  in  spite  of  all  objections.  The 
emperor  could  not  deny  himself  the  triumph  of  having  his  two  greatest 
opponents  in  his  power.  He  shortly  afterwards  left  Saxony,  and  took 
his  prisoners  with  him.  This  proceeding  was  the  first  occasion  of  a  cool- 
ness between  Maurice  and  the  emperor. 

§  336.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  Council  of  Trent,  which  was  opened  on 
the  13th  of  December,  1545,  had  held  its  first  deliberations.  But  as  the 
proceedings  were  carried  on  under  the  guidance  of  the  papal  legates,  and 
the  chief  part  of  the  assembly  consisted  of  the  regular  clergy  and  the 
uncompromising  adherents  of  the  pope,  the  resolutions  assumed  such  a 
shape  that  the  Protestants  saw  in  them  rather  a  widening  of  the  pre- 
vious divisions,  than  any  approach  to  a  reconciliation.  This  course  was 
highly  displeasing  to  the  emperor,  who  hoped  now  to  have  brought  about 
that  unity  of  faith  which  had  so  long  been  wished  for ;  he  remonstrated, 
and  wished  the  resolutions  to  be  kept  secret,  as  he  had  just  brought  the 
Prot3stant  Estates  to  promise  that  they  would  submit  themselves  to  the 
Council,  if  the  points  already  determined  upon  might  be  reconsidered. 
But  Paul  III.,  who  saw  clearly  that  the  emperor  cherished  the  wish  of 
limiting  the  power  of  the  pope,  and  of  introducing  such  reforms  into  the 
Catholic  Church  that  the  Protestants  should  no  longer  hesitate  to  join  her 
communion,  not  only  allowed  the  resolutions  to  become  known,  but  re- 
moved the  Council  to  Bologna.  The  emperor  was  extremely  irritated 
at  this ;  he  forbade  the  clergy  to  leave  Trent,  but  could  only  retain  the 
emaller  number,  and  for  the  purpose  of  paving  the  way  to  a  reunion  of 
the  Church  in  Germany,  he  proclaimed  an  edict,  which  set  forth  how 
matters  should  be  conducted  until  the  termination  of  the  Council.     This 


THE  WAR  OF  RELIGION  IN   GERMANY.  227 

was  done  by  the  Augsburg  Interim ;  whicli,  at  first  designed  for  both 
religious  parties,  was  afterwards  restricted  to  the  Protestants.  By  this 
instrument,  the  use  of  the  cup  and  the  marriage  of  priests  were  per- 
mitted to  the  confessors  of  the  evangelical  Church ;  an  attempt  was  made 
to  approach  their  opinions  on  the  doctrines  of  justification,  the  mass,  &c., 
by  the  use  of  indefinite  modes  of  expression ;  but  in  the  celebration  of 
Divine  worship  and  in  the  ceremonies,  the  old  usages  were  retained. 
This  Interim  met  with  great  opposition,  less  from  the  Protestant  princes, 
than  from  the  towns  and  preachers.  The  latter  could  not  be  prevailed 
upon  to  receive  a  religion  that  was  offensive  to  their  consciences,  either 
by  deprivation  of  their  offices  or  by  loss  of  their  property  or  freedom. 
Driven  from  their  posts,  they  left  their  homes  and  household  hearths  to 
fly  by  secret  paths  to  the  north  of  Germany,  where  the  Interim  was 
utterly  rejected.  Nearly  400  preachers  became  exiles;  Magdeburg, 
which  was  under  the  ban,  afforded  an  asylum  to  the  greater  number.  In 
Saxony,  also,  the  cradle  of  the  Reformation,  many  preachers  fled,  from 
dislike  to  the  Leipsic  Interim,  by  the  composition  of  which  Melancthon 
incurred  the  charge  of  weakness  and  want  of  courage.  A  multitude  of 
pamphlets,  satires,  satirical  poems,  and  wood-cuts,  proceeded  from  Magde- 
burg, which  were  intended  to  bring  down  hatred  and  contempt  upon  the 
Interim  and  its  originators. 

§  337.  At  the  moment  when  the  emperor  believed  himself  to  be  on 
the  point  of  attaining  the  object  of  his  wishes ;  when  the  Council  had 
been  again  removed  to  Trent,  and  even  attended  by  some  of  the  Pro- 
testant Estates ;  when  every  circumstance  seemed  to  combine  to  raise 
him  to  the  position  of  temporal  head  of  Christendom,  in  the  sense  in 
which  the  term  was  understood  in  the  middle  ages ;  when  he  already  cher- 
ished the  thought  of  having  his  son  elected  as  his  successor,  and  thus 
rendering  the  imperial  throne  hereditary  in  his  family, — he  suddenly 
found  an  unexpected  opponent  in  the  man  to  whom  he  had  been  hitherto 
indebted  for  his  triumphs,  —  in  Maurice  of  Saxony.  This  sagacious 
prince  saw  plainly  in  what  a  perilous  position  the  civil  and  religious  liber- 
ties of  Germany  would  stand,  if  Charles  should  conduct  his  plans  to  a 
successful  issue  ;  he  saw  clearly  that  he  had  incurred  the  hate  of  all  Pro- 
testants by  his  treachery  to  the  common  cause,  since  he  had  undertaken, 
in  the  name  of  the  emperor,  to  prosecute  the  ban  against  Magdeburg, 
and  had  already  commenced  the  siege  of  the  city,  where  alone  the  pure 
word  of  the  Gospel  had  found  an  asylum.  He  could  only  restore  his 
lost  reputation  by  a%reat  and  daring  action.  He  concluded  a  secret  alli- 
ance with  several  German  princes,  and  assured  himself  of  the  aid  of  the 
French  king,  Henry  II.,  by  a  treaty,  in  virtue  of  which  the  latter  was 
permitted  to  occupy  the  towns  of  Metz,  Toul,  and  Verdun,  without 
infringement  of  the  rights  of  the  empire.  The  chivalrous  margrave, 
Albert  of  Brandenburg  Culnbach,  conducted  the  negotiation.   Upon  this, 


228  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 

Maurice  granted  pardon  and  the  free  exercise  of  religion  to  Magdeburg, 

which  immediately  submitted.     Warnings  were  sent  to  the  emperor,  who 

was  at  that  time  in  Innsbruck ;  but  Maurice,  who  was  a  master  in  the  art 

of  deception,  knew  how  to  dissipate  all  suspicions  as  they  arose  in  his 

mind,  and  Charles,  who  was  practised  in  the  intrigues  of  Spain  and  Italy, 

thought  it  impossible  that  he  should  be  outwitted  by  a  German.   Maurice 

,r  ,  .rr^  suddenly  advanced  with  three  divisions  of  his  army  into  the 
March,  1552.  ,i.     /    ,  .  ^    i        ,  -,  ,     ,    . 

south,  took  possession  or  Augsburg,  and  marched  mto  the 

Tyrol.  He  was  already  approaching  Innsbruck  with  the  purpose  of  mak- 
ing the  emperor  prisoner,  when  a  mutiny  among  the  German  peasants 
afforded  the  latter  an  opportunity  for  escape.  The  Tridentine  Council 
was  broken  up  in  confusion,  and  Charles,  after  setting  the  imprisoned 
Elector,  John  Frederick,  at  liberty,  fled  during  the  night,  ill  with  the 
gout  and  disheartened,  over  the  snow-covered  mountains  of  the  Tyrol 
into  Carinthia;  leaving  to  his  brother  Ferdinand  the  difficult  task  of 
establishing  peace.  Ferdinand  immediately  concluded  the  treaty  of 
Passau  with  the  Protestant  princes,  by  which  unconditional  religious 
liberty  was  granted  to  the  adherents  of  the  Augsburg  Confession,  the 
Interim  was  abolished,  the  Protestants  were  declared  independent  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  and  the  landgrave  of  Hesse  was  set  at  liberty.  A  per- 
manent peace  and  amnesty  was  at  the  same  time  decided  upon. 

§  338.  The  treaty  of  Passau  was  the  last  work  of  Maurice.     When 
his  former  confederate,  Albert  of  Brandenburg,  refused  to  accede  to  it, 

and   continued  his  wars  and  robberies   in  Lower    Saxony, 

A.  D.  1553.        ,  r        .  11.,.  T    1  .  A 

Maurice  marched  against  him  to  compel  him  to  peace.     A 

battle  was  fought  near  Sivershausen.  The  active  Maurice  was  victo- 
rious, but  he  received  a  gun-shot  wound  in  the  wild  confusion  of  the  bat- 
tle, of  which  he  died  two  days  after,  in  the  flower  of  his  manly  strength. 
He  was  a  man  of  rare  qualities,  "  prudent  and  secret,  enterprising  and 
energetic."  Two  years  after  his  death,  the  Religious  Peace  of  Augs- 
burg was  concluded,  by  which  the  Protestant  Estates  who  followed  the 
Augsburg  Confession  were  not  only  assured  of  full  liberty  of  conscience 
and  religion,  but  also  of  political  rights  equal  to  those  enjoyed  by  the 
Catholics,  and  the  continued  possession  of  the  confiscated  ecclesiastical 
property.  A  free  right  of  departure  was  permitted  to  subjects  who  did 
not  follow  the  religion  of  the  Electors ;  and  a  free  toleration  for  those 
that  remained.  The  demaiid  made  by  the  adherents  of  the  ancient  faith, 
that,  in  future,  those  of  the  clergy  who  should  join  the  new  Church  should 
lose  their  incomes  and  offices,  occasioned  the  most  vehement  disputes. 
As  it  was  impossible  to  come  to  an  agreement,  the  point  was  left  unde- 
cided, and  admitted  as  a  spiritual  reservation  into  the  laws  of  peace  — • 
"  a  seed  of  bloody  contests." 

§  339.  This  religious  peacs  frustrated  the  most  zealous  attempts  of  the 
emperor  to  restore  the  unity  of  the  Church,  and  deprived  him  of  tho 


PROGP.ESS    OF   THE    REFORMATION   THROUGH   EUROPE.  229 

interest  he  had  hitherto  taken  in  the  affairs  of  the  workl.  Oppressed 
with  discontent  and  bodily  suffering,  he  embraced  the  resolution  of  re- 
nouncing his  government,  and  of  passing  the  remainder  of  his  days  in 
quiet  retirement  »id  monastic  penance.  With  this  object,  he  made  over 
to  his  son  Philip,  at  a  solemn  assembly  at  Brussels,  first,  the  Nether- 
lands, and  a  short  time  after,  the  kingdoms  of  Spain  and  Naples,  to- 
gether with  the  New  "World ;  he  committed  the  government  of 
the  Austrian  states  and  the  affairs  of  Germany,  however,  to  his  brother 
Ferdinand.  After  this,  he  retired  to  the  west  of  Spain,  where 
he  had  had  a  residence  built  near  the  convent  of  Juste,  on  the  pleasant  de- 
clivity of  a  hill,  surrounded  by  plantations  of  trees.  He  lived  here  for 
two  years  in  quiet  retirement,  busied  with  the  practices  of  religion  and 
with  pious  contemplation.  In  the  mean  time,  Ferdinand  I.  received  the 
imperial  throne  of  Germany  by  the  election  of  the  princes,  after  he  had 
pledged  himself  to  observe  the  Peace  of  Religion, —  an  engagement  ho 
honestly  fulfilled. 

4.  PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION  THROUGH  EUROPE. 
a,   LUTHERANISM  AND  CALVINISM. 

§  340.  The  greatest  divisions  arose  in  Germany,  where  the  move- 
ments in  the  Church  had  taken  their  origin,  in  consequence  of  the  Re- 
formation. The  Lutheran  form  of  worship  strove  long  with  the  Catholic 
for  the  masteiy.  The  former  extended  itself  gr.idually  from  S.oxony  and 
Hesse  over  the  neighlx)ring  countries,  acquired  the  supremacy  in  north- 
ern Germany,  made  triumphant  progress  in  Swubia  and  Franconia,  and 
opened  itself  a  path  from  Strasburg  into  Alsacia  and  Lorraine.  The 
doctrines  of  Luther  had  penetrated  at  an  early  period  to  the  Vistula  and 
the  shores  of  the  Baltic,  where  the  Grand  blaster  o^  the  German  Order 
(§  227),  Albert  of  Brandenburg,  pressed  upon  by  the  Poles  and  deserted 
by  the  emperor  and  empire,  had  joined  the  evangelical  Church,  converted 
Prussia  into  an  hereditary  dukedom,  and  acknowledged  the  suzerainship 
•of  Poland.  The  same  thing  happened  in  Courland  and  Livonia,  with 
th(j  Head  of  the  Order  of  the  Sword.  The  Catholic  form  of  worship 
found  its  most  zealous  partisans  in  the  dukes  of  Bavaria,  in  the  royal 
house  of  Austria,  in  the  spiritual  Electors,  and  in  the  prince-bishops.  In- 
golstadt  was  an  active  seminary  for  the  ancient  faith.  Nevertheless,  as 
the  two  emperors,  Ferdinand  L  and  Maximilian  II.,  both  disdained  to  do 
violence  to  the  consciences  of  their  subjects,  the  evangelical  doctrines 
soon  obtained  numerous  adherents  in  the  hereditary  possessions  of  Aus- 
tria. The  Protestants  obtained  religious  toleration  for  themselves,  and 
built  several  churches  in  the  archduchy  of  Austria,  in  Carinthia,  and 
Styria.  In  Hungary  and  Transylvania,  the  Reformation  made  such  pro- 
gress that  the  e\'angelicdl  party  outnumbered  their  opponents,  and  obtain- 
ed religious  freedom  and  equal  political  rights  with  the  Catholics.  In  Bo- 
20 


230  THE    MODERN   EPOCH. 

hernia,  the  old  Hussites  (Utraquists)  mostij  embraced  the  Lutheran  doc« 
trines.  But  numerous  as  were  the  treaties  that  guaranteed  the  rights  of 
Protestants  in  the  Austrian  dominions,  they  were  disregarded  by  latei 
rulers,  who  restored  the  Catholic  State  Church  to  the  f)reeminence. 

The  Reformed  Church  that  originated  in  Switzerland,  also  found  its 
way  into  Germany  at  an  early  period.  It  is  true  that  the  doctrines  of 
Zwingle  were  only  received  and  maintained  by  a  few  towns  in  the  south 
of  Germany ;  but  when  Calvin,  in  Geneva,  seized  upon  the  principles 
of  Zwingle,  and  fashioned  them  into  a  complete  system  of  doctrine  by 
uniting  tliem  with  his  own  views,  the  reformed  Church  in  Germany  gain- 
ed a  constant  succession  of  adherents.  Frederick  HI.  introduced  this 
system  into  his  own  land  from  the  Palatinate,  and  ordered  Ursinus   and 

^^^^        Olevianus  to  draw  up  the  Ileidelberoj   Catechism,  a  widely 
A.  D.  1559.  /.  ^ 

extended  compendium  of  Calvin's  doctrine  ;  the  same  thing 

happened  in  Hesse,  Bremen,  and  Brandenburg.  Even  Melancthon  and  his 

disciples  (Philippists,  and  Cryptocalvinists)  were  convinced  in  their  hearts 

of  the  truth  of  Calvin's  views.     The  former  so   embittered  the  evening 

of  his  life  by  promulgating  these  opinions,  that  he  sank  into  his  grave 

^.^^        calumniated  and  full  of  sorrow,  and  his   disciples  brouHit 

A.  D.  I06O.  ...  CO 

persecution  and  imprisonment  upon  themselves  in  Saxony. 
The  Form  of  Concord,  a  confession  of  faith  that  was  subscribed,  about 
1580,  by  ninety-six  of  the  Lutheran  Estates  of  the  empire,  was  intended 
to  restore  harmony  among  the  German  Protestants;  but  it  merely  con- 
firmed the  division  between  the  Calvinists  and  Lutherans,  and  increased 
the  unhappy  animosity  of  one  party  against  the  other. 

§  341.  Switzerland  also  received  evangelical  confessions  of  faith,  as 
well  as  the  Catholic  doctrines ;  only  the  system  of  Zwingle,  that  was  re- 
ceived in  the  greater  German  cantons  (§  32G),  differed  less  from  the 
doctrine  of  Calvin  which  was  predominant  in  French  Switzerland,  than 
it  did  from  that  of  Luther.  John  Calvin,  a  learned  refugee  from  France, 
introduced  the  Reformation  and  the  confederation  into  Geneva,  a 
town  delightfully  situated  on  the  frontiers  of  Savoy  and 
France,  and  then,  like  the  lawgivers  of  antiquity,  he  exer- 
cised the  greatest  influence  on  the  government,  the  religion,  the  manners, 
and  the  education  of  the  city,  till  his  death  in  1564.  Calvin  was  a  man 
of  great  intellect  and  moral  power ;  severe  to  others  and  to  himself,  and 
lioitile  to  all  worldly  enjoyments,  —  he  acquired  a  command  over  men  by 
the  reverence  that  was  due  to  his  strong  and  pure  will.  The  doctrine  of 
Calvin  is  impressed  with  the  character  of  its  originator, — severity  and 
simplicity.  In  matters  of  faith,  he  adheres  to  Zwingle  only  so  far  as  the 
latter  embraces  the  severe  views  of  Augustine  (§  174),  and  holds  that 
men  are  incapable  of  doing  good  by  their  own  wills.  Calvin,  like  Zwin- 
gle, goes  back  to  the  primitive  apostolic  times,  and  commands  the  great- 
est siraphcity  in  ceremonies  and  forms  of  worship.     Images,  ornaments. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION  THROUGH  EUROPE.     231 

organs,  candles,  crucifixes,  all  are  banished  from  the  churches ;  the  ser- 
vice consists  in  prajer,  preaching,  and  the  singing  of  psalms,  which  Cal- 
vin's faithful  fellow-minister,  Theodore  Beza,  had  translated  into  French ; 
there  is  no  church  feast  except  the  rigorously  observed  Sunday  (Sab- 
bath). The  constitution  of  the  Calvinistic  Church  is  a  republican  syno- 
dial  government.  The  congregation,  represented  by  frcjply  elected  elders 
(presbytery),  exercises  the  power  of  the  Church,  chooses  the  ministers, 
watches  over  morals  by  means  of  the  elders,  administers  the  discipline 
and  punishments  of  the  Church,  and  the  distribution  of  alms.  The  min- 
isters and  a  portion  of  the  elders  constitute  the  synod,  whence  the  coun- 
try churches  receive  their  laws.  Their  severity  of  morals  occasionally 
induced  the  Calvinists  to  wage  war  against  lawful  amusements,  such  as 
the  theatre,  dancing,  and  the  more  refined  pleasures  of  society  ;  for  this 
reason,  their  doctrines  found  less  acceptance  among  the  higher  than  in 
the  middle  classes. 

§  342.  The  Calvinistic  doctrines  extended  themselves  from    Geneva 
over  the  flourishing  towns  of  southern  France,  where  they 
soon  numbered  so  many  adherents  that  they  were  able  to 
wage  war  for  many  years  with  the  dominant  Church.    The  French  court 
was  for  some  time  hesitating  which  form  of  religion  it  should  adopt ; 
political  motives  swayed  the  decision  in  favor  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
Commands  were  now  issued  against  "  the  so-called  reformed  religion," 
Calvinistic  ministers  were  given  over  to  the  flames,  and  an  attempt  was 
made  to  prevent  the  diffusion  of  their  doctrine  by  persecution  and  pun- 
ishment.    Calvinism  penetrated  into  the  Netherlands  from 
France  and  Switzerland,  where,  after  many  struggles,  it  be- 
came victorious  in  the  northern  provinces   (Holland).     At  the  synod  of 
Dort  (a.  d.  1618),  the  views  of  the  Arminians,  who  wished  to  give  a 
milder  form  to  Calvin's  severe  doctrine  of  predestination,  were  condemn- 
ed, and  the  Augustine  doctrine  of  election  maintained.     Tlie   chiefs  of 
the  Arminians,  particularly  the  deserving  statesman,  (Van  Olden  Barn- 
veldt),  and  the  distinguislied  historian,  Hugo  Grotius,  were  punished,  the 

one  by  death,  the  other  by  imprisonment  (§  360).  In  Scot- 
Scotland.  ,        ,      ,  ,.      ,    T      /•  1  1  U      .1 

land,  the  evangelical  doctrmes  were  long  suppressed  by  the 
couil  and  the  clergy,  and  many  courageous  confessors  perished  in  tho 
flames.  The  regent,  Mary  of  Guise,  sprung  from  a  French  familj', 
which  was  zealously  devoted  to  the  Komish  Church,  in  conjunction  with 
Cardinal  Beaton,  suppressed  the  innovators  by  severity.  But  when  the 
cardinal  had  fallQii  in  his  own  house  beneath  the  blows  of  a  troop  of 
conspirators,  and  the  regent  had  died  after  a  three  years'  contest  with 
the  people  who  were  striving  for  the  Gospel,  the  rude  preacher,  John 
Knox,  who  had  known  Calvin  in  Geneva,  succeeded  in  rendering  the 
Reformed  doctrines  triumphant.  The  doctrines,  the  form  of  worship, 
and  the.synodial  constitution  of  the  Calvinistic  Church,  were  introduced 


232  '     THE    MODERN   EPOCH. 

into  Scotland  bj  a  resolution  of  the  parliament,  the  mass  forbidden  a» 
idolatrous,  under  penalty  of  fine  and  death,  and  the  goods  of  the  Church 
confiscated.  Monasteries,  cathedrals,  and  treasures  of  art  were  destroy- 
ed with  a  blind  fury.  At  a  later  period,  the  Scottish  Church  received 
the  name  of  Presbyterian,  from  its  assemblies.  In  England,  similar 
principles,  entertained  by  the  Puritans,  succumbed  to  the  power  of  the 
High  Church;  but  they  were  diffused  by  numerous  sects,  and  received 
their  fullest  development  on  the  free  shores  of  North  America. 

h.    ESTABLISHMENT    OF    THE    ANGLICAN    CIIUKCn. 

§  343.  In  England,  the  disciples  of  Luther  were  at  first  bloodily  per- 
secuted, and  King  Henry  VIII.  obtained  such  favor  withtttie  court  of 
Rome,  by  a  learned  controversial  work  against  Luther  on  tlj^subject  of 
the  seven  sa-craments,  that  it  conferred  upon  him  the  title  of  Defender 
Henrv  VIII  ^^'  ^^^^  Faith.  But  Henry's  attachment  to  the  pope  was  con- 
A.  D.  verted  into  hatred  when  Clement  VII.  refused  to  separate 

3i)09-lo4/.  i^jj^^  from  his  Spanish  wife,  Catherine,  an  aunt  of  the  em- 
peror Charles  V.  Some  internal  scruples  respecting  the  validity  of  his 
marriage  with  Catherine,  who  had  been  the  wife  of  his  departed  brother^ 
and  a  wish*  to  unite  himself  to  the  lovely  Anne  Boleyn,  at  length  induced 
Henry  toattempt  the  desired  separation  by  a  rupture  with  Rome.  Sup- 
ported by  the  opinions  of  native  and  foreign  universities,  and  of  many 
learned  bodies,  as  to  the  invalidity  of  his  marriage,  he  had  had  himself 
divorced  from  Catherine,  and  married  to  Anne,  by  Thomas  Cranmer,  the 
new  bishop  of  Canterbury  ;  he  then  compelled  the  clergy  to  acknowledge 
liim  as  the  head  of  the  English  Church,  and  had  a  number  of  acts  passed 
by  the  parliament,  by  which  the  pope's  authority  and  influence  were  de- 
stroyed in  England.  The  king  then  set  about  effecting  such  alterations 
in  the  Church  as  appeared  to  him  to  be  useful,  or  which  suited  his 
caprice,  with  unexampled  severity  and  arbitrariness.  The  numerous 
monasteries  were  violently  dissolved,  the  monks  and  nuns  scarcely  pro- 
tected from  hunger,  and  the  conventual  property  either  united  to  the 
crown  or  bestowed  u[)on  courtiers.  The  tomb  of  Becket  with  its  rich 
altar  was  desecrated  and  j)lundered,  and  the  memory  of  the  ancient  saint 
(§  275)  turned  to  ridicule,  by  a  ludicrous  ceremony.  The  flames,  by  which 
I*uLherans  as  well  as  [lapists  were  consumed,  were  lighted  by  the  wooden 
images  of  the  saints.  On  the  other  hand,  he  left  the  remaining  institu- 
tions of  the  Catholic  Church  untouched,  and  commanded,  by  the  statute 
of  the  Six  bloody  Articles,  the  observance,  under  penalty  of  death,  of 
celibac}^,  auricuhu-  confession,  monastic  vows,  low  mass,  transubstantia*- 
tion,  and  the  withholding  of  the  cup.  The  venerable  Bishop  Fisher  and 
the  intellectual  ciiancellor,  Thomas  More,  the  author  of  the  "  Utopia," 
died  upon  the  scailbld,  because  they  did  not  a|)prove  the  innovations  in 
the  Church.     Enraged   at  this,  the  pope  at  length  fulminated  a  violent 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION  THROUGH  EUROPE.    233 

anathema  against  Henry  and  his  adherents,  at  the  moment  when  tlie  dis- 
content at  the  dissolution  of  the  cloisters  had  produced  an  insurrection 
among  the  peasantry  in  the  north  of  the  kingdom,  in  wliich  monks 
marched  at  the  head  of  the  bands.  Upon  this,  Henry  conderanecl  tlie 
friends  and  relations  of  Cardinal  Pole,  who  had  prepared  the  anathema, 
to  die  upon  the  scaffold  or  gallows,  and  delivered  over  abbots  and  monks 
in  the  dress  of  their  order  to  the  executioner. 

§  344.  But  the  despotism  and  sensuality  of  the  king  were  most  clearly 
displayed  in  his  treatment  of  his  wives.  Scarcely  had  the  divorced  Cathe- 
rine died,  far  from  the  court,  a  victim  to  her  sorrows  and  her  wrongs, 
before  her  rival,  Anne  Boleyn,  was  beheaded  by  the  command  of  her 
jealous  husband.  His  third  wife,  the  young  and  gentle  Jane  Seymour, 
died  a  few  days  after  giving  birth  to  the  delicate  Edward;  upon  which, 
Henry  suffered  himself  to  be  seduced  by  the  advice  of  his  chancellor,  and 
by  a  portrait  of  Holbein's,  into  suing  for  the  hand  of  a  German  princess, 
Anne  of  Cleves.  But  neither  her  figure  nor  her  disposition  suited  the 
amorous  king,  who  accordingly  procured  another  divorce  upon  grounds 
altogether  frivolous.  Catherine  Howard,  Henry's  fifth  wife,  retained  her 
affection  for  a  former  lover  after  her  elevation,  and  expiated  her  want  of 
fuitli  upon  the  scaffold ;  and  Catherine  Parr,  the  last  of  his  queens,  had 
only  her  pwn  shrewdness  to  thank  that  she  did  not  fall  a  victim  to  her  zeal 
for  the  Reformation.  Since  the  days  of  Nero  and  Domitian,  there  had 
hardly  been  a  monarch  who  had  surrendered  himself  so  completely  to  the 
promptings  of  a  despotic  nature,  a  passion  for  blood,  and  a  tyrannical 
will.  Even  on  his  death-bed,  he  issued  orders  for  executions. 
Edward  VI  ^  ^^^'  -^^  ^^*®  ^"^®  of  liis  father's  death,  Edward  VI.  num- 

^-  D-  bered  but  six  years  ;  Henry  had,  in  consequence,  appointed 

'  ~  "^"^  •  a  council,  to  conduct  the  government  during  his  son's  minor- 
ity. In  this  council,  Edward's  maternal  uncle  —  the  duke  of  Somerset, 
and  the  Archbishop  Cranmer,  attained  the  greatest  authority.  The  for- 
mer, raised  to  the  ofHce  of  Protector  of  England,  gradually  got  the  whole 
power  of  the  state  into  his  own  hands,  and  favored  tlie  establishment  of 
an  Anglican  Church,  which  had  been  undertaken  with  prudence  and  mo- 
deration by  his  friend  Cranmer.  This  consists  of  J  mixture  of  Catholic 
and  Protestant  elements.  Public  worship  was  accommodated  to  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  in  the  English  language,  which  was  compiled 
from  the  ancient  Mass  books ;  the  Communion  was  administered  in  both 
kinds ;  the  abolishing  of  celibacy,  and  the  confession  of  fai:h  in  tlic 
Thirty-nine  Articles,  is  in  conformity  with  other  Protestant  Churches ; 
on  the  other  hand,  the  episcopal  constitution,  the  continuance  in  the  use  of 
colored  robes  during  divine  worship,  and  a  few  ecclesiastical  statutes,  call 
the  Roman  Catholic  system  to  mind ;  only,  instead  of  the  pope,  the  king 
is  the  head  of  the  Church,  and  the  bishops  and  archbishops  are  appointed 
by  him. 


^ 


234  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

Somerset  made  many  enemies  bj  his  ambition,  who  first  procured  his 
fall,  and  at  length  his  execution.  Dudley,  earl  of  Northumberland,  the 
ambitious  chief  of  the  opposite  party,  stepped  into  his  place,  and  exer- 
cised the  same  unlimited  authority  over  the  young  king  and  the  country 
as  his  predecessor  had  done.  For  the  purpose  of  prolonging  his  sway, 
he  persuaded  the  dying  Edward  to  alter  the  will  of  his  father,  and  ap- 
point, as  his  successor,  Jane  Gray,  a  grand-niece  of  Henry  VIIT.,  who 
favored  the  evangelical  doctrines,  instead  of  Edward's  Catholic  sister 
Mary.  But  hatred  to  the  ambitious  Northumberland,  whose  son,  Guilford, 
was  the  husband  of  Jane  Gray,  and  the  hereditary  reverence  for  the 
Mary  Tudor  legitimate  inheritor,  operated  in  favor  of  Mary.  She  brought 
A-  D.  the  people  over  to  her  side  by  the  assurance  that  nobody 

00  .  gijQuij  i)Q  disturbed  on  account  of  his  religion,  and  succeeded 
in  gaining  the  throne.  Northumberland  died  on  the  scaffold.  Dudley 
and  the  classically  accomplished  Jane  Gray,  who  was  not  less  versed  in 
the  writings  of  Plato  than  in  the  Bible,  after  pining  for  some  time  in  pri- 
son, were  the  victims  of  a  similar  fate. 

§  34G.  Mary  did  not  remain  true  to  her  promise.  Bred  up  in  the 
Catholic  faith,  for  vv'hich  her  mother,  Catherine,  had  suffered,  she  looked 
upon  the  restoration  of  papacy  and  the  ancient  Church  forms  as  the  most 
important  of  her  duties  as  a  ruler.  She  had  the  Church  Reform  of  Ed- 
ward VI.  abolished  by  act  of  Parliament,  and  adopted  measures,  in  con- 
junction with  Cardinal  Pole,  Avhom  she  raised  to  the  archiepiscopal  chair 
of  Canterbury,  for  the  extirpation  of  heresy  and  the  restoration  of  the 
old  system.  The  refractory  bishops  were  deposed  ;  Cranmer  and  two  of 
his  most  zealous  coadjutors  given  over  to  the  flames,  and  the  fires  of 
martyrdom  lighted  all  over  the  kingdom.  To  neglect  attending  mass 
was  to  put  life  in  peril.  Crowds  of  refugees  fled  over  the  seas,  to  seek 
for  refuge  in  Germany  and  Switzerland.  When  Mary  gave  her  hand  to 
the  fanatical  Philip  of  Spain,  the  persecution  waxed  hotter.  But  grief 
at  the  evident  dislike  of  her  husband,  melancholy,  and  misanthropy 
shortened  her  days.  She  died  at  the  moment  when  she  was  deceiving 
herself  with  the  idle  hope,  that  she  was  about  to  present  a  Catholic  suc- 
cessor to  the  nation. 

Her  half-sister,  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  the  unfortunate  Anne 
Boleyn,  exchanged  the  residence  she  had  hitherto  occupied  in  the  Tower, 
where  she  had  passed  a  troublous  youth  in  the  midst  of  sorrow  and  dan- 
ger, for  the  royal  palace,  and  restored,  by  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  the 
Ecformation  that  had  been  established  under  Edward  VI.  The  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  and  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  again  resumed  their  au- 
thority ;  and  Elizabeth  exercised  the  influence  which  she  possessed  as 
the  spiritual  head  of  the  Church,  in  establishing  the  Court  of  High  Com- 
mission. It  was  in  vain  that  the  exiles,  on  their  return  home,  hoped  ta 
induce  the  queen  to  undertake  a  thorough  Reformation,  on  the  model  of 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION  THROUGH  EUROPE,     205 

tlie  Calvlnistic  Church.  EHzabetli's  lofty  spirit,  and  her  love  for  reli- 
gious ceremonial  and  ecclesiastical  pomp,  despised  the  simplicity  and 
popular  equality  of  the  Calvinists,  who,  from  their  insisting  upon  the 
purification  of  the  Church,  ^Yere  called  Puritans.  When  these  men 
found  there  was  no  hope  for  the  reception  of  their  doctrines  into  the  An- 
glican Church,  they  separated  themselves  as  nonconformists,  and  esta- 
blished a  religious  system  of  their  own,  with  presbyteries  and  synods,  a 
religious  servic3  from  which  art  and  poetry  were  banished,  and  a  system 
of  Church  discipline  in  which  every  earthly  pleasure  was  a  sin.  Per- 
secution was  soon  let  loose  against  the  Puritans,  under  which  they  be- 
came still  more  gloomy  and  morose,  and  at  length  increased  to  a  danger- 
ous party. 

C.    THE    REFORMATION    IN    THE     THREE    SCANDINAVIAN    KINGDOMS. 

§  3 17.  In  the  sixteenth  century,  a  complete  revolution  in  the  state  of 
affairs  took  place  in  the  three  Scandinavian  kingdoms.  Christian  II.,  the 
last  king  of  the  united  empire  (§  20G),  irritated  the  nobility  to  such  an 
extent  by  his  sev(  riiy  and  <  rut  liy.  that  insurrections  broke  out  at  the 
same  time  both  in  Dcnnuuk  and  Sweden,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
union  of  Calmar  was  dissolved,  and  the  evangelical  Cinu'ch  obtained  the 
supremacy.  Gustavus  Vasa,  a  courageous  youth,  endowed  with  the  valor 
and  wisdom  of  the  Stures,  who  were  his  relations,  was  the  originator 
of  this  ecclesiastical  and  political  revolution  in  Sweden,  and  the  founder 
of  a  vigorous  race  of  monarchs.  lie  was  carried  into  Denmark  as  a 
hostage  by  Christian  II.  From  this  place,  however,  he  soon  found  an 
opportunity  to  escape  into  Lubock,  where  he  was  not  oidy  protected  but 
provided  with  money,  and  encouraged  witli  prorni-cs  of  th(i  liberation  of 
^,  ^        his  native  country.     In  the  same  wwv  In  wliich  the  slauditer 

A.  D.  1520.  J  ^  o 

of  Stockholm  produced  a  universal  liorror  of  the  Danish 
government,  Gustavus  landed  on  his  native  shores.  In  the  midst  of  a 
thousand  dangers  and  adventures,  he  escaped  the  pursuits  of  Christian's 
emissaries,  wlio  were  perpetually  at  his  heels,  by  his  own  courage'and 
llie  lldelity  of  liis  countrymen,  till  at  length  he  found  aid  and  protection 
from  tlie  rude  inhabitants  of  Northern  Dalecarlia.  With  a  band  of  hardy 
peasants  he  conquered  Falun,  repulsed  the  troops  of  the  Danes  and  their 
allies,  and  took  Upsala.  The  fame  of  his  name  and  the  attractive  call  of 
liberty  soon  resounded  through  all  lands,  and  attracted  many  warriors  to 
his  side.  Supported  by  the  Lubeckers  with  troops,  money,  and  artillery, 
he  compelled  the  Danish  garrison  to  retreat,  and  then,  after  having  been 

elected  king  by  the  Diet  of  Strengnas,  he  held  his  entry  into 

'    ""  *      Stockholm.     At  first,  the  new  kingdom  of  Sweden  remained 

an  elective  monarchy,  till,  twenty  years  later,  the  crown  was  declared  by 

the  diet  to  be  hereditary  in  the  male  line  of  Vasa.     But  aa 

the    possessions  of  the  throne  had  been  so   dilapidated  by 


236  THE   MODERI^    EPOCH. 

neglect  as  not  to  be  siuTicIent  to  support  the  expenditure,  tlie  new  kingly 
dignity  could  not  be  supported  with  honor  except  by  an  augmentation  of- 
the  kingly  revenue.  For  this,  the  Reformation  afforded  a  welcome  op- 
portunity. The  people,  instructed  in  the  Lutheran  doctrines  by  the 
brothers  Glaus  and  Laurentius  Petri,  willingly  accepted  the  new  faith, 
»nd  the  Diet  placed  the  possessions  of  the  clergy,  who  during  the  war 
had  sided  with  tlie  Danes,  and  shown  no  interest  in  the  independence  of 
their  country,  at  the  disposal  of  the  king.  Gustavus,  sup- 
ported by  this  resolution,  gradually  introduced  the  Reforma- 
tion into  the  whole  country,  and  deprived  the  Church  of  the  greater  part 
of  its  possessions,  for  the  purpose  of  attaching  them  to  the  crown.  The 
nobility,  who  were  enriched  by  the  proceeding,  supported  the  undertak- 
ing. The  bishops,  who,  after  a  long  resistance,  submitted  to  the  new 
system,  remained  Estates  of  the  empire  and  heads  of  the  Church,  but 
were  dependent  upon  the  king,  and  held  in  check  by  the  consistories. 

§  348.  A  similar  revolution  had,  in  the  mean  time,  taken  place  in  Den- 
mark. Frederick  L,  acknowledged  as  king  by  the  nobility  and  people, 
sought,  by  supporting  the  evangelical  doctrine,  to  strengthen  himself 
against  his  rival,  Christian  II.,  who,  although  at  first  favorable  to  the 
Reformation,  had  afterwards  united  himself  to  the  emperor  and  the  pope 
for  the  purpose  of  regaining  possession  of  his  states.  In  the  same  time 
in  which  Frederick  admitted  Protestants  to  equal  civil  rights  with  Catho- 
lics at  the  Diet  of  Gdensee,  and  established  the  Danish  Church's  independ- 
ence of  Rome,  Christian  IT.  made  an  attack  upon  Denmark  from  Nor- 
way ;  but  was  taken  prisoner,  and  compelled  to  pine  for  sixteen  years  in 
a  gloomy  tower,  with  no  other  companion  than  a  Norwegian  dwarf. 
Christian  III.  Under  Christian  IIL,  the  son  of  Frederick  L,  the  Lutheran 
A.  T).  form  of  worship  attained  a  complete   triumph  in  Denmark 

1534-1559.  also.  The  clergy  lost  the  greater  part  of  their  possessions 
to  the  crown  and  the  nobility,  and  the  bishops,  whose  titles  were  retained 
in  tlie  Scandinavian  kingdoms,  fell  into  complete  dependence  upon  the 
government.  In  Norway,  the  new  Church  was  quietly  establislied  by 
the  peasantry ;  but  in  Iceland,  the  Episcopal  party  fell  with  the  sword 
in  their  hands.  The  Swedish  and  Danish  nobility  gained  great  wealth, 
power,  and  privileges  by  the  Reformation. 

§  349.  Gustavus  Vasa  had  attempted  to  establish  Sweden's  prosperity 
by  wholesome  laws,  and  by  the  encouragement  of  trade  and  industry; 
but  evil  times  came  upon  the  land  under  the  government  of  his  sons. 
Erich  XIV.  ^^^'ich  XIV.  was  of  so  passionate  a  disposition  that  he  at 
A-  i>-  length  became  insane.     Whilst  in  this  state,  he  murdered 

lo60-  o'  .  ^^,|jj_^  jjjg  Q^yj^  hand  several  members  of  the  family  of  Sture, 
and  caused  all  the  nobles  to  tremble  in  anticipation  of  a  similar  fate ; 
wdiich  induced  his  brothers  to  place  him  in  confinement,  and  at  length  to 
Bend  him  out  of  the  world  by  poison.     His  brother,  John  IIL,  a  weak 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION  THROUGH  EUROPE.    237 

minded  prince  of  unstable  character,  succeeded  to  tlie  government.     Led 
JohnHI  astray  by  his  wife,  a  rigid   Catholic  and  the  daughter  of 

A.  D.  a  Polish   prince,'  and   by  a  Jesuit  who   lived    secretly   in 

1568 -io92.  Stockholm  as  an  ambassador,  John  attempted  again  to  intro^ 
duce  the  ancient  form  of  religion  into  his  kingdom,  and  consented  that 
his  son  Sigismond,  who  was  to  be  king  both  of  Sweden  and  Poland, 
should  be  brought  up  as  a  Catholic.  His  scheme  proved  abortive,  from 
the  resistance  of  the  Swedish  people  to  the  Catholic  ceremonies ;  hcTiim- 
self  afterwartk  repented  of  his  attempt,  when  his  secoad  Avife  exerted  her- 
self in  favor  of  the  evangelical  doctrine.  But  the  attachment  to  the 
Catholic  Church  proved  of  great  detriment  to  his  son,  the  Polish  king, 
Sigismond  III.  For  when  he  refused  compliance  with  tl  ^  resolution  of 
the  Diet,  that  the  evangelical-Lutheran  religion  should  be  solely  predomi- 
nant and  alone  tolerated  in  Sweden,  his  uncle,  Charles  of  Sudermania, 
was  named  regent.  It  was  in  vain  that  Sigismond  attempted 
to  defend  his  rights  by  force  of  arms,  he  was  defeated  by  his 
uncle;  whereupon  the  Diet  required  him  cither  to  renounce  popery,  and 
to  govern  his  hereditary  kingdom  in  person;  or  to  send  his  son  to 
Sweden,  that  he  might  be  brought  up  in  the  religion  of  the  country. 
When  Sigismond  refused  compliance  with  this  demand,  Charles  IX. 
received  the  crown  he  had  long  been  sti^ving  for,  and  a  new  law  of  suc- 
cession secured  it  to  his  family. 

§  350.  At  this  time,  a  war  arose  between  Sweden  and  Poland.  This 
Charles  IX.  ^""'^^^  which,  after  Charles's  death,  was  inherited  by  his  son, 
A.  D.  Gustavus  Adolphus,  terminated  to  the  advantage  of  Sweden, 

1600-1611.      ^^.jjQ  g^Qj^   united  Livonia  and  a  part  of  Prussia  to  Finland 
and  Esthonia,  her  other  provinces  on  the  Baltic. 

From  this  time,  the  power  of  Poland  gradually  decayed.  An  attempt 
nt  a  reformation  of  the  Church,  which  would  have  been  attended  by  a 
renovation  of  the  state,  and  a  more  intimate  connection  with  neighboring 
countrief,  was  suppressed  by  a  selfish  nobility,  who  thought  of  nothing 
but  increasing  their  own  power  and  privileges.  It  was  only  a  few  per- 
secuted and  fugitive  teachers  of  the  new  doctrines  that  found  protection 
a  id  toleration  in  Poland.  They  were  opposed  to  the  Catholic  Poles 
under  the  comprehensive  term  of  Dissidents,  and  succeeded,  after'  many 
struggles,  in  obtaining  toleration  for  their  religion,  and  an  equality  of 
civil  rights  ;  possessions  in  which  tliey  were  afterwards  seriously  dis- 
turbed. Several  opinions  found  toleration  in  Poland  that  had  been 
rejected  by  the  Eeformers  as  unorthodox.  Among  these  may  be  men- 
tioned those  entertained  by  the  sect  of  Socinians  (Unitarians)  founded 
by  the  Italian  Socinus,  who  denied  the  Divine  nature  of  Christ  and  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 


238  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 


d.    THE    CATHOLIC    CHURCH. 

§  351.  Traces  of  the  Reformation  displayed  themselves  both  in  Spain 
and  Italy,  but  were  prevented  from  extending  partly  by  the  character  of 
the  people,  and  partly  by  the  severity  of  the  Inquisition  ;  the  suspected 
died  in  frightful  dungeons,  or  at  the  stake.  Among  the  confessors  of  the 
new  doctrine  were  found  the  most  illustrious  authors  and  men  of  learn- 
ing, who,  for  the  most  part,  took  refuge  abroad.  Some  adopted  princi- 
ples that  were  rejected  as  heretical  even  by  the  Reformers;  for  example, 
the  tvv'o  Italian  brothers,  Sociims;*  and  the  Spaniard,  Servetus,  who  was 
burnt  to  death  at  Geneva,  at  the  suggestion  of  Calvin,  for  holding  unor- 
thodox opiniori  on  the  subject  of  the  Trinity  (a.  d.  1553.) 

The  heads  and  leaders  of  the  Catholic  Church  did  not  give  up  the 
thought  of  suppressing  the  new  doctrines:  wherever  it  was  in  their  power, 
tliey  sought  to  attain  this  object  by  persecution  and  violence ;  and  when 
this  was  not  practicable,  they  opposed  and  impeded  their  diffusion  in 
Adrian  VI  every  possible  way.  Almost  all  the  popes,  even  those  who, 
A.  D.  1522,  like  Adrian  VI.  and  Paul  III.,  were  convinced  of  the  pre- 
1523.  vailing  abuses  of  the  Church,  and  meditated  plans  for  their 

Paul  III.,  removal,  displayed  great  severity  against  the  Protestants. 
A.  D.  lo  -  Thus  Paul  IV.,  an  octogenarian  and  a  gloomy  monk,  pro- 
voked the  people  to  such  a  degree,  that,  on  the  day  of  his 
AD  1555-  tleath,  they  mutilated  his  statues,  and  burnt  down  the  house 
1559.  of  the  Inquisition.     His  successor,  Pius  IV.,  brought  to  a 

Pius  IV.,  termination  the  twice  interrupted  Council  of  Trent,  the  third 

A.  P.  1559-      assembling  of  which  commenced  with  the  January  of  1562. 
^  ^'  The  resolutions  of  this  Council  (in  which  the  Catholics  see 

their  own  Reformation),  form  the  foundation  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
The  religious  doctrines  that  had  hitherto  been  regarded  as  orthodox  were 
here  recognized  as  infallible,  and  embodied  in  expressions  as  indefinite 
as  possible;  a  purer  code  of  morals  was  established,  the  Church  disci- 
pline improved,  and  a  more  rigorous  supervision  of  the  clergy  established. 
The  Council  of  Trent,  which  was  gradually  received  in  all  Catholic 
countries,  is  the  final  conclusion  of  Catholic  doctrine ;  from  this  time,  no 
more  synods  have  been  held.  In  this  manner,  every  attempt  at  innova- 
tion was  prevented,  and  the  character  of  stability  impressed  upon  Catho- 
lidsra ;  whilst,  on  the  contrary,  the  essence  of  Protestantism  is  develop- 
ment and  progress. 

Gregory  XIII.,  Gregory  XIII.,  who  gave  the  calendar,  which  had  fallen 
A.  D.  1572-  into  contusion,  its  present  improved  arrangement,  by  passing 
^"^^'  at  once  from  the   18th  of  February  to  the  1st  of  March, 

*  This  is  a  mistake.  Lasliiis  Socinus  and  Faustus  Socinus  were  not  brothers,  but  uncle 
and  nephew.  The  title  of  the  Bibliotheca  Fraiimm  Pohnxyi'um,  a  collection  of  the  Avorks  o** 
the  Sociuian  theologians,  may  have  led  Dr.  Weber  into  this  error.    Avt.  Ed 


THE  CATUOLIC  CHURCH.  239 

ordered  a  Te  Deum  to  be  sung  for  the  extirpation  of  the  enemies  of 
Christ  when  he  heard  the  intelligence  of  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew (§  363).  The  most  remarkable  prince  of  the  Church,  during  the 
Sixtus  V  whole  century,  was  Sixtus  V.,  who,  from  the  condition  of  a 
A.  r  llSi  -  poor  shepherd  boy,  had  risen  to  be  a  Franciscan,  inquisitor, 
lc9i:.  cardinal,  and  at  length,  pope.     lie  was  a  man  of  a  strong 

and  imperious  nature,  who  maintained  the  discipline  of  the  Church  with 
inexorable  severity,  erected  several  remarkable  buildings,  drew  forth  the 
gigantic  works  of  antiquity  from  their  rubbish,  and  attempted  to  restore 
the  ancient  splendor  to  the  papal  chair.  ^ 

§  352.  The  attempts  of  the  popes  to  suppress  the  Reformation,  or  at 
least  to  prevent  its  diffusion,  found  their  chief  support  in  the  Order  of 
Jesuits,  which  was  founded  by  Ignatius  Loyola,  a  Spanish 
nobleman  of  excitable  imagination  and  enthusiastic  tempera- 
ment. Affected  by  the  histories  of  the  saints,  which  he  read  during  the 
healing  of  a  wound,  Ignatius  renounced  the  profession  of  soldier,  to  which 
he  had  hitherto  belonged,  and  accomplished  a  toilsome  pilgrimage,  with 
prayers  and  penance,  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  After  his  return,  he 
acquired,  with  incredible  perseverance,  the  education  in  which  he  was 
deficient,  in  Salamanca  and  Paris  ;  and  then,  together  with  six  associates, 
swore  upon  the  host  not  only  to  be  true  to  the  three  monastic  vows  of 
poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience,  but  to  allow  the  object  of  their  efforts 
to  be  determined  on  by  the  pope,  and  then  to  submit  themselves  to  his 
decision  with  unconditional  compliance.  A  short  time  after,  they  pros- 
trated themselves  at  the  feet  of  the  Roman  pontiff,  and  obtained  a  con- 
firmation of  the  new  Order,  which  received  the  name  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus.  Ignatius  became  the  first  general  of  the  Order;  but  it  is  not  to 
him,  but  to  his  successor,  the  Spaniard,  Lainez,  that  the  Society  of  Jesus 
is  indebted  for  its  artfully  designed  constitution. 

This  constitution  was  military-monarchical.  The  superintendents  of 
the  provinces  (the  provincials),  were  subject  to  the  general  in  Rome,  and 
under  these  again  were  a  multitude  of  heads  in  various  steps  and  grada- 
tions. Obedience  and  rigid  subordination  were  the  soul  of  the  alliance. 
Ail  the  members  were  most  heedfully  watched  over,  and  were  compelled 
to  tear  asunder  all  the  bands  that  connected  them  with  the  world. 
Postulants  were  required  to  pass  through  a  long  period  of  probation, 
during  which,  the  talents  and  disposition  of  every  individual  were  mi- 
nutely scrutinized,  so  that  he  might  be  devoted  to  his  most  appropriate 
sphere  of  action.  The  Jesuits,  who  were  endowed  with  great  privileges, 
soon  attained  a  vast  and  multifarious  activity.  The  chief  aim  of  the  Order 
was  to  oppose  Protestantism,  and  to  suppress  the  freedom  of  inquiry  that 
had  been  awakened  by  the  Reformation.  They  attempted  these  objects 
by  a  variety  of  ways ;  they  endeavored  to  lead  back  the  adherents  of  the 
new  faith  into  the  bosom  of  the  ancient  Chui'ch  by  persuasion  and  seduce- 


240  THE    MODERN    EPOCH. 

ment ;  the  confessional  was  made  use  of  to  induce  princes  and  men  in 
autliority  to  oppose  the  Reformation,  and  to  put  limits  to  the  freedom  of 
belief;  and  by  the  education  of  youth,  which  they  had  known  how  to  get 
into  tlieir  own  hands,  they  sought  to  bring  up  the  young  in  their  own 
principles.  The  Order  was  enriched  by  presents  and  legacies,  and  this 
wealth  facilitated  the  erection  of  Jesuitical  seminaries,  wliich,  plentifully 
presided  with  every  tiling  that  was  requisite,  imparted  instruction  gra- 
tuit^sly,  and  thus  attracted  many  of  the  necessitous.  Moreover,  the 
object  aimed  at  by  the  instruction  given  by  the  Jesuits  was  not  a  free 
development  of  tke  mind,  but  only  the  acquirement  of  knowledge  that 
might  be  serviceable  in  life.  It  might  rather  be  called  training  than 
education.  Sciences  were  presented  in  a  certain  contracted  form,  and 
free  speculation  was  prevented.  Readiness  in  the  Latin  language,  and 
an  acquaintance  with  a  few  sciences  that  were  of  practical  utility,  were 
the  aim  of  the  Jesuitical  education;  the  means  —  severe  discipline  and 
the  excitement  of  ambition :  j)hilosophy,  on  the  other  hand,  history,  and 
every  thing  that  directs  men's  minds  to  more  elevated  or  comprehensive 
views,  were  either  banished  or  taught  with  restrictions.  But  what  drew 
down  the  curses  of  the  people  on  the  Jesuitical  order  was,  that  by  its 
dangerous  morality  it  became  the  destroyer  of  truth  and  faith,  and  the 
dissemipator  of  malicious  and  false  principles.  The  revolting  doctrine 
that  the  end  sanctifies  the  means,  and  that  words  and  oaths  might  be 
rendered  invalid  by  a  mental  reservation,  were  brought  into  use  by  the 
Jesuits  in  a  most  audacious  manner. 

5.    THE    TIMES    OF    PHILIP    II.    (A.  D.    1556 1598)    AND    ELIZABETH 

(A.  D.  1558  —  1603). 

§  353.  Philip  11.  of  Spain  was  a  gloomy  and  misanthropical  prince, 
who  proposed  three  objects  to  himself  as  the  aims  of  his  existence, — 
the  increase  of  his  power,  the  extirpation  of  Protestantism,  and  the  anni- 
hilation of  liberty  and  popular  rights.  In  the  attainment  of  these  ends, 
he  sacrificed  the  happiness  of  his  people,  the  prosperity  of  his  kingdom, 
and  the  affection  of  his  subjects  and  nearest  relations.  Ills  chivalrous 
half-brother,  Don  Juan,  who  defeated  the  Turks  in  the  sea- 
^'^'  "^  •  engagement  at  Lepanto,  was  surrounded  by  the  suspicious 
king  with  such  a  web  of  falsehood,  intrigue,  and  espionage,  and  so  fet- 
tered in  all  his  undertakings,  that  grief  and  vexation  plunged  him  into  an 
early  grave.  Philip's  son,  the  impetuous  and  passionate  Don  Carlos, 
died  in  the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition,  —  that  mighty  spiritual  court, 
which,  under  Philip,  became  the  terror  and  horror  of  the  j^eople.  By 
means  of  this  horrible  Inquisition,  and  the  dreadful  autos  dafe,  he  was 
indeed  successful  in  destroying  every  trace  of  heresy  in  Spain  and  jNa- 
ples,  and  in  depriving  the  people  of  their  freedom ;  but  he  at  the  same 
time  annihilated  the  prosperity,  the  wealth,  and  the  national  greatness  of 


PORTUGAL  UNITED   WITH  SPAIN.  241 

these  countries;  and  when  he  attempted  to  bend  the  Netherlands  under 
the  same  yoke,  that  memorable  contest  burst  forth,  out  of  which  liberty 
came  forth  triumphant.  After  a  reign  of  forty-two  years,  which  proved  tho 
grave  of  Spain's  greatness,  and  burdened  the  once  rich  land  with  an  op- 
pressive national  debt,  Philip  fell  a  victim  to  a  dreadful  di^ase.  He  had 
a  cruel  executor  of  his  tyrannical  commands  in  Duke  Alba.  The  cyise 
of  the  people  rests  on  the  names  of  both.  M 

a.   PORTUGAL    UNITED    WITH    SPAIN. 

§  354.  Portugal  had  a  similar  fate  with  Spain.  In  both  countries,  a 
powerful  priesthood  supported  by  an  absolute  king,  suppressed  the  spirit- 
ual movements  of  the  people,  and  paralyzed  their  powers.  Freedom 
and  rights  were  lost,  and  the  ancient  heroism,  the  bloom  and  the  pros- 
perity of  an  earlier  period,  disappeared  beneath  sloth  and  slavery.  This 
was  particularly  the  case  when  Portugal,  by  a  gloomy  fatality,  was  uni- 
ted to  Spain. 

King  Sebastian,  a  young  man,  and  who  had  blen  educated  by  the 
priests  in  rigid  faith  and  obedience  to  the  Church  and  pope,  undertook  an 
expedition  against  the  infidel  Moors  in  northern  Africa,  with  the  purpose 
of  gratifying  at  once  both  his  zeal  for  proselytism  and  his  love  of  con- 
quest.  He  commenced  an  impetuous  attack,  during  the 
burning  heat  of  an  August  day,  upon  the  superior  force  of 
the  enejny,  in  the  plain  of  Alcassar,  and  suffered  a  dreadful  defeat. 
12,000  Christian  warriors  covered  the  field  of  battle.  Sebastian  him- 
self was  among  those  who  were  missing,  but  his  body  could  be  nowhere 
discovered.  The  crown  of  Portugal  descended  to  an  ancient  relative ; 
and  when  he  died,  two  years  afterwards,  without  children,  Philip  II.  of 
Spain  made  pretensions  to  the  kingdom,  and  sent  Duke  Alba  with  an 
army  against  the  Portuguese,  who,  out  of  national  hatred  and  neighbor- 
ly jealousy,  favored  the  pretensions  of  a  rival  claimant,  Antonio.  But 
the  latter  was  not  in  a  position  to  contest  his  pretended  hereditary  claims 
against  the  superior  power  of  Spain.  He  was  defeated  and  compelled 
to  fly,  upon  which  Lisbon  and  the  whole  country  submitted  to  the  Span- 
iards. Antonio,  after  a  few  unsuccessful  attempts,  died,  poor  and  haras- 
sed by  perpetual  plots,  in  Paris ;  and  the  false  Sebastians  that  arose  from 
time  to  time,  and  endeavored  to  stir  up  the  Portuguese  against  their  de- 
tested neighbors,  did  not  meet  with  the  necessary  support.  The  fourth 
Sebastian,  who  by  many  was  regarded  as  the  true  one,  ended  his  days  in 
A.  D.  1580-  a  Spanish  prison.  The  pernicious  domination  of  Spain  over 
1640.  Portugal  endured  for  sixty  years.      At  the  end  of  this  peri- 

od, the  illustrious  duke  of  Braganza  succeeded  in  bringing  the  crown 
into  his  own  family.      But  in  the  meanwhile,  the  navy  of  Portugal  had 
fallen  into  decay,  and  her  foreign  possessions  passed  into  other  hands. 
21 


242  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 


h.    THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  LIBERTY  IN  THE  NETHERLANDS. 

§  355.  The  Netherlands,  from  time  imraemoruxl,  had  possessed  char- 
tered rights  and  liberties,  among  which,  consent  to  taxation  by  ihe 
Estates  of  the  country,  an  independent  judicature,  and  the  exclusion  of 
Spanish  troi|)s  and  officials,  occupied  the  most  prominent  place.  These 
rights  had  been  already  occasionally  infringed  during  the  time  of  Charles 
v.;  but  the  love  of  the  emperor  for  the  Netherlanders,  among  whom  he 
had  been  born,  and  for  whose  manners  and  customs  he  retained  an  affec- 
tion, prevented  any  greater  hostilities.  Philip,  on  the  contrary,  was  a 
liaughty  Spaniard,  who  looked  upon  the  Netherlands  as  a  conquered 
country,  and  who  perpetually  violated  their  hereditary  privileges.  He 
appointed  his  half-sister,  Margaret  of  Parma,  a  woman  of  masculine 
spirit,  his  viceregent  in  Brussels ;  but  placed  a  state  council  at  her  side, 
in  which  a  foreigner,  Cardinal  Granvella,  was  president,  and  sent  a 
Spanish  garrison  into  the  country.  But  the  Netherlanders,  many  of 
whom  were  inclined  to  the  evangelical  doctrines,  felt  themselves  most 
aggrieved,  when  the  king,  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  the  pure  faith 
and  the  discipline  of  the  Church,  ordered  the  laws  against  heresy  to  be 
rendered  more  stringent,  and  appointed  fourteen  new  bishops  in  addition 
to  the  four  already  existing.  These  regulations  were  intended  to  facili- 
tate the  gradual  introduction  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition  ;  and  the  Car- 
dinal Granvella,  wlio,  as  archbishop  of  Mechlin,  had  all  the  other  bishop- 
rics under  him,  already  assumed  the  title  of  Grand-Inquisitor.  All 
attempts  of  the  patriotic  party,  at  the  head  of  which  stood  William  of 
Orange  and  Count  Egmont,  to  induce  the  king  by  petitions  to  respect  the 
institutions  of  the  country,  to  mitigate  the  laws  against  heresy,  and  to 
allow  freedom  of  belief,  were  ineiFectual.  Philip  replied,  "  that  he  would 
rather  die  a  thousand  times,  than  suffer  the  slightest  change  in  religion.'* 

§  356.  It  was  among  the  burgher  class  alone  that  any  disciples  of  the 
new  Church  were  to  be  met  with ;  the  nobility  for  the  most  part  adhered 
to  the  ancient  faith,  but  were  resolute  in  opposing  the  Inquisition  with  all 
November,  their  power.  With  this  object,  about  400  nobles  subscribed 
1565.  the  so-called  Compromise,  and  drew  up  a  petition  for  the 

repeal  of  the  laws  against  heresy,  and  the  discontinuance  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Inquisition.  When  they  presented  themselves  with  this 
before  the  palace  of  the  vice-regent,  she  fell  into  a  state  of  agitation.  One 
of  the  council  who  was  standing  beside  her  exclaimed,  that  she  should 
not  be  alarmed  by  these  beggars  (gueux),  a  word  that  was  communicated 
to  the  confederates,  and  made  use  of  by  them  as  the  sign  of  their  alli- 
ance. They  named  themselves  iGrueses,  and  from  this  time  wore  a  medal 
with  the  effigy  of  the  king,  and  the  inscription,  "  True  even  to  the  beg- 
gar's wallet."  The  petition  remained  without  result.  Heretics  were  pun- 
ished in  their  freedom,  property  and  lives.     Despite  all  this,  the  new 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  LIBERTY  IX  THE  NETHERLANDS.    243 

doctrines  made  more  and  more  progress  ;  psalms  were  sung,  the  preach- 
ings of  the  evangelical  clergy,  which  were  often  held  in  the  open  air, 
were  attended  by  thousands ;  monks,  images  of  the  Virgin,  and  holy  ob- 
jects were  turned  to  ridicule.  At  length,  the  long  restrained  wrath  of 
the  people  at  the  religious  persecution  burst  its  bounds  in  Antwerp, 
Brussels,  and  the  whole  of  Brabant.  A  mob,  consisting  of  the  lowest 
class  of  the  people,  mutilated  the  crucifixes  and  images  of  the  saints 
which  were  standing  in  the  roads ;  but  the  increasing  multitude  soon 
attacked  the  churches  and  cloisters,  and  perpetrated  every  kind  of  sacri- 
legious atrocity.  These  occurrences  produced  a  division.  The  moderate 
party  joined  the  regent,  and  assisted  her  in  punishing  the  guilty.  Order 
was  in  a  short  time  restored,  and  Margaret  recommended  gentleness  and 
moderation  as  the  only  means  by  which  the  tranquillity  of  the  country 
could  be  permanently  established.  But  her  representations  found  no 
acceptance  in  Madrid.  It  was  determined  to  send  the  cruel  Alba  with  a 
Spanish  army  to  the  Netherlands,  and  to  reduce  the  people  by  force  and 
severity. 

Alba,  A.  D.  §  357.  The  intelligence  of  Alba*s  arrival  caused  the  Netber- 
1567-1573.  landers  to  take  flight  in  crowds.  William  of  Orange,  a  pru- 
dent and  circumspect  man,  in  the  full  vigor  of  life,  resolute,  energetic, 
and  taciturn,  yielded  to  the  storm  and  retreated  to  Holland.  He  parted 
in  tears  from  Egraont,  whom  he  vainly  attempted  to  persuade  to  follow 
the  same  course.  Egmont's  happy  nature  could  not  give  credit  to  the 
Spanish  treachery,  against  which  Orange  warned  him.  He  trusted  to  his 
former  services  to  the  royal  family  of  Spain,  and  remained.  But  Alba 
had  hardly  arrived  at  Brussels,  with  unlimited  powers,  before 
he  placed  the  unsuspecting  Egmont  and  the  gallant  Horn 
under  arrest,  and  caused  them,  with  eighteen  others  of  the  nobility,  to  be 
executed  as  traitors.  He  then  established  a  council  of  rebellion,  called 
by  the  Netherlanders  The  Bloody  Council,  which  punished  with  unex- 
ampled severity  not  only  the  disciples  of  the  evangelical  doctrine,  but  the 
resolute  defenders  of  their  country's  rights  and  institutions.  The  regent, 
disgusted  with  these  horrors,  resigned  her  office  and  retired  to  Italy.  Her 
memoiy  was  held  in  honor.  Alba,  however,  erected  a  citadel  in  Antwerp, 
and  for  six  years  (a.  d.  15G7-1573)  exercised  an  oppressive  tyranny 
that  threatened  the  greatest  danger  to  hberty  and  prosperity.  Without 
regard  to  the  laws  of  the  land,  which  required  that  the  taxes  should  be 
allowed  by  the  Estates  of  every  district,  and  collected  in  a  manner"  the 
best  suited  to  their  object,  Alba  imposed  a  fixed  tax  upon  the  country, 
and  levied  it  in  a  manner  extremely  unfavorable  to  trade  and  commerce, 
inasmuch  as,  in  addition  to  a  property  tax,  he  introduced  a  high  tariff. 
The  discontent  and  irritation  of  the  people  at  these  oppressive  imposts  at 
length  produced  such  a  fermentation  in  the  country,  that  Alba's  recall 
Was  decided  upon  in  Madrid.     The  intelligence  that  a  band  of  exiles, 


244  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 


Mofcl 


called  Water-Gueses,  ha J^  stormed  the  sea-port,  Briel,  and  that  the  north- 
ern states,  Holland,  Zealand,  Utrecht,  and  Friesland,  had  united  together 
and  recognized   William  of   Oran'^e   as  their  Stadtholder, 

A     D      1672  C3  7 

might  have  convinced  the  Spanish  court  that  Alba's  pro- 
ceedings were  not  leading  to  the  desired  result.  Shortly  after  the  Duke's 
departure  from  the  Netherlands,  the  northern  states,  in  the  synod  of 
Dort,  raised  Calvinism  to  be  the  religion  of  the  state,  received  the  Heid- 
elberg Catechism,  and  erected  a  Protestant  university  in  the  town  of 
Leyden,  as  a  reward  for  the  heroic  defence  of  the  citizens  against  the 
beleaguering  Spanish  army. 

Zuniga,  A.  D.  §  358.  Alba's  successor,  Louis  of  Zuniga  and  Requesens, 
1573-1576.  abolished  the  Bloody  Council,  and  attempted  by  milder  mea- 
sures again  to  confirm  the  tottering  power  of  Spain  in  the  Netherlands ; 
but  the  hatred  of  the  people  against  the  foreign  troops,  whose  licentious- 
ness every  day  increased,  prevented  a  reconciliation.  Even  his  victory 
on  the  Mokerheath,  where  two  of  the  brothers  of  Orange  died  as  became 
heroes,  failed  in  producing  the  expected  results.  Zuniga  died  two  years 
afterwards.  Before  his  successor,  Don  Juan,  Philip's  gallant  half- 
Don  Juan  brother,  could  enter  upon  his  difRcult  office,  the  insolence  of 
A,  D.  1576-  the  savage  and  unpaid  soldiery  attained  its  highest  pitch. 
1578.  They  filled  the  wealthy  cities  of  Maestricht  and  Antwerp 

with  murder,  plunder,  and  desolation.     At  this  crisis,  the  shrewd  Orange 

was  successful  in  uniting  the  whole  of  the  states,  by  the 

A-    T>     1  ^y6  '  *f 

alliance  of  Ghent,  in  the  resolution  of  mutually  assisting  each 
other,  with  life  and  property,  in  driving  out  the  Spanish  troops ;  and 
Don  Juan  was  not  in  a  position,  during  the  brief  period  of  his  exertions 
in  the  Netherlands,  to  reestablish  firmly  the  shattered  power  of  Spain. 
Alexander  ^"*'  ^^^  Juan,  as  well  as  his  more  experienced  successor, 
Farnese,  A.  D.  Alexander  Farnese  of  Parma,  son  of  the  regent,  Margaret, 
1578  - 1592.  -yyas  intent  upon  fostering  the  jealousy  and  hereditary  envy 
between  the  northern  and  southern  states,  and  on  maintaining  the  rights  of 
the  Catholic  Church  in  the  latter,  that  the  dominioh  of  Spain  might  be 
preserved  in  the  southern  states  at  least.  This  scheme  was  seen  through 
by  Orange,  who,  being  convinced  that  even  the  weak  were  strengthened 
by  union,  united  the  northern  states, (Holland,  Zealand,  Geld- 
ers,  Utrecht,  Friesland),  into  a  closer  confederacy  for  the 
purpose  of  mutual  cooperation,  by  the  Union  of  Utrecht.  This  alliance 
was",  the  foundation  of  the  United  States  of  the  Protestant  Netherlands. 
On  the  other  hand,  matters  in  the  south  became  every  day  more  confused 
and  divided  by  the  intermeddling  of  foreign  princes  and  nobles,  so  that 
the  energetic  Parma  was  enabled  in  many  places  to  suppress  the  insur- 
rection, and  to  bring  back  many  of  the  towns  to  obedience.  Philip's 
wrath  was  now  directed  against  Orange.  He  had  already  outlawed  him, 
and  promised  a  title  of  nobility  and  a  vast  reward  to  whosoever  should 


THE   TIMES   OF   PHILIP   II.   AND   ELIZABETH.  245 

deliver  him  up  either  alive  or  dead.  This  tempting  promise,  and  the  ac- 
tivity of  fanatical  priests,  were  followed  by  several  attempts  at  assassina- 
tion. Orange  escaped  one  of  these,  but  the  bullet  of  the  fanatic,  Ger* 
hard  of  Fran  die- Com  te,  laid  him  dead  at  the  door  of  the 
royal  banqueting-hall  of  Delft.  The  murderer  was  however 
seized  and  put  to  a  cruel  death.  In  the  place  of  Orange,  the'  northern 
states  elected  his  gallant  son,  Maurice,  as  Stadtholder  and  general. 

§  359.  About  this  time,  the  religious  animosity  between  Catholics  and 
Protestants  was  greater  than  ever  in  the  west  of  Europe ;  and  whilst 
the  former  placed  all  their  hopes  upon  Philip  of  Spain,  the  latter  receiv- 
ed assistance  either  private  or  open  from  Elizabeth  of  England.  She 
sent  her  favorite,  Leicester,' with  an  army  into  the  Netherlands,  to  pre- 
vent Parma's  complete  triumph;  she  assisted  the  Huguenots  against 
Philip's  allies,  the  Leaguists  and  Jesuits  (§  362,  364),  and  consented  to 

the  execution  of  Mary   Stuart,  when  she  found  that  her 
A.  n    1587 

own  life  was  threatened  by  the  daggers  of  fanatics  (§  368). 

Upon  this,  Philip  determined  to  annihilate  all  the  enemies  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church  by  a  mighty  blow,  and  above  all,  to  chastise  heretical  Eng- 
land and  her  excommunicated  queen.  With  this  view,  he  fitted  out  the 
Armada  or  "  Invincible  Fleet,"  consisting  of  130  large  ships  of  war,  and 
sent  them  into  the  Channel,  under  the  command  of  Medina 

A  D  1588 

Sidonia,  to  the  end  that,  supported  by  Parma's  land  force, 
they  might  subject,  at  the  same  time,  England,  France,  and  the  Nether- 
lands. But  the  undertaking  ended  in  the  shame  and  ruin  of  Spain.  The 
*^ Invincible  Fleet"  was  destroyed  by  storms,  and  the  skill  and  courage 
of  the  English  ;  the  greater  part  of  tliat  which  escaped  the  fire-ships,  the 
rocks,  and  the  enemy,  in  the  Channel,  was  wrecked  upon  the  Hebrides 
and  Shetland  islands,  when  Sidonia  attempted  to  return  to  Spain  by 
sailing  round  Scotland.  It  was  a  fatal  blow.  Philip  admitted  this,  when 
he  composed  the  fears  of  the  trembling  admiral  with  the  words,  "  I  sent 
you  against  men,  not  against  rocks  and  storms."  This  event  destroyed 
Spain's  supremacy  at  sea,  and  secured  the  independence  of  the  Nether- 
lands. The  war,  indeed,  continued  for  twenty  years  longer ;  but  the  Span- 
iards, despite  the  bravery  of  their  troops  and  the  skill  of  their  command- 
ers, were  not  in  a  condition  to  subject  the  whole  of  the  country.  The 
northern  states,  who  possessed  an  admirable  leader  in  Maurice  of  Or- 
ange, maintained  the  struggle  for  freedom  and  independence.  A  short 
time  before  his  death,  Philip  presented  the  Netherlands  to  his  daugliter, 
Clara  Eugenia,  on  her  marriage  with  the  archduke,  Albert  of  Austria, 
as  a  fief,  under  the  condition,  that  the  land  should  revert  to  Spain  in  tlie 
event  of  her  dying  without  children.  The  United  States  of  Holland, 
however,  would  not  consent  to  this  scheme.  They  still  continued  the 
war  after  the  death  of  Philip  II.,  till  at  length,  by  the  inter- 
mediation of  Henry  IV.  of  France,  a  truce  was  arranged, 
21* 


246  THE    MODERN   EPOCH. 

by  wliicli  their  independence,  religious  freedom,  and  trade  with  the  East 
Indies  were  secured  to  them.  But  it  was  not  till  the  peace  of  Westpha- 
lia that  the  independence  of  the  United  States  of  Holland  was  formally 
acknowledged.  The  southern  provinces  (Belgium),  on  the  other  hand, 
remained  for  a  whole  century  subject  to  Spain,  and  then  fell  into  the 
hands  of  Austria. 

§  360.  Trade.  —  Government.  —  Synod  of  Dort.  —  Holland 
came  forth  from  the  struggle  flourishing  and  powerful.  Navigation  and 
commerce  received  a  vast  impulse,  after  the  Hollanders  (particularly  the 
East  India  Company,  established  in  1 602)  entered  into  direct  commer- 
cial relations  with  India,  and  deprived  the  Portuguese  of  many  of  their 
colonies.  Batavia,  in  the  island  of  Java,  was  the  centre  of  their  lucra- 
tive traffic.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which  was  mainly 
the  work  of  the  great  statesman,  Van  Olden  Barnveldt,  was  republican. 
The  States  General,  which  were  formed  by  deputies  from  the  seven 
provinces,  possessed  the  power  of  legislation ;  the  High  Council,  with 
the  stadtholder  at  its  head,  conducted  the  government ;  the  affairs  of 
war,  however,  and  the  supreme  command  over  the  sea  and  land  forces, 
belonged  to  the  stadtholder  alone.  The  arts  and  sciences  at  the  same 
time  flourished  prosperously  ;  the  study  of  antiquity,  in  particular,  met 
with  unusual  attention  in  the  Dutch  universities. 

But  even  Protestant  Holland  did  not  remain  free  from  the  mischiev- 
ous wars  of  religion.  A  dispute  respecting  the  Calvinistic  doctrine  of 
predestination  divided  the  country  into  two  parties,  —  a  severe  party 
(Gomarists),  to  which  Maurice  of  Orange  and  his  adherents  attached 
themselves,  and  a  moderate  party  (Arminians),  whose  supporters  were 
Van  Olden  Barnveldt  and  Hugo  Grotius.  The  synod  of  Dort  (§  342) 
decided  in  favor  of  the  former ;  upon  which,  Van  Olden  Barnveldt,  who 
had  deserved  so  highly,  and  was  then  in  his  seventy-second  year,  perish- 
ed on  the  scaffold ;  and  Hugo  Grotius,  the  learned  historian  of  the  strug- 
gles of  the  Netherlands  for  liberty,  and  the  founder  of  civil  and  interna- 
tional law  according  to  the  principles  of  the  ancients,  was  confined  in 
prison  till  rescued  by  the  cunning  and  fidelity  of  his  wife. 

C.   FRANCE    DURING   THE    WAR    OF   RELIGION. 

§  361.  During  this  period,  furious  religious  wars  were  raging  in  France 
also.  Henry  IL,  a  determined  enemy  of  the  Huguenots  (§  342),  died  in 
consequence  of  a  wound  he  received  during  a  tournament.  His  feeble 
Francis  11.  ^'^^  delicate  son,  Francis  II.,  was  his  successor.  This  prince 
A.  D.  was   married   to  the  fascinating  Mary  Stuart  of  Scotland, 

1559-1560.  w'hose  uncles,  the  Guises,  in  consequence,  enjoyed  great  in- 
fluence at  the  French  court.  The  Guises,  as  zealous  adherents  of  the 
Catholic  Church  and  the  papacy,  made  use  of  their  lofty  position  to  sup- 
press the  reformed  party ;  but  by  doing  this,  gave  their  opponents,  and 


THE   TIMES    OF   PHILIP   II.    AND    ELIZABETH.  24'5 

in  especial,  the  Prince  Conde,  of  the  family  of  Bourbon,  and  the  Admi- 
ral Coligni,  the  opportunity  of  strengthening  themselves  by  joining  the 
Huguenots.  The  schism  increased  daily ;  the  one  party  strove  to  over- 
throw the  other,  and  to  secure  the  victory  to  their  own  side  by  the  as- 
sistance of  the  king.  The  day  on  which  the  Estates  assembled  at  Or- 
leans was  selected  by  both  parties  as  a  befitting  time  for  the  execution  of 
this  project.  The  Guises  gained  the  advantage.  The  chiefs  of  the  Hu- 
guenots already  found  themselves  in  prison,  when  a  turn  was  given  to 
affairs  by  the  sudden  death  of  the  king.  The  queen-mother,  Catherine 
of  Medicis,  placed  herself  at  the  head  of  affairs  during  the  minority  of 
Charles  IX.,  the  new  king,  Charles  IX.,  and  the  Bourbons  assumed  a 
A.  D.  1560-      position  suited  to  their  birth.     The   Guises,  irritated  at  the 

neglect  they  experienced,  retired  with  their  niece,  Mary  Stu- 
art, into  Lorraine,  whence  the  latter,  shortly  after,  departed  with  sorrow 
and  mourning  into  Scotland.  ♦ 

§  3G2.  The  removal  of  the  Guises  from  the  court  was  of  advantage 
to  the  reformed  party.  They  obtained  toleration.  Enraged  at  this  con- 
cession, the  duke  of  Guise  concluded  an  alliaiKc  with  some  other  power- 
ful nobles  for  the  preservation  of  the  ancient  faith  in  France,  and  return- 
ed to  Paris.  During  this  return,  a  horrible  slaughter  was  perpetrated 
by  the  Guises  and  their  attendants  upon  some  Calvinists  of  the  town  of 
Vassy,  who  were  assembled  together  in  a  barn,  for  the  celebration  of 
Divine  worship.  This  proved  the  signal  for  a  religious  war.  The  out- 
rage given  to  the  conceded  liberty  of  conscience  by  this  bloody  act  of 
violence  cried  for  vengeance.  France  was  soon  divided  into  two  hostile 
camps,  that  attacked  each  other  with  bitter  aiiimn  iiy  ;;ih1  religious  rage. 
The  most  horrible  atrocities  were  committed,  and  the  kingdom  disturbed 
to  its  inmost  depths.  The  Catholics  obtained  aid  from  Rome  and  Spain, 
the  Protestants  were  assisted  by  England  ;  Germany  and  Switzerland 
supplied  soldiers.  After  the  undecisive  battle  of  Dreux,  and  the  murder 
of  the  Duke  Francis  of  Guise,  at  the  siege  of  Orleans,  peace  was  for  a 
short  time  restored,  and  the  Calvinists  again  assufed  of  religious  tolera- 
tion—  a  promise  that  met  with  but  little  attention.  The  two  parties 
D  1568         ^^^^^  ^^^"  again  arrayed  in  arms  against  each  other.     But 

despite  the  bravery  of  the  Huguenots  in  the  battle  of  St. 
Denis,  where  the  elder  Montmorenci  lost  his  life,  the  superiority  remain- 
ed on  the  side  of  the  Catholics;  particularly  when  Catherine  de  Medicis, 
who  had  hitherto  sided  with  neither  party,  embraced  the  interests  of  the 
latter.  The  sight  of  crucifixes  and  sacred  objects  broken  to  pieces,  dur- 
ing a  journey  undertaken  by  the  queen  and  her  son,  and  the  advice  of 
the  duke  of  Alba,  with  whom  she  had  an  interview  in  Bayonne,  had 
produced  this  alteration  in  her  opinions.  After  several  bloody  engage- 
ments in  the  vicinity  of  La  Rochelle,  which  the  Huguenots  had  selected 
as  their  battlefield,  and  after  their  gallant  leader,  Conde,  had  been  basely 


248  TUE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

assassinated  during  one  of  tLem,  the  peac<e  of  St.  Germain  was  arrang- 
ed, by  which  the  Calvinists  were  again  assured  of  the  free  exercise  of 
their  religion.  Conde's  nephew,  Henry  of  Beam,  who  had 
been  bred  up  in  the  doctrine  of  Calvin  by  his  mother,  Joanna 
d'  Albret,  now  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  Huguenots ;  but  the 
Boul  of  the  party  was  the  brave  Coligni,  who  stood  by  the  side  of  the 
prince  as  his  guide  and  adviser. 

§  363.  Coligni  possessed  great  influence  at  the  court  after  the  peace. 
The  young  king  respected  him,  and  favored  him  with  his  confidence. 
For  the  purpose  of  bringing  about  a  permanent  reconcihation  between 
the  religious  parties,  the  king  now  urged  a  marriage  between  his  sister, 
Margaret  of  Valois,  and  the  Bourbon,  Henry  of  Beam.  This  offended 
the  Guises,  who  believed  that  Coligni  had  procured  the  assassination  of 
Francis  of  Guise,  and  they  resolved  upon  his  destruction.  Coligni  was 
fired  at  one  evening,  as  he  was  returning  to  his  own  house  from  the 
Louvre.  The  ball,  however,  only  shattered  his  arm,  and  it  was  neces- 
sary to  devise  a  fresh  plan  of  destruction.  The  Guises,  in  conjunction 
with  Catherine  of  Medicis,  now  entertained  the  horrible  project  of  taking 
advantage  of  the  approaching  marriage,  for  the  solemnization  of  which 
many  illustrious  Calvinists  had  hastened  to  the  capital,  to  destroy  the 
chiefs  of  the  Huguenot  party.  Thus  originated  the  Bloody  Nuptials  of 
Paris,  in  the  night  of  St.  Bartholomew,  August  24th,  1572.  When  the 
alarm  bell  of  St.  Germain  I'Auxerrois  gave  the  signal  at  midnight,  bands 
of  armed  ruffians  fell  upon  the  defenceless  Calvinists.  The  grey-headed 
hero,  Coligni,  was  the  first  victim  that  the  Guises  sacrificed  to  their  hate ; 
the  murderous  bands  then  marched  through  all  parts  of  the  city,  filled 
the  streets  and  houses  with  blood  and  corpses,  and  laughed  to  scorn  every 
sentiment  of  humanity  and  justice.  The  butchery  lasted  for  three  days, 
and  was  imitated  in  other  towns,  so  that,  at  the  lowest  computation, 
25,000  Huguenots  must  have  perished.  The  king,  to  whom  the  plan 
was  communicated  a  short  time  before  its  execution,  listened  to  the  voice 
of  his  passions,  and  himself  fired  upon  the  fugitives.  After  the  deed  had 
been  accomplished,  and  the  Guises  had  been  fixed  upon  by  the  public 
voice  as  its  instigators,  and  called  upon  to  answer  for  their  conduct, 
Charles  took  the  whole  affair  upon  himself,  and  excused  the  crime  by  a 
pretended  conspiracy.  Many  of  the  French  quilted  their  homes  in  hor- 
ror, and  sought  for  security  in  Switzerland,  Germany,  and  the  Nether- 
lands. Henry  of  Bearn  saved  his  life  by  a  compulsatory  abjuration,  but 
returned  to  his  old  faith  as  soon  as  he  found  himself  in  security. 

§  364.   Charles  IX.  died  two  years  after  the  night    of 

*       St.  Bartholomew,  troubled  with  evil  dreams.     His  brother 

Henr   TIT        Henry,  who  had  been  for  a  twelvemonth  the  elected  king  of 

Ai  T).  1574-      Poland,  fled  secretly  from  the  rude  shores  of  the  Vistula  to 

1-^89,  take  possession  of  the  ftiirer  crown  of  France.     Henry  IIL 


THE   TIMES    OF   PHILIP   II.    AND   ELIZABETH.  249 

was  a  weak  and  luxurious  prince,  without  either  assiduity  or  energy. 
Shut  up  with  his  favorites  and  pet  dogs  in  the  Jhmost  apartments  of  the 
palace,  he  forgot  his  kingdom  with  its  disturbance^  and  miseries;  and 
when  remorse  at  his  sinful  life,  which  was  passed  in  lust  and  debauchery, 
seized  upon  him,  he  sought  consolation  in  superstitious  devotion,  in  pil- 
grimages and  processions,  and  in  penance  and  flagellations.  To  bring 
the  Huguenots  to  peace,  so  that  he  might  be  able  to  devote  himself  to  the 
undisturbed  enjoyment  of  the  pleasures  of  his  capital,  Henry,  immediately 
upon  his  accession,  granted  them  freedom  of  conscience,  and  equal  civil 
rights  with  the  Catholics.  Enraged  at  these  concessions,  which  destroyed 
all  the  fruits  of  their  previous  exertions,  the  zealous  Catholics,  under  the 
guidance  of  Henry  of  Guise,  and  with  the  cognizance  of  Philip  II.  of 
Spain,  concluded  the  Holy  League  for  the  preservation  of  the  Church  in 
all  its  ancient  rights.  Many  members  were  won  to  this  alliance  by  the 
insinuations  of  the  priests  and  monks,  and  by  the  intrigues  of  the  Jesuits. 
The  fickle  and  faithless  king,  disturbed  by  this  movement,  united  himself 
with  the  Catholic  zealots,  declared  himself  the  head  of  the  League,  and 
curtailed  the  religious  peace.  The  duke  of  Anjou,  Henry's  younger 
brother,  died  a  few  years  after  this ;  and  as  he,  like  the  king,  was  without 
children,  the  Bourbon,  Henry  of  Navarre  (Beam),  became  the  nearest 
heir  to  the  throne.  This  prospect  of  a  Protestant  king 
alarmed  the  Catholic  part  of  France,  and  gave  fresU  vigor 
to  the  League.  The  weak  king  was  obliged  to  recall  all  treaties  with  the 
Huguenots,  to  announce  the  extirpation  of  heresy,  and  to  approve  the 
arrangements  of  the  League.  Henry  of  Guise,  at  first,  only  entertained 
the  notion  of  putting  aside  the  Protesfant  successor  to  the  throne,  who 
had  been  excommunicated  by  the  pope  ;  but  his  courage  rose  with  his 
increasing  power ;  he  soon  made  attempts  upon  the  crown  himself,  whilst, 
as  a  pretended  descendant  of  the  Carlovingi,  he  asserted  the  superiority 
of  his  claims  to  those  of  the  reigning  family.  A  conspiracy  was  formed 
in  Paris  (where  the  citizens  were  kept  in  a  state  of  perpetual  agitation 
by  fanatical  popular  orators)  against  the  freedom  or  life  of  the  king;  and 
when  Henry  III.  attempted  to  defend  himself  by  calling  in  Swiss  troops, 
the  agitation  burst  into  rebellion.  The  people  assembled  themselves 
around  the  Guises,  who,  against  the  king's  commands,  were  entering  the 
^f     ,o  ^roo    capital,  barricaded  the  streets  and  bridges,  and  commenced 

May  12,  lobo.  n     '  ... 

a  turious  contest  with  single  divisions  of  the  troops.  The 
trembling  king  fled  with  his  favorites  to  Chartres,  and  left  his  capital  in 
the  hands  of  his  rival.  Henry  of  Guise  now  possessed  the  same  power 
that  had  belonged  to  the  mayors  of  the  palace  in  the  time  of  the  Mero- 
September,  vingi  (§  184).  But  even  this  position  did  not  satisfy  the  am- 
1588.  bitious  party  leader.     An  assembly  of  Estates,  convoked  at 

Blois,  where  the  adherents  of  the  Guises  were  the  strongest  party,  propos- 
ed not  only  to  deprive  the  Bourbons  of  their  right  to  the  throne  and  to  ex- 


250  THE   MODER]^    EPOCH. 

terminate  Calvinism,  but  to  change  the  government,  and  to  place  tha 
whole  power  in  the  han3s  of  the  Guises.  At  this  crisis,  Henry  hazarded 
a  bold  stroke ;  he  had  the  duke  of  Guise  and  his  brother,  the  Cardinal 
Louis,  assassinated,  and  imprisoned  the  most  influential  leaders  of  their 
party.  This  proceeding  produced  a  fearful  commotion  in  the  whole 
nation:  in  Paris,  allegiance  was  renounced  to  the  God-forsaken  king, 
who  had  overthrown  the  pillar  of  Catholicism ;  the  pope  fulminated  an 
excommunication  at  him ;  revolutionary  movements  took  place  in  many 
quarters.  Despised  and  forsaken,  Henry  III.  saw  no  other  way  to  safety 
open  to  him  than  an  alliance  with  Henry  of  Navarre  and  the  Huguenots. 
A  frightful  civil  war  burst  out  afresh,  but  fortune  was  hostile  to  the 
League.  Henry  had  already  laid  siege  to  Paris,  and  threatened  to 
reduce  the  faithless  town  to  a  heap  of  ruins,  when  the  knife  of  a  fanatical 
monk  put  an  end  to  his  life.  Henry  IIL,  the  last  Valois,  died  on  the  1st 
of  August,  1589,  after  appointing  Henry  of  Navarre  and  Beam  his  suc- 
cessor. 

§  365.  Henry  IV.  had  still  a  long  struggle  to  sustain  before  his  head 
was  ornamented  by  the  crown  of  France.     Mayenne,  the  brother  of  the 
murdered  Guise,  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  League,  and  offered  a 
vehement  resistance  to  the  Calvinistic  claimant  of  the  throne.    Philip  11. 
sought  to  turn  the  confusion  to  his  own  advantage,  and  commanded  his 
able  general,  Alexander  of  Parma,  to  march  his  forces  from  the  Nether- 
lands into  France.     Henry  tried  for  a  long  time  to  get  possession  of  his 
inheritance  by  the  sword :  he  laid  siege  to  Paris,  and  caused 
the  citizens  to  feel  all  the  horrors  of  famine  ;  but  he  at  length 
became  convinced  that  he  never  could  gain  peaceable  possession  of  the 
French  throne  by  battles  and  victories.    He  thought  the  crown  of  France 
was  worth  a  mass,  and  went  over  to  the  Catholic  Church  in 
the  cathedral  of  St.  Denis,  and  by  this  means  destroyed  the 
power  of  the  League.     Paris  now  threw  open  its  gates,  and  welcomed 
the  bringer  of  peace  with  acclamations.     The  pope  recalled  the  anathe- 
ma ;  the  heads  of  the  League  concluded  a  treaty  with  him,  and  Philip  IL, 
a  short  time  before  his  death,  consented  to  the  peace  of  Yervins.     After 
^  foreign  and  domestic  tranquillity  had  been  thus  restored  to 

France,  the  king,  by  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  conferred  upon  the 
Calvinists  liberty  of  conscience,  the  full  rights  of  citizenship,  and  many 
other  privileges ;  such  as  separate  chambers  in  the  courts  of  justice, 
several  castles,  with  all  their  warlike  munitions  (La  Pochelle,  Montau- 
ban,  Nismes,  &c.,)  and  freedom  from  episcopal  jurisdiction.  He  next 
sought  to  heal  the  wounds  that  had  been  inflicted  on  the  land  by  the  war, 
by  encouraging  agriculture,  trade,  and  commerce ;  and  had  the  economy 
of  the  state  and  the  taxation  admirably  arranged  by  his  friend  and  minis- 
ter, Sully.  He  won  for  himself  the  warmest  affections  of  his  people  by 
his  genuine  French  character,  and  by  his  cordial  and  cheerful  disposition. 


ELIZABETH  AND   MAEY   STUART.  251 

His  solitary  failing,  his  too  great  love  for  women,  was  a  merit  in  the 
eyes  of  the  French.  But  fanaticism  was  only  slumbering.  Henry's 
tolerant  disposition  towards  heretics  awakened  it.  As  he  was  meditating 
the  vast  plan  (with  the  approval  of  the  Dutch  Union  and  other  European 
powers)  of  founding  a  Christian  community  with  equal  privileges  for  the 
three  Confessions,  and  by  this  means  destroying  the  supre- 
macy of  the  royal  house  of  Hapsburg,  he  fell  beneath  the 
knife  of  Ravaillac. 

d.    ELIZABETH   AND    MARY    STUART. 

Elizabeth  §  ^^^*  ^^^i^^^  France  was  being  torn  to  pieces  by  the  war 

A.  D.  1558-  of  religion,  England,  under  Elizabeth,  was  making  mighty 
1603.  advances  in  trade  and  commerce,  in  navigation,  agriculture, 

and  literature.  Elizabeth  was  a  despotic  ruler,  who  suppressed  the 
ecclesiastical  freedom  of  the  people,  and  who  would  suffer  no  opposition 
to  her  will  in  parliament ;  but  she  possessed  great  talents  for  govern- 
ment, a  mind  invigorated  by  severe  studies,  and  an  understanding  that 
enabled  her  invariably  to  recognize  and  select  that  which  was  most  pro- 
fitable for  the  country.  She  surrounded  herself  by  sage  councillors, 
among  whom,  Cecil  (Lord  Burleigh)  held  the  first  rank,  and  maintained 
order  and  economy  in  the  management  of  the  state ;  but  the  dissimula- 
tion she  had  been  accustomed  to  practise  during  her  perilous  youth, 
rendered  the  crooked  path  of  falsehood,  and  the  subterfuges  of  a  dis- 
ingenuous policy  agreeable  to  her.  She  displayed  the  latter  more 
especially,  in  her  conduct  towards  Mary  Stuart,  queen  of  Scotland,  who, 
in  character,  personal  qualities,  and  history,  formed  a  contrast  to  her 
neighboring  rival.  Whilst  Elizabeth,  from  the  misfortunes  of  her  youth, 
had  carried  with  her  into  life  a  dowry  of  unamiability,  severity,  false- 
hood, and  envy,  the  beautiful  Mary,  after  a  youth  passed  in  joy  and 
happiness,  had  brought  to  the  Scottish  throne  a  cheerful  and  engaging 
nature,  an  open  heart,  and  a  joyous  disposition ;  and  whilst  the  English 
qusen  was  closely  bound  to  Protestantism,  and  united  in  one  Church  with 
her  people,  Mary  held  fiist  to  the  Catholic  faith  and  the  papacy,  in  the 
midst  of  a  rude  nation,  who,  with  their  own  hands,  had  raised  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  to  be  the  Church  of  the  kingdom,  and  who  detested  the 
mass  as  idolatry.  Her  private  chapel  was  attacked,  and  the  stern 
reformer,  Knox,  pronounced  severe  discourses  against  her  from  the 
pulpit  of  the  palace,  as  the  prophets  had  once  done  against  the  idolatrous 
kings  of  Israel. 

§  367.  Mary  united  herself  in  a  second  marriage  with 
Darnley,  a  Scotch  nobleman,  who  had  been  brought  up  in 
England.    The  union,  however,  proved  unfortunate.    The  vain,  unthink- 
ing husband,  abandoned  to  the  counsels  of  insincere  friends,  found  plea- 
sure in  nothing  but  hunting  and  feasting  ;  and  was  indignant  at  finding 


252  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

that  the  queen  neglected  him,  and  bestowed  her  confidence  on  the  singer, 
Rizzio,  from  Turin,  who  conducted  her  correspondence  with  the  Guises 
and  the  pope.  Darnley,  urged  on  by  jealousy,  and  a  feeling  of  injured 
honor,  and  irritated  by  malicious  friends,  formed  a  conspiracy  with  some 
nobles,  —  and  Mary's  favorite,  pierced  by  many  daggers,  fell 
lifeless  before  the  eyes  of  his  mistress,  in  her  own  chamber. 
This  horrible  deed  filled  the  heart  of  the  queen  with  bitterness  against 
her  husband,  of  whose  guilt,  despite  his  denial,  she  felt  convinced.  She 
separated  herself  more  and  more  from  him,  entertained  thoughts  of  a 
divorce,  and  turned  her  favor  upon  Bothwell,  another  Scottish  nobleman. 
It  was  not  till  Darnley  fell  ill  that  she  appeared  to  lay  aside  her  displea- 
sure. She  attended  upon  him  with  the  greatest  assiduity,  in  a  remote 
February  10,  garden  house.  But  the  inhabitants  of  Edinburgh  were 
1567.  awakened  one  night,  during  Mary's  absence,  by  a  dreadful 

explosion.  The  garden  house  was  found  shattered  to  pieces,  and  Darn- 
ley's  body,  at  some  distance,  apparently  suffocated.  The  public  voice 
pointed  out  Bothwell  as  the  perpetrator  of  the  deed ;  and  three  months 
after,  he  was  Mary's  husband.  Was  it  at  all  wonderful  that  she  was 
accused  of  being  an  accomplice  in  the  murder  ?  Irritated  at  this  criminal 
marriage,  the  Scottish  nobility  took  up  arms.  Bothwell  fled  before  the 
battle  was  fought,  and  led  the  life  of  a  freebooter  near  the  Hebrides,  but 
was  taken  by  the  Danes,  and  died  in  prison,  insane.  Mary  was  led  in 
triumph  to  Edinburgh,  amidst  the  execrations  of  her  people,  and  then 
imprisoned  in  a  solitary  castle  on  the  island  of  Lochleven,  where  she  was 
compelled  to  abdicate  her  crown,  and  to  transfer  the  government  to  her 
half-brother,  Murray,  during  the  minority  of  her  son,  James.  Mary, 
indeed,  escaped,  and  found  assistance  from  the  powerful  family  of  Hamil- 
ton ;  but  having  been  overcome  in  a  battle,  she  would  have  fallen  a 
second  time  into  the  hands  of  her  enemies,  had  she  not  fled 
with  the  greatest  haste  into  England,  to  seek  protection  from 
Elizabeth. 

§  3G8.  The  queen  of  England  declined  every  interview  with  Mary 
until  the  latter  should  have  cleared  herself  from  the  charge  of  having 
murdered  her  husband  ;  and  since  Mary,  as  an  independent  sovereign, 
would  not  submit  herself  to  an  English  tribunal,  it  was  considered  neces- 
sary to  retain  her  in  England.  But  her  presence  soon  endangered  Eliza- 
beth's safety.  The  duke  of  Norfolk  attempted  to  gain  Mary's  hand,  but 
lost  first  his  freedom  and  afterwards  his  life.  The  ancient  Church  still 
numbered  many  adherents  in  the  northern  counties ;  the  earls  of  North- 
umberland and  Westmoreland  raised  the  standard  of  rebelHon,  with  the 
purpose  of  setting  Mary  at  liberty,  and  restoring  the  Catholic  Church. 
Their  undertaking  failed.  Northumberland,  given  up  by  the 
Scots  as  a  fugitive,  died  upon  the  scaffold.  Mary  was  sus- 
pected as  an  accomplice ;  she  was  removed  from  that  neighborhood  and 


ELIZABETH   AXD   MARY   STUART.  253 

more  closely  patched.  All  the  efforts  of  foreign  courts  to  procure  her 
liberation  were  fruitless.  The  disturbed  state  of  Scotland,  where  the 
rage  of  party  was  leading  to  assassination  and  civil  war,  and  the  religious 
contests  on  the  -continent,  seemed  to  render  her  continued  imprisonment 
necessary.  At  this  juncture,  Babmgton,  with  a  few  companions,  embraced 
the  project  of  murdering  Elizabeth,  and  placing  Mary,  by  the  aid  of 
Spanish  troops,  upon  the  English  throne.  Their  purpose  was  discovered. 
The  conspirators  died  upon  the  scaffold,  and  when  it  appeared,  upon 
examination,  that  Mary  was  privy  to  the  plot,  the  court  pronounced  her 
guilty,  and  Elizabeth  was  requested  by  the  parliament,  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  religion  and  the  peace  of  the  country,  and  for  the  security  of  her 
own  person,  to  let  justice  take  its  course.  She  wished  for  the  death  of  her 
enemy,  but  she  feared  the  consequences.  At  length,  the  struggle  ended, 
Elizabeth  signed  the  death-warrant,  and  Burleigh  had  it  hastily  executed 
Mary's  head  fell  on  the  7th  of  February,  1587,  in  the  nineteenth  year 
of  her  imprisonment  and  the  forty-fifth  of  her  life.  She  died  with  firm- 
ness, and  true  to  her  faith.  Elizabeth,  however,  complained  that  her 
minister  had  ordered  the  execution  against  her  commands,  and  punished 
her  secretary,  Davison,  by  fine  and  imprisonment,  for  having  let  the 
warrant  go  out  of  his  hands. 

§  369.  The  pope  and  Philip  11.  heard  of  the  deed  with  horror.  The 
former  outlawed  the  heretical  queen,  and  summoned  the  Catholic  powers 
to  vengeance ;  the  latter  fitted  out  the  vast  Armada  (§  359),  for  the 
purpose  of  subjecting  England  and  the  Netherlands  at  one  blow,  and  of 
afterwards  founding  a  Catholic  empire  in  the  west  of  Europe,  under  the 
supremacy  of  Spain.  But  the  destruction  of  the  "  Invincible  Fleet " 
raised  the  renown  of  England  and  its  queen,  and  laid  the  foundation  of 
Britain's  empire  of  the  sea  and  of  the  greatness  of  her  commerQC.  From 
this  time,  her  trade,  her  navigation,  and  her  colonies,  received  a  vast 
impulse.  Drake,  the  celebrated  circumnavigator  of  the  globe,  and  other 
maritime  heroes,  had  discovered  the  element  on  which  the  power  and 
glory  of  England  were  to  be  raised. 

It  was  only  in  Ireland  that  Elizabeth's  undertakings  were  unsuccessful. 
This  island^which  for  centuries  had  been  conquered,  but  never  taken 
possession  of,  had  been  raised  into  a  kingdom  by  Henry  VIII.,  and  sub- 
jected to  the  religious  laws  of  England.  But  it  was  only  a  small  pro- 
portion of  the  population,  namely,  the  British  colonists,  who  received  the 
Reformation ;  the  native  Irish  remained  true  to  their  ancient  faith  and 
clergy.  Elizabeth  attempted  to  bring  about  a  closer  political  and  eccle- 
siastical union  between  the  island  and  England.  The  earl  of  Tyrone, 
one  of  the  military  chiefs,  opposed  himself  to  this  project,  and  obtained 
help  from  Spain  and  Rome.  Upon  this,  the  chivalrous  earl  of  Essex, 
to  whom  the  queen  had  transferred  the  favor  she  had  so  long  bestowed 
upon  his  unworthy  father-in-law,  the  earl  of  Leicester,  received  the  go* 
22      • 


^54  THE    MODERJT    EPOCH. 

vernorship  of  Ireland.  But  instead  of  subduing  Tyrone,  he  concluded  a 
disadvantageous  treaty  with  him.  Essex,  by  this  means,  incurred  the 
displeasure  of  the  queen ;  and  when,  instead  of  waiting  quietly  for  a 
more  favorable  time,  he  formed  a  plot  with  James  of  Scotland,  and  at- 
tempted to  compel  Elizabeth  by  an  insurrection  to  appoint  James  her 
Buccessor,  he  was  seized,  tried,  and  beheaded  in  the  Tower,  at  the  age  of 
thirty-three.  Grief  and  remorse  at  the  death  of  her  favorite,  and  the  con- 
eciousness  that  the  affections  of  her  people  had  much  cooled  towards  her, 
embittered  the  last  years  of  the  queen's  life  to  such  a  degree,  that  she 
passed  days  and  nights  in  tears  on  the  cushions  with  which  the  floors 
were  covered,  till  her  death,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years,  put  an  end  to 
her  sorrows.  On  her  death  bed,  she  appointed  Mary's  son,  James  of 
Scotland,  her  successor. 


€.    CULTURE    AND    LITERATURE    IN    THE    CENTURY    OF    THE 
REFORMATION. 

§  370.  Civilization  received  a  mighty  impulse  during  the  sixteenth 
century  in  all  countries.  Schools  were  improved  and  universities  mul- 
tiplied ;  art  and  literature  were  fostered  and  supported.  The  works  of 
the  ancients,  which  were  everywhere  translated  and  explained,  awakened 
new  views  and  cultivated  the  taste ;  and  the  mental  energy  that  had 
been  called  into  existence  by  the  disputes  respecting  religion  and  the 
Church,  furthered  the  general  cultivation  and  enlightenment,  and  exalted 
literary  activity.  The  interest  in  intellectual  gifts  produced  marvellous 
creations  in  the  regions  of  art  and  science.  Germany  and  Italy  were 
considered  the  chief  seminaries  of  civilization. 

1.  The  science  of  antiquity  was  more  especially  cultivated  and  devel- 
oped in  the  numerous  universities  of  Germany,  and  those  learned  semi- 
naries that  rested  upon  the  study  of  the  ancient  classical  literature  were 
established  by  the  efforts  of  Melancthon,  which  extended  themselves 
Copernicus  ^^'®^  ^^^  countries.  It  was  in  Germany  that  Nicholas  Coper- 
A.  D.  nicus,   the   great   astronomer  of    Thorn,  showed   that   the 

H73-1543.  Ptolemaic  system  of  the  universe,  the  truth  of  which  had 
remained  unquestioned  for  fifteen  hundred  years,  was  founded  on 
incorrect  data ;  that  the  sun  remained  stationary  in  the  midst  of  the 
planetary  system,  but  that  the  earth,  like  the  other  planets,  in  addition 
to  the  revolution  on  its  axis,  had  besides  an  extremely  regular  motion 
Kepler,  around  the  sun.     And  Kepler,  one  of  the  greatest  thinkers 

A.  D  1571-  of  any  age,  sought,  in  the  spirit  of  Plato,  for  the  laws  that 
1630.  govern  the  eternal  order  of  the  world,   with  the  inspiration 

of  a  propliet,  and  the  creative  power  of  a  poet.  Unappreciated,  how- 
ever, and  persecuted  by  religious  zealots,  he  led  a  melancholy  life,  in  the 


LITERATURE   IN   THE   CENTURY   OF   THE   REFORMATION.      25.5 

midst  of  oppressive  anxieties  for  the  means  of  living.  It  fared  no  bet- 
g  ,»  ter  with  his  great  contemporary,   Galileo  of  Pisa,  who,  be- 

A.  D.  1565-  cause  he  shared  the  astronomical  opinions  of  Copernicus, 
1631.  -^as  summoned  before  the  tribunal  of  the  Inquisition,  and 

compelled  to  renounce  his  opinions  on  his  knees.  He  was  obliged  after 
this  to  linger  for  some  years  in  the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition,  where 
he  contracted  an  affection  of  the  eyes,  which  afterwards  terminated  in 
blindness. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  "  Meistersong,"  a  kind  of  burgher  poetry  in 
Hans  Sachf  '^'^ic^  Hans  Sachs,  a  shoemaker  of  Nuremberg,  particularly 
A.  D.  ^94^^  distinguished  himself,  was  flourishing  in  the  German  towns  ; 
1576.  j^nd  Sebastian  Brandt  of  Strasburg  (author  of  the  "  Ship  of 

,.?f  W^'   Fools"),  and  John  Fischart  of  Mayence,  raised  satirical  di- 

1458-1521.  ''  ,  . 

Fischart  A.  d.  ^actic  poetrj'  to  high  peifection.  Luther,  however,  was  the 
1591.  creator  of  German  prose  by  bis  translation  of  the  Bible,  and 

the  founder  of  German  sacred  poetry  by  his  spiritual  hymns. 

The  Germans  were  also  distinguished  at  this  time  in  the  fme  arts. 
The  pictures  of  Albert  Durer  (a.  d.  1548),  Hans  Holbein  (a.  d.  15G3), 
and  Lucas  Cranach  (a.  d.  1553),  are  still  much  esteemed,  although  they 
do  not  rival  those  of  their  great  Italian  contemporaries,  Michael  Angelo 
(a.  d.  1563),  Raphael  (a.  d.  1520),  Titian  (a.  d.  157G),  Leonardo  da 
Vinci  (a.  D.  1519),  or  Correggio  (a.  d.  1543). 

2.  In  Italy,  the  flourishing  period  of  art  and  literature,  which  had 
commenced  in  the  fifteenth  century,  continued  throughout  the  whole  of 
Macchlavelli  the  sixteenth.  In  Florence,  Macchiavelli,  one  of  the  acutcst 
A.  D.  1527.  of  thinkers  and  most  politic  of  statesmen,  composed  his  re- 
markable works,  "  Discourses  on  Titus  Livius,"  "  History  of  Florence," 
**The  Prince,"  which  still  excite  universal  admiration.  In  the  much 
talk  ed-of  book  "The  Prince,"  Macchiavelli  presents  the  picture  of  a  ruler 
who,  without  regard  to  virtue,  morality,  or  religion,  knows  how  to  esta- 
blish his  own  absolute  power,  and  to  make  his  own  will  the  law.  Freedom 
and  national  prosperity  are  as  little  regarded  in  this  book  as  truth  and 
justice  ;  intellect  alone  is  held  in  any  estimation.  For  this  reason,  a 
Ariosto,  faithless  system  of  policy  is  distinguished  by  the  epithet, 
A.  D.  1474  -  Macchiavellian.  In  Ferrara,  Ariosto  wrote  the  fascinating 
J?^^'    ,  and  sportive  heroic   poem  of  "  Orlando  Furioso ; "  and  tho 

J.  oroiitito 

Tasso  A.  D.  melancholy  Torquato  Tasso  celebrated  the  first  crusade  in 
1595.  beautiful  language  in  his  "  Jerusalem  Delivered." 

3.  The  sixteenth  century  was  the  golden  age  of  art  and  literature  in 
Cervantes  Spain  and  Portugal  also.  Cervantes,  in  his  comico-satirical 
A.  D.  romance  of  "  Don  Quixote,"  has  represented,  with  such  art, 
1547-1616.  a  man  who  completely  mistakes  the  misty  creations  of  a 
world  of  dreams  for  actual  existences,  and  fights  for  an  object  that  exists 
nowhere  but  in  his  own  imagination,  that  the  name  of  his  hero  has  be- 


256  THE   MODEKN   EPOCH. 

Lope  de  Vega,  come  proverbial.  The  dramatic  poetry  of  Spain  reached  its 
A.  D.  1552  -  culminating  point  in  Lope  de  Vega  and  Calderon.  The 
Portuguese  poet,  Camoens,  has  ennobled  the  great  epoch  of 
A^D^lGOO-  ^^^  discovery  of  India  in  his  poem  of  the  "  Lusiad."  During 
I687'.  ^  passage  home  from  the  East  Indies,  hS  lost  his  property 

Camoens  ^7  ^  shipwreck,  and  saved  nothing  but  his  poem,  that  he 
A.  D.  1524-  held  fast  with  his  teeth  as  he  swam.  In  Portugal,  he  gra- 
1^69-  dually  fell  into  such  poverty  that  he  had  bread  collected  by 

an  Indian  servant  to  prevent  his  dying  of  hunger. 

4.  In  England,  William  Shakspeare,  one  of  the  greatest  poe?ts  of  any 
Shakspeare,  ^ge^  gave  its  full  perfection  to  dramatic  poetrj||;  whether 
A.  D.  1564-  tragedy  or  comedy.  His  great  dramas  are  founded  either 
1^16-  upon  historical  events  ("Henry  IV.,"  " Richard  IH."),  or 

upon  the  ordinary  events  of  human  life  ("Macbeth,"  "Lear,"  "Romeo 
and  Juliet,"  "Othello");  the  best  known  of  his  comedies  are,  "Mid- 
summer Night's  Dream,"  and  "  The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor ; "  in  the 
latter,  the  fat  FalstafF,  the  companion  of  Henry  V.,  and  the  type  of  a 
comic  character,  plays  the  chief  part. 


IIL  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

1.    THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR    (a.    D.    1618-1648). 

a.    BOHEMIA,    PALATINATE,    LOWER    GERMANY,   TILLY.      APPEARANCE 
OF    WALLENSTEIN. 

§  371.  Whilst  the  dark  fanaticism  of  Philip  II.  was  plunging  the 
Ferdinand  I.,  West  of  Europe  into  a  bloody  religious  war,  arms  were  at 
A.  D.  1556-  rest  in  Germany  under  the  gentle  government  of  Ferdinand 
■^^^*"  I.  and  Maximilian  II.    Both  these  princes  upheld  the  Peace 

Maximilian,  ^^^  Religion  with  impartiality  and  justice  (§  340).  But  when, 
1576.'    *  after  the  premature  death  of  Maximilian  IL,  his  son,  Rudolf 

Rudolf  IT  ^^'^  ^^^  ^^^  been  brought  up  in  Spain,  came  to  the  throne, 
A.  D.  1576  -  complaints  arose  of  the  infringement  of  the  law,  and  of  vio- 
1612.  lation  of  liberty  of  conscience.     Rudolf,  a  prince  zealously 

■  devoted  to  the  Catholic  Church,  but  possessed  of  slender  talents  for 
government,  neglected  the  affairs  of  his  kingdom  for  the  study  of  astro- 
nomy, painting,  and  antiquities,  and  trusted  to  the  advice  of  the  Jesuits, 
who  strewed  with  busy  hands  the  seeds  of  religious  discord,  and  called 
forth  strife,  party-spirit,  and  confusion,  both  in  the  German  empire  and 
in  the  hereditary  states  of  Austria.     When  the  archbishop,  Gebhard  of 


WAR.  257 

Colo^^ne,  went  over  to  the  evangelical  Church,  that  he  might  marry  the 
beautiful  countess  of  Mansfeld,  he  was  deprived  of  his  dignity ;  a  pro- 
ceeding that  was  declared  by  the  evangelical  States  to  be  an  infringe- 
ment of  the  "spiritual  proviso."  The  archduke,  Ferdinand,  brefl  up  and 
guided  by  the  Jesuits,  refused  the  numerous  Protestants  in  Styria,  Ca- 
rinthia,  and  Carniola,  the  religious  liberties  they  had  hitherto  enjoyed ; 
had  the  evangelical  churches  and  schools  pulled  down,  and  the  Bibles 
burnt,  and  drove  out  of  the  country,  without  mercy,  all  those  who  refused 
to  attend  the  mass.  The  imperial  ci.ty  of  Donau worth,  which  was  chiefly 
Protestant,  was  placed  under  the  ban  for  disturbing  a  procession,  taken 
possession  of  by  the  imi)atient  duke,  Maximilian  I.  of  Bavaria,  and 
deprived  of  its  Protestant  worship.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  evangelical 
Estates  presented  complaints ;  the  weak  and  indifferent  emperor  gave  no 
redress.  It  was  on  this  account  that  a  number  of  evangelical  princes 
A  D  1608  ^^^  imperial  cities  concluded  a  Protestant  Union,  at  the 
instigation  of  the  Elector  of  the  Palatinate,  for  mutual 
A.  D.  1609.  assistance  against  aggression  and  j^olence.  This  Union  was 
opposed  by  the  Catholic  League,  formed  by  5laxirailian  of  Bavaria  and 
the  spiritual  Electors  (Mayence,  Treves,  and  Cologne),  and  some  bishops 
(Wurzburg,  Augsburg,  &:c.).  In  this  manner,  Germany  was  again 
divided:  the  League  united  itself  with  Spain;  the  Union  secured  the  aid 
of  Henry  of  France  and  the  Dutch.  The  death  of  the  childless  duke  of 
Cleves  and  Berg,  which  occasioned  a  quarrel  for  his  inheritance  between 
the  palgrave  of  Neuburg,  who  had  gone  over  to  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  the  Evangelical  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  gave  the  first  occasion  for 
hostilities  between  the  two  religious  parties.  After  a  long  and  destruc- 
tive war,  a  division  was  agreed  upon,  by  which  Cleves  was  allotted  to 
Brandenburg,  and  Berg  with  Dusseldorf  to  the  Palatinate. 

§  372.  The  incompetence  and  carelessness  of  Rudolf  threatened  to 
destroy  all  respect  for  the  royal  house  of  Hapsburg.  His  relatives, 
therefore,  compelled  him  to  surrender  Austria  and  Hungary  to  liis 
brother,  Matthias.  Rudolf,  who  was  extremely  favorable  to  the  Bohe- 
mians, whose  capital,  Prague,  Ire  had  chosen  for  a  residence,  maintained 
them  for  some  time  in  their  allegiance  by  the  granting  of  letters  patent, 
w^hich  gave  to  the  Utraquists  and  Lutherans  freedom  of  conscience, 
equality  with  the  Catholics,  and  their  own  defenders.  But  he  was 
obliged  at  length  to  relinquish  this  kingdom  also,  with  its  surrounding 
territories,  to  Mattliias,  so  that,  when  death  put  an  end  to  his 
inglorious  life,  he  was  in  possession  of  nothing  but  the  power- 
less imperial  throne. 

Matthias  "^^^  Matthias, had  just  as  little  energy  or  talents  for  govem- 

A- »•  ment  as  Rudolf ;  and  being  old  and  childless,  he  appointed 

612-1619.      j^jg  cousin,  Ferdinand  of  Carinthia,  his  successor  in  Austria, 

Hungary,  and  Bohemia.     The  elevation  of  this  rigid  Catholic  filled  the 

22* 


258  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

Protestants  (Utraqulsts,  Lutherans)  in  Bohemia  with  alarm  for  their 
religious  liberties.  This  alarm  increased,  when,  upon  the  building  of 
two  Protestant  churches  on  the  territories  of  the  abbot  of  Brunau  and 
of  the  monastery  of  Grab,  near  Toplitz,  a  decision  was  given,  that  no 
evangelical  church  should  be  erected  upon  ecclesiastical  property ;  and 
in  consequence  of  this  prohibition,  one  church  was  shut  up  and  the  other 
destroyed.  The  defenders,  who  saw  in  this  an  infringement  of  the  letters 
patent,  held  a  meeting,  and  proposed  a  remonstrance  to  the  emperor,  who 
was  then  absent  in  Hungary.  The  reply  confirmed  the  prohibition,  and 
contained  a  severe  reproof  to  the  complainers.  Irritated  at  this,  the  de- 
fenders, under  the  guidance  of  the  Count  von  Thurn,  marched  in  arms 
to  the  council-house,  for  the  purpose  of  calling  to  account  the  imperial 
council,  to  whom  they  attributed  the  offensive  writing.  After  a  short 
dispute,  the  irritated  Protestants  seized  upon  two  of  the  councillors  who 
were  present,  Martinitz  and  Slawata,  who  were  particularly  offensive  to 
them  as  zealous  Catholics,  and  threw  them,  together  with  the  secretary, 
Fabricius,  out  of  the  castle  window.  But  notwithstanding  the  height, 
and  the  shots  that  were*  fired  after  them,  they  all  escaped  with  their 
lives.  Upon  this,  the  evangelical  Estates  established  a  new  government, 
expelled  the  Jesuits,  and  fitted  out  an  army  under  the  command  of 
Thurn.  The  intelligence  of  these  proceedings  hastened  the 
'^^  '  '  death  of  Matthias,  who  was  already  ailing.  He  died  at  the 
moment  in  which  Thurn,  supported  by  the  brave  general,  Ernest  von 
Mansfeld,  defeated  the  imperial  troops  who  had  marched 
into  Bohemia,  and  appeared  with  his  army  before  -the  gates 
of  Vienna.  Tlie  oppressed  Protestants  of  Austria  entered  into  an  alli- 
ance with  Thurn,  their  ambassadors  forced  their  way  into  the  imperial 
palace,  and  demanded  from  Ferdinand,  with  threats,  religious  toleration 
and  an  equality  of  their  rights  with  those  of  the  Catholics.  The  danger 
was  pressing ;  but  Ferdinand  resolutely  refused  every  concession,  till  the 
arrival  of  Dampierre's  dragoons  freed  him  from  constraifi't.  Unfavorable 
weather  and  a  deficiency  in  provisions  compelled  Thurn  to  retreat. 

§  373.  Shortly  after  this,  Ferdinand  II.  was  elected  emperor  of  Ger- 
many in  Frankfort ;  but  before  his  coronation  took  place,  the  Estates  of 
Bohemia  and  Moravia  fell  off  from  the  house  of  Austria,  and  chose  for 
king  the  Elector,  Frederick  V.,  of  the  Palatinate,  the  head  of  the  Pro- 
testant Union.  It  was  in  vain  that  well-disposed  friends  warned  him  of 
the  dangerous  gift ;  —  the  voice  of  his  haughty  wife,  a  daughter  of  James  I. 
of  England,  the  exhortations  of  his  Calvinistic  court  preacher,  Scultetus, 
November  and  his  own  ambition,  determined  the  result.  The  vain  and 
1619.  weak  man  assumed  the  Bohemian  throne,  and  hastened  to 

receive  homage  and  be  invested  with  the  crown  at  Prague,  where  he 
squandered  the  time  in  idle  shows,  gave  himself  up  to  luxurious  living, 
and  offended  the  Utraquists  and  Lutherans  in  Bohemia  by  his  zeal  for 


WAR^  259 

Galvinism.  Ferdinand's  conduct  was  altogether  different.  He  concluded 
an  alliance  with  the  shrewd  Maximilian  of  Bavaria,  who  had  been  edu- 
cated by  the  Jesuits, and  who  was  the  head  of  the  well-provided  League; 
and  who  soon  ordered  his  able  general,  Tilly,  the  Netherlander,  to  march 
November  7,  with  his  army  into  Bohemia.  The  battle  at  the  White  Hill 
1C20.  was  soon  fought,  in  which  Frederick's  exhausted  troops  were 

defeated  by  the  superior  force  of  the  enemy,  and  sought  their  safety  in 
headlong  flight.  A  single  hour  decided  the  fate  of  Bohemia.  Frederick 
lost  courage  and  discretion  so  completely,  that  he  fled  with  the  greatest 
haste  across  Silesia  to  the  Netherlands,  pursued  by  the  imperial  sentence 
of  outlawry,  which  deprived  him  of  his  hereditary  possessions  of  the 
Palatinate.  Bohemia  and  Moravia  were  again  in  a  few  months  sub- 
jected to  Austria.  Ferdinand  cut  the  letters  patent  to  pieces  with  his 
own  hand ;  twenty-seven  of  the  most  illustrious  nobles  died  on  the  scaf- 
fold; hundreds  expiated  their  offences  by  the  forfeiture  of  their  goods; 
and  the  confiscated  property  was  bestowed  upon  the  ^Jesuits  and  other 
religious  orders.  Tyranny,  oppression,  and  seduction,  gave  a  complete 
triumph  to  the  Catholic  religion  in  a  few  decades,  after  upwards  of 
30,000  families  had  left  the  country.  Shortly  after  this,  the  Union, 
which  h^d  looked  quietly  on  during  these  proceedings,  was  dissolved  in 
the  midst  of  universal  contempt 

§  374.  After  the  subjugation  of  Bohemia,  Tilly  marched  against  the 
Palatinate  of  the  Rhine.     Three  courageous  men  ventured  to  take  the 
field  in  the  cause  of  the  outlawed  Elector  and  endangered  Protestantism: 
Christian  of  Brunswick,  administrator  of  the  bishopric  of  Halberstadt,  a 
rude  soldier,  who  presented  himself  as  the  defender  of  the  electoress 
Elizabeth,  and  who,  having  collected  a  troop  .of  soldiers,  marched  plun- 
dering through  Westphalia  towards  the  Maine  ;  Ernest  von  Mansfeld,  a 
knightly  adventurer,  who  maintained  his  troops  by  plunder  and  levying 
contributions,  and  treated  the  bishoprics  and  monasteries  on  the  Maine 
and  Rhine  with  great  severity ;  and  the  margrave,  George  Frederick  of 
Baden-Durlach.     The  two  latter  united  gained  n,  victory 
over  Tilly  at  Wiesloch   (Mingolsheim).      But  when  the  vic- 
tors shortly  after  separated  themselves,  George   Frederick, 
the  following  month,  lost  the  battle  of  Wimpfen,  and  would 
have  himself  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  had  not  400  of  the 
citizens  of  Pforzheim  covered  his  retreat  by  an  heroic  death.    A  few 
months  later.  Christian  of  Brunswick  also  suffered  a  defeat 
near  Hochst,  from  Tilly's  veteran  troops,  and  marched  in 
conjunction  with  Mansfeld  into  the  Netherlands,  to  obtain  help  from 
England,  whilst  the  League  general  stormed  Heidelberg,  Manheim,  and 
Frankenthal,  sent  the  Heidelberg  library  to  Rome,  and  filled  every  place 
with  blood  and  plunder.     In  the  following  year,  Maximilian  of  Bavaria 
received  the  electorship  of  the  Palatinate,  as  a  reward  from  the  Diet  of 
Ratisbon. 


^ 


^  c 


4. 
260  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 


§  375.  Ferdinand,  not  content  with  the  defeat  of  his  enemies,  wished 
to  make  use  of  his  superiority  to  restore  the  Catholic  Church  and  to  sup- 
press Protestantism.  This  occasioned  anxiety,  and  procured  the  enemies 
of  the  emperor  the  assistance  of  England,  Holland,  and  Denmark.  Mani- 
fold, Christian  of  Brunswick,  and  the  Margrave  of  Baden,  appeared  again 
in  the  field,  provided  with  troops  and  money,  and  were  supported  by 
Christian  IV.  of  Denmark,  who  was  induced  to  assume  arms,  partly  by 
religious  zeal,  and  partly  by  the  hope  of  increasing  his  territories.  A 
new  storm  burst  forth.  Upon  this,  the  emperor,  to  whom  the  dependence 
upon  the  League  and  the  great  authority  of  Maximilian  appeared  dan- 
gerous, determined  to  raise  an  army  of  his  own.  In  this  undertaking, 
Albert  of  Wallenstein,  a  Bohemian  nobleman,  offered  him  his  assistance. 
In  possession  of  a  vast  property  that  he  had  gained  by  marriage,  Wal- 
lenstein presented  himself  before  Ferdinand  with  the  offer  of  supporting  an 
army  of  50,000  men  at  his  own  expense,  if  he  were  allowed  the  unlimited 
command  of  them,'^nd  the  privilege  of  indemnifying  himself  from  the  con- 
quered lands.  After  some  hesitation,  Ferdinand  acceded  to  the  proposal  of 
the  bold  adventurer,  and  granted  him  the  governorship  of  Friedland,on  the 
northern  frontier  of  Bohemia,  raised  him  to  the  office  of  Elector  of  the 
empire,  and  afterwards  conferred  upon  him  the  dignity  of  duke.  The 
w^ar  now  extended  itself  into  the  North  of  Germany.  But  when  Wal- 
lenstein with  his  wild  bands  took  possession  of  the  shores  of  the  Elbe, 
and  effected  a  junction  wdth  Tilly,  the  army  of  the  League  and  emperor 
soon  obtained  the  advantage.  Mansfeld  suffered  a  defeat  from  the 
Friedlanders  at  the  bridge  of  Dessau,  and  was  overtaken  by  death  in 
Bosnia,  as  he  was  conducting  the  remains  of  his  army  by  a  difficult 
march  through  Hungary  into  the  Netherlands.  Christian  of 
Brunswick  sunk  into  the  grave  in  the  same  year,  and  Chris- 
tian IV.  was  defeated  by  Tilly  at  Lutter,  near  the  Baren- 
berg,  and  compelled  to  retreat  into  Denmark.  His  ally,  the 
duke  of  Mecklenburg,  was  obliged  to  leave  his  territories,  of  which, 
from  thai  time,  Wallenstein,  with  the  emperor's  permission,  took  posses- 
sion ;  Holstein,  Schleswic,  and  Jutland  soon  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
imperialists  in  the  midst  of  horrible  devastations;  Pomerania  and  Brand- 
enburg were  compelled  to  receive  imperial  garrisons ;  the  whole  north 
laid  subdued  at  the  feet  of  the  emperor,  and  the  Protestant  princes  and 
cities  awaited  with  fear  and  trembling  the  destiny  that  it  should  please 
Austria  and  Bavaria  to  award  them.  In  this  strait,  Stralsund  gave  an 
ennobling  example  of  patriotism  and  heroic  courage.  The  citizens  reso- 
lutely refused  to  admit  an  imperial  garrison  within  their  walls.  Here- 
upon, Wallenstein  advanced  upon  the  town  with  his  formidable  army, 
and  swore  that  he  would  take  it  if  it  w^ere  bound  to  heaven  with  chains. 
But  all  his  attacks  were  frustrated  by  the  strength  of  the  place  and  the 
heroism  of  the  citizens.     After  he  had  encamped  for  ten  weeks  before 


WAR.  261 

the  citj,  and  sacrificed  12,000  men,  lie  gave  up  the  attempt.    This  result 
checked  Wallenstein's  plans  of  conquest,  and  brought  the  war  to  a  more 

rapid  termination.  Christian  IV.  recovered  his  devastated 
^'  ^*  *  lands  by  the  peace  of  Liibeck,  but  was  obliged  to  promise 
that  he  would  refrain  from  any  farther  interference  in  the  affairs  of 
Germany. 

§  37  G.  Austria  was  again  victorious ;  and  the  more  decisive  her  victo- 
ry, the  greater  was  to  be  the  triumph  of  the  Catholic  Church.  The 
Protestant  worship  was  suppressed  by  violence  in  all  the  conquered  and 
occupied  lands,  and  the  supremacy  of  Catholicism  gradually  prepared 
for.     With  this  object,  the  emperor,  at  the  instigation  of  the  spiritual 

Electors,  published  the  P2dict  of  Restitution,  by  virtue  of 
'  '  which,  all  foundations  and  ecclesiastical  property  that  had 
been  confiscated  since  the  treaty  of  Passau  (§  337),  were  to  be  restored 
to  the  Catholic  Church,  the  Calvinists  were  excluded  from  the  religious 
peace,  and  the  Catholic  Estates  were  not  to  be  interfered  with  in  their 
attempts  to  convert  their  subjects.  This  arrangement,  which  threatened 
to  wrest  a  great  number  of  bishoprics,  and  almost  all  tlie  foundations  and 
abbeys  of  northern  Germany,  from  the  hands  of  their  present  proprie- 
tors, filled  the  whole  of  the  Protestant  part  of  the  country  with  terror 
and  alarm,  and  prolonged  the  •  destructive  civil  war.  Many  princes  and 
cities  refused  compliance,  and  the  emperor  found  himself  obliged  to  re- 
tain his  army  under  arras  to  give  effect  to  the  execution  of  the  Edict. 
But  this  army  was  no  longer  under  the  command  of  Wallenstein.  For 
when  the  princes  made  a  general  complaint,  at  the  Diet  of  Regensburg, 
of  the  friglitful  ravages  and  barbarous  method  of  warfare  pursued  by 
the  duke  of  Friedland,  and  Maximilian  imperatively  demanded  the  re- 
moval of  his  presuming  and  overbearing  rival,  Ferdinand,  who  wished  to 
produce  a  favorable  disposition  towards  the  contemplated  election  of  his 
son,  found  himself  .compelled  to  pronounce  Wallenstein's  deposition.  The 
general  was  informed  of  the  resolution  whilst  busied  with  his  astrologi- 
cal studies.  He  retired  to  his  Bohemian  estates,  where,  in  prou'd  repose, 
and  in  the  enjoyment  of  kingly  wealth,  he  awaited  the  time  when  his 
presence  would  be  again  required.  Tilly  assumed  the  command  over  the 
assembled  host,  and  marched  against  Magdeburg,  which  had  opposed  the 
execution  of  the  Edict  of  Restitution.  But  whilst  the  Protestant  Estates 
of  Germany,  helpless  and  overawed,  bent  before  the  superior  power  of 
Austria,  and  looked  forward  in  melancholy  expectation  for  the  postponed 
execution  of  the  Edict  of  Restitution,  a  fresh  hero  made  his  ap* 
pearance  on  the  soil  of  Germany  —  the  Swedish  king,  Gustavus  Adol- 
phus. 


262  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 


h.   INTERFERENCE    OF    SWEDEN.        GUSTAVUS    ADOLPHUS    AND 
WALLENSTEIN. 

§  377.  Gustavus  Adolphus,  the  grandson  of  Gustavus  Vasa  (§  349), 
determined  to  interfere  in  the  war  of  Germany,  partly  to  defend  Pro* 
testantism,  and  partly  to  increase  the  power  of  Sweden.  He  was  sup- 
ported by  the  shrewd  Cardinal  E-ichelieu  (§  400),  who  at  that  time 
governed  France,  and  who  looked  with  jealousy  upon  the  increasing 
power  of  the  house  of  Hapsburg.     As  soon  as  Gustavus  Adolphus  had 

effected  a  landinf;  on  the  coast  of  Pomerania,  the  old  duke 
June  24,  1630.  °  ' 

of  the  country  surrendered  his  lands,  which  had  been  fright- 
fully ravaged  by  the  imperial  troops,  to  Sweden.  The  piety  of  Gustavus, 
and  the  strict  discipline  of  his  soldiers,  who  assembled  themselves  twice 
a  day  around  their  field  preachers,  formed  a  striking  contrast  to  the  deso- 
lating mode  of  warfare  pursued  by  Tilly  and  Wallenstein,  so  that  the 
people  everywhere  greeted  the  Swedes  and  their  high-minded  king  as 
rescuers  and  deliverers.  Not  so  the  princes,  who,  from  fear  of  the  em- 
February,  peror's  vengeance,  rejected  the  alliance  that  was  offered 
1631.  them,  and  at  the  Diet  of  Leipsic,  embraced  the  resolution  of 

observing  a  neutral  position.  The  Electors  of  Brandenburg  and  Saxony 
refused  permission  to  the  Swedes  to  march  through  their  territories ;  and 

whilst  Gustavus  Adolphus  was  delayed  by  negotiations  on 
May  16,  1631.     ,.  ,.  t.^-,,^  -^  ^        ''     ^^ 

this  subject,  Magdeburg,  after  repeated  assaults,  was  taken 

and  destroyed  by  Pappenheim  and  Tilly.  The  barbarous  troops,  urged 
on  by  a  desire  for  vengeance,  and  a  love  of  plunder,  burst  into  the  luck- 
less town,  which  was  surrendered  to  them  for  three  days'  plunder,  and 
which  now  became  the  scene  of  the  most  revolting  horrors,  till  a  confla- 
gration, which  extended  itself  on  all  sides,  converted  it  at  length  into  a 
heap  of  ashes.  Two  churches  and  a  few  fishermen's  huts,  were  the  sole 
remains  of  this  flourishing  imperial  city. 

§  378.  The  destroyer  of  Magdeburg  now  turned  a  threatening  aspect 
towards  Saxony.  The  Elector,  in  the  anguish  of  his  heart,  concluded 
an  alliance  with  Gustavus  Adolphus,  that  he  might  be  able,  by  the  help 
of  Sweden,  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  Tilly's  incendiary  troops  into  his 
September  7,  territories.  The  battle  of  Leipsic  and  Breitenfeld  was  soon 
1631.  fought,  where  the  imperial  army  was  completely  defeated. 

Tilly,  who  was  himself  in  danger  of  his  life,  was  obliged,  after  a  great 
loss,  to  retreat  rapidly  into  the  south,  whilst  the  Swedes  turned  towards 
the  Rhine  and  the  Maine.  Before  the  winter  was  over,  the  bishopric  of 
Wurzburg,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  Lower  Palatinate,  were  in  the 
hands  of  the  Swedes ;  and  the  towns  of  the  Rhine  also  fell  into  the 
power  of  Gustavus,  after  he  had  accomplished  the  passage  of  the  Rhine 
at  Oppenheim  and  driven  back  the  Spaniards.  In  the  spring,  he  marched 
Upon  Nuremburg-on-the-Lech,  where  Tilly  had  occupied  a  strong  posl* 


THE   THIRTY  TEARS'    WAR.  263 

tion.  The  Swedes  forced  a  passage  across  the  vigorously  defended  river. 
During  the  storming  of  the  intrenchments,  Tilly  was  so  severely  wounded 
by  a  cannon-ball  that  he  died  fourteen  days  after,  at  Ingolstadt,  his  mind 
busied  with  military  affairs  in  the  very  hour  of  death.  War  filled  the 
entire  soul  of  this  hero.  Simple  and  moderate  in  his  mode  of  living,  he 
despised  wealth  and  possessions,  as  well  as  titles  and  dignities.  Sensual 
enjoyments  were  as  unknown  to  him,  as  high  cultivation  or  nobility  of 
mind. 

After  the  occupation  of  Augsburg,  where  the  evangelical  form  of  wor- 
ship was  again  restored,  Gustavus  Adolphus  marched  into  Bavaria, 
and  look  possession,  as  an  indulgent  conqueror,  of  Munich,  which  had 
been  deserted  by  the  court.  A  fine,  and  carrying  off  140  concealed  can- 
nons, was  the  only  punishment  inflicted  by  the  king  upon  the  trembling 
Bavarians. 

§  379.  In  the  mean  time,  the  emperor,  in  his  necessity,  had  again  had 
recourse  to  Wallenstein,  and  prevailed  upon  him  by  prayers  and  great 
concessions,  to  raise  a  fresh  army  and  to  take  the  supreme  command. 
After  a  successful  campaign  against  the  Saxons  in  Bohemia,  AVallenstein, 
in  conjunction  with  the  Bavarians,  marched  into  Franconia,  where  the 
Swedes  had  occupied  a  strong  position  near  Nuremburg.  Here  the  hos- 
tile armies  lay  encamped  opposite  each  other  for  months,  without  coming 
to  an  engagement,  till  at  length,  all  the  land  for  seven  miles  around  the 
spot  was  wasted,  and  even  the  abundant  stores  of  Nuremburg  began  to 
fail.  Hereupon,  Gustavus  resolved  to  attack  the  strong  camp  of  AVallen- 
stein,  but  the  galhmt  assailers  were  driven  back  by  the  tremendous  dis- 
charge of  artillery.  Tlie  attempt,  after  a  severe  loss,  was  obliged  to  be 
relinquished,  upon  which  the  Wallensteiners  marched  into  Saxony.  The 
November  16,  Swedes  soon  followed  them  hither,  and  tlie  eventful  battle 
1632.  of   Lutzen,  where   the   Swedes   triumphed,  but  their  king 

found  the  death  of  a  hero  in  the  tumult  of  the  fight,  took  place  upon  a 
foj^y  day  in  November.  Pappenheim,  the  gallant  leader  of  cavalry, 
was  also  borne  from  the  field  of  battle  mortally  wounded ;  and  Wallen- 
fetein  f  )und  himself  compelled  to  leave  the  field  to  the  enemy,  and  to 
retreat  into  Bohemia  with  his  defeated  anny.  The  Swedes  dragged  the 
body  of  their  heroic  king,  plundered  and  defaced  by  the  hoofs  of  horses, 
from  beneath  the  dead,  and  had  it  committed  to  the  earth  in  his  native 
land. 

§  380.  After  the  death  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  the  Swedish  chancel- 
lor, Axel  Oxenstiern,  a  prudent  and  energetic  statesman,  undertook  the 
conduct  of  the  war  in  Germany,  after  he  had  prevailed  upon  a  number 
of  the  evangelical  princes  and  cities,  by  the  alliance  of  Heilborn,  to 
continue  steadfast  in  the  treaty  they  had  entered  into  with  the 
king  of  Sweden.  Bernhard  of  Weimar  and  the  Swedish 
general,  Horn,  stood  by  his  side  as  the  chief  military  leaders.     France 


264  THE    MODERN   EPOCH. 

gave  supplies  of  money.  Thus  this  mischievous  war  continued  to  rage. 
Bavaria  was  severely  visited  by  the  Swedes,  who,  since  the  death  of  their 
king,  had  not  been  a  whit  behind  their  opponents  in  the  destructive  way 
of  carrying  on  the  war ;  and  the  Friedlanders  behaved  in  such  a  way  in 
Silesia,  that  the  prosperity  of  the  land  was  for  a  long  time  destroyed. 
But  Wallenstein's  course  was  approaching  its  termination.  His  dilatory 
way  of  conducting  the  war,  and  his  unintelligible  lingering  in  Bohemia, 
were  made  use  of  by  his  numerous  enemies  and  enviers  to  his  destruc- 
tion. He  was  accused  of  entertaining  the  project  of  entering  into  an 
alliance  with  Sweden,  and  of  placing  the  crown  of  Bohemia  upon  his 
own  head ;  it  was  for  this  reason  that  he  had  set  at  liberty  i^k  captive 
Count  Thurn,  the  hereditary  enemy  of  Austria ;  and  the  contract  that 
had  been  entered  into,  by  the  mediation  of  Illo,  between  Wallenstein 
and  the  leaders  of  the  different  divisions  for  mutual  adherence,  pointed 
to  revolt  and  treachery.  The  emperor,  guided  by  the  friends  of  Maxi- 
milian, by  monks  and  Jesuits,  who  hated  the  duke  on  account  of  the 
freedom  of  his  religious  views,  determined  upon  the  destruction  of  his 
too  powerful  general.  After  the  most  influential  leaders,  Gallas,  Picco- 
lomini,  and  Altringer,  had  been  secured,  Ferdinand  pronounced  Wallen- 
stein's deposition  ;  and  when  the  latter  marched  towards  Eger,  with  the 
most  devoted  of  his  troops,  to  be  nearer  a  juncture  with  the  Swedes,  he 
was  assassinated,  together  with  his  most  trusty  adherents,  Illo,  Terska, 
February  25,  ^'^^  Kinsky,  by  the  Irishman,  Butler,  and  a  few  confederates. 
1634.  The  vast  possessions  of  the  duke  and  his  friends  were  con- 

fiscated, and  presented  to  his  betrayers  and  murderers.  Honors,  digni- 
ties, and  wealth  were  the  rewards  of  the  criminals.  Thus  died  Wal- 
lenstein, the  terror  of  the  people,  and  the  idol  of  the  soldiery.  He  pos- 
sessed an  audacious  and  enterprising  spirit,  a  commanding  character,  that 
was  exalted  by  the  taciturnity  of  his  disposition  and  the  gloomy  severity 
of  his  aspect,  and  a  boundless  pride  and  ambition.  When  his  lofty  fig- 
ure, enveloped  in  a  scarlet  mantle,  and  with  a  red  feather  in  the  hat,  was 
seen  pacing  through  the  camp,  a  strange  horror  took  possession  of  the 
soldiers. 


C.    TERMINATION    OF    THE    WAR.        PEACE    OF    WESTPHALIA. 

§  381.  After  the  death  of.  Wallenstein,  the  imperial  army  marched 
into  Bavaria,  and  defeated  Bernhard  of  Weimar  in  the  battle  of  Nord- 
Sepiember  6,  lingen.  Several  German  princes  took  occasion  from  this  to 
1634.  conclude  the  peace  of  Prague  with  the   emperor.     But  the 

May,  1635.  frig] itful  war 'was  not  yet  terminated.  Richelieu,  who  was 
not  willing  that  the  favorable  moment  for  diminishing,  the  power  of  the 
Ilapsburgs,  and  extending  the  territories  of  France,  should  escape  un- 
improved, promised  eificieut  assistance,  both  m  money  and  troops,  to  tha 


TERMINATION   OF   THE    WAR.  26d 

Swedes,  and  supported   Bernhard  of  Weimar  in  his  under- 

*'    '        '       takings  on  the  Upper  Rhine.     The  Swedish  general,  Baner, 

conquered  Saxony  and  Thuringia,  and  coftverted  the  fertile  country  into 

a  depopulated  desert.  Unspeakable  calamities  were  press- 
Feb.lSth,         .  ,      r.  .  1         ,  T^      !•'       1 

1637.  ^"o    upon  the  German  nation,  when  the  emperor,  1  erdinand 

Ferdinand  III.,  Hm  sank  into  the  grave,  and   was  succeeded  by  his  son  of 

A.  D.  1G37-     the  same  name.      The  warlike  actions  of  Bernhard  of  Wei- 

^^^'^'  mar  were  crowned  with  success.    He  conquered  Rheinfelden, 

Freiburg,  and  Breisach,  and  entertained  the  project  of  establishing  an 

independent  principality  on   either  side  of   the  Rhine.     But  Bernhard 

died  suddenly  in  the  flower  of  life,  not  without  suspicion  of 
'  *  poisoning ;  and  the  French  took  %dvantage  of  the  circum- 
stance to  take  his  army  into  their  own  pay,  and  make  themselves  masters 
of  Alsace.  They  soon  crossed  the  Rhine  and  carried  the  war  into  the  * 
south  of  Germany,  whilst  the  gallant  Baner  again  visited  the  unfortunate 
Bohemia  with  the  most  frightful  calamities.  Baner's  audacious  plan  of 
breaking  suddenly  from  his  winter  quarters,  and  seizing  upon  the  Elec- 
tors and  emperor  at  the  Diet  in  Regensburg,  had  not  the  expected  result. 
The  breaking  up  of  the  frost  and  tlie  arrival  of  the  enemy  compelled 
the  Swedish  general  to  a  retreat,  during  which  he  died  from  the  effects 
of  his  exertions  and  of  an  intemperate  life. 

§  382.  Torstenson  was  Baner's  successor ;  he  was  the  most  talented 
disciple  of  the  school  of  Gustavus  Adolphus.  On  account  of  his  suffer- 
ings from  the  gout,  he  was  usually  carried  about  in  a  litter  ;  nevei:theless, 
the  rapidity  of  his  movements  was  the  astonishment  of  the  world.  He' 
overthrew  the  imperial  army  near  Leipsic,  and  at  the  hill  Tabor;  pene- 
A  D  1642        trated  repeatedly  into  the  heart  of  the    Austrian   states,  and 

made  the  emperor  tremble  in  his  capital ;  he  then  appeared 
unexpectedly  on  the  Lower  Elbe,  took  possession  of  Ilolstein  and  Schles- 
wic,  and  compelled  ithe  Danish  king  to  a  disadvantageous  peace.  At 
length,  exhausted  by  illness,  he  laid  down  the  leading  staff,  which  was 
obtained  by  the   gallant  Wrangel.      Wrangel,  in   conjunction  with  the 

French   general,  Turenne,  carried  the   war    into   Bavaria, 

A.  D.  1647.  o  7  7  y 

compelled  Maximilian  to  fly,  and  to  conclude  a  truce,  and 
was  about  to  unite  himself  with  the  Swedish  general,  Ktinigsmark,  in 
Bohemia,  when  the  news  of  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  of  Westphalia 
put  an  end  to  military  operations.  The  war  ended  in  Prague,  where  it 
had  also  taken  its  origin. 

§  383.  After  five  years  of  negotiations  in  Munster  and  Osnaburg,  the 
peace  of  Westphalia,  which  the  people  who  were  wearied  out  by  the  war 
demanded  in  despair,  was  at  last  concluded.  France  received  the  Aus- 
trian portion  of  Alsace,  Sundgau,  and  Briesach;  but  was  obliged  to 
secure  to  the  imperial  cities  both  their  former  privileges,  and  their  rela- 
tions to  the  German  empire.  Sweden  received  Upper  Pomerania,  the 
23 


26^3  THE   MODERN   EPOCH, 

island  of  Rugcn,  and  the  towns  of  Stettin,  Wismar,  &:c.,  the  bishoprica 
of  Bremen  and  Verden,  and  an  indemnification  in  money.  Brandenburg 
obtained  the  eastern  part  of  Lower  Pomerania,  with  the  bishoprics  of 
Magdeburg,  Halberstadt,  Minden,  &c.  Saxony  was  indemnified  by 
Lusatia;  other  princes  with  other  cities,  foundations,  and  bishoprics. 
Bavaria  remained  in  possession  of  the  Upper  Pahitinate  and  of  the  Electo- 
ral dignity  ;  and  the  Palatinate  of  the  Rhine,  with  the  eighth  Electoral 
dignity,  was  restored  to  Charles  Louis,  the  son  of  Frederick  Y.,  who  died 
in  the  year  1632.  The  remaining  princes  and  Estates  retained  their 
former  possessions;  and  Switzerland  and  the  Low  Cduntries  were 
acknowledged  as  independent  states. 

With  regard  to  the  affairs  of  the  Church,  it  was  arranged,  after  long 
disputes,  that  the  treaty  of  Passau,  and  the  religious  peace  of  Augsburg, 
should  be  confirmed  to  the  Protestants,  the  "spiritual  proviso"  abolished, 
and  the  peace  extended  to  the  Calvin'lsts.  In  regard  to  the  possession  of 
ecclesiastical  property,  and  the  right  of  free  exercise  of  religion,  the  year 
1G24  was  taken  as  the  standard.  Everything  was  to  remain,  or  to  become, 
what  it  had  been  at  that  time.  At  the  same  time,  the  privilege  of  reform- 
ation possessed  by  the  princes  ceased,  and  a  free  exercise  of  religion  and 
equal  civil  rights  were  assured  to  the  three  Christian  confessions. 

The  farther  consequences  of  the  Thirty  Years' War  were : — 1.  An 
increase  of  the  power  of  the  princes,  which  was  the  occasion  of  expensive 
courts,  standing  armies,  a  multitude  of  officials,  and  a  high  and  regularly, 
levied  taxation.  2.  A  purity  of  faith  in  the  Church,  which  was  not 
founded  upon  mere  warmth  of  religious  feeling,  but  upon  an  unalterable 
veneration  for  the  literal  meaning  of  the  Symbolical  Books.  3.  A  decay 
of  trade,  of  industry,  and  of  profitable  commerce.  Though  agriculture 
revived  again,  and  the  plough  and  the  mattock  restored  its  former  aspect 
to  the  desolated  country,  the  aforetime  prosperity  of  Germany  never 
returned.  Many  of  the  trading  towns  sunk  into  pbverty ;  the  imperial 
towns  w.ere  gradually  overtaken  by  the '  princely  residences ;  and  trade, 
industry,  and  wealth  established  their  seats  in  Holland  and  England. 
German  art  and  literature  decayed ;  everything  native  was  neglected, 
and  fashions,  language,  and  poetry,  borrowed  from  the  French.  From 
this  period,  the  old  German  nationality  succumbed  to  the  influence  of 
foreigners.  -^ 

d.    SWEDEN   UNDER    CHRISTINA   AND    CHARLES    X.      CHANGE   IN   THE 
CONSTITUTION    OF   DENMARK. 

§  381.  After  the  premature  death  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  the  crown 
devolvBd  upon  his  daughter  Christina,  during  whose  minority  the  govern- 
ment was  conducted  by  a  senate,  and  the  opportunity  made  use  of  to 
increase  the  privileges  and  property  of  the  noble  families. 
'  ,     When  the  queen  herself  assumed  the  government,  she  assem- 


A.  D.  1654. 


SWEDEN   UNDER   CHRISTINA   AND    CHARLES   X.  267 

bled  around  her  a  brilliant  court,  summoned  artists  and  learned  men  out 
of  all  the  countries  of  Europe  to  Stockholm,  and  displayed  a  masculine 
spirit  and  character  in  everything.  Her  taste  for  art  and  her  love  of 
science  found  little  support  in  the  Protestant  north,  and  she  consequently 
never  felt  herself  at  home  there.  It  was  on  this  account,  that,  after  a 
reign  of  ten  years,  Christina  abdicated  tl|B  throne  of  Sweden 
in  favor  of  her  cousin,  Charles  Gustayijslf  Pfalz-Zweibriick- 
en,  reserved  an  annuity  for  herself,  and  quitted  the  land  of  her  fathers. 
She  was  solemnly  admitted  into  the  Roman  Cath^iJ  Church  at  Innsbruck ; 
she  then  travelled  through  the  ]S'etherlands,%France^ftid  Italy,  and  at 
length  established  her  permanent  residence  in  at^it^^lled  with  all  the 
splendor  of  art  —  Rome.  She  died  there  in  16^9. 
Charles  X  §  ^^^'  Christina's  successor,  Charles  (X.)  Gustavus,  was 

A.  d".  a  great  warrior.    He  undertook  a  campaign  for  the  conquest 

1654  - 1660.  Qf  Poland,  and  made  himself  master  of  the  western  territories 
of  that  country,  in  conjunction  with  the  great  Elector,  Frederick  William 
of  Brandenburg,  to  whom,  in  return,  he  promised  the  liberation  of 
Prussia  from  the  suzerainship  of  Poland.  He  would  have  gained  pos- 
session of  the  whole  country  after  the  three  days'  battle  of 
'  '  Warsaw,  had  not  an  inroad  of  the  Danes  into  the  territory 
of  Sweden  called  him  to  a  different  scene.  He  left  Poland,  and  marched 
with  restless  haste  to  the  lower  Elbe.  The  Danish  army  opposed  no 
resistance,  so  that,  before  the  commencement  of  the  winter,  Sleswic  and 
Jutland,  with  the  exception  of  the  fortress  of  Fredericia,  were  in  the 
hands  of  the  Swedes.  This  fortress  also  was  stormed,  in  the  midst  of 
winter,  by  so  daring  an  enterprise  that  the  king  became  jealous,  and 
attempted  to  eclipse  the  exploit  of  his  general  by  one  still  more  ventur- 
ous. He  crossed  with  his  army  on  foot,  over  the  frozen  channel  of  the 
Little  Belt,  in  January,  into  Funen,  and  a  few  days  after,  he  passed  the 
Great  Belt  into  Zealand,  in  which  passage  two  companies  were  drowned 
before  his  eyes.  Here  such  confusion  was  occasioned  by  the  sudden  ap- 
pearance of  the  enemy,  that  defence  was  scarcely  thought  of,  and  pro- 
posals for  peace  were  at  once  entered  into.  But  great  as  were  the 
sacrifices  that  the  hardly-pressed  Danish  king  offered  to  make,  they  were 
rejected  by  Charles,  who  hoped  to  bring  the  three  Scandinavian  king- 
doms under  his  own  sceptre.  But  the  gallant  attitude  of  the  citizens  of 
Copenhagen,  who,  for  a  whole  twelvemonth,  bade  defiance  to  the  besieg- 
ing Swedes,  and  the  assistance  of  the  Dutch,  prolonged  the  war  till  the 
sudden  death  of  the  king  gave  a  turn  to  affairs.  The  Swedish  Diet,  that 
conducted  the  government  during  the  minority  of  Charles  XL,  concluded 
the  peace  of  Oliva  with  the  Poles,  and  that  of  Copenhagen 
with  the  Danes.  So  great  at  that  time  was  the  respect  for 
the  military  skill  of  the  Swedes,  that  Sweden  obtained  large  territories 
and  important  advantages  by  both  these  peaces.    Prussia's  independence 


268  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

of  Poland  was  acknowledged.  This  war,  in  which  the  Danish  nobility, 
who  were  in  possession  of  great  privileges  and  revenues,  made  an  open 
display  of  their  cowardice  and  selfishness,  was  made  use  of  by  the  court 
to  overthrow  the  existing  constitution.  The  elective  monarchy  was  con- 
verted into  an  hereditary  one,  and  unlimited  power  conferred  upon  the 
king  by  the  royal  law.  The  nobility  lost  their  former  power  and  inde- 
pendent position,  and  were  bound  to  the  throne  by  titles  and  orders.  In 
Sweden  also,  the  vast  power  of  the  nobility  was  broken  by  the  politic  and 
Charles  XI.  severe  Charles  XL,  who  rigidly  demanded  back  the  alien- 
A.  I).  16G0  -  ated  possessions  of  the  crown ;  the  ancient  institutions, 
1697.  however,  he  allowed  to  remain. 


2.    THE    REYOLUTION   IN    ENGLAND    AND    THE    EXPULSION    OF    THE 

STUARTS. 

a.    THE    FIRST    TWO    STUARTS     (jAMES    J.    1602-1625,    CHARLES    I. 

1625-1649.) 

James  T.  §  '^^^'  ^^^^^t's   ^^"j  James  I.,  was  a  wea^^nd  pedantic 

A.  D.  1603-  prince,  of  narrow  mind  and  perverted  mental  constitution. 
1625.  Bred  up  amidst  the  contentions  of  Presbyterian  preachers, 

he  was  especially  furnished  with  theological  learning,  and  willingly 
engaged  in  controversies  respecting  disputed  points  of  divinity.  He  was 
extremely  desirous  of  gaining  the  repuiatiof^  of  a  deeplJ^Jearned  man, 
both  by  his  writing  and  conversation,  and  composed  manj^  books ;  but  he 
was  utterly  wanting  in  the  penetration  and  shrewdness  necessary  in  a 
ruler.  A  lover  of  peace  from  timidity,  he  sacrificed  the  honor  of  his 
country  to  its  external  quiet,  and  he  was  so  prodigal  of  his  favor  as  fre- 
quently to  give  himself  up  entirely  to  the  guidance  of  unworthy  favorites. 
Among  these,  George  Villiers,  duke  of  Buckingham,  distinguished  by  the 
symmetry  of  his  figure,  exercised  the  greatest  influence  upon  him. 
James  entertained  the  most  extravagant  notions  respecting  the  kingly 
power.  He  was  firmly  persuaded  that  it  was  derived  immediately  from 
God,  and  that  it  was  unlimited ;  and  he  sought  for  proofs  of  this  in  the 
Old  Testament.  It  was  on  this  account  that  he  hated  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Scotland,  where  the  king  was  nothing  more  than  an  ordinary 
member  of  the  congregation  ;  bxit  he  was  devoted  to  the  Episcopal  Church 
of  England,  in  -which  the  king  was  regarded  as  the  head  and  source  of 
all  spiritual  power.  "  Xo  bishop,  no  king  "  became  therefore  the  motto 
of  all  the  Stuarts,  and  the  introduction  of  the  Episcopal  Church  into 
Scotland,  and  the  suppression  of  the  Puritans  in  England,  was,  hence- 
forth, the  great  object  of  the  whole  family. 

§  387.  There  are  three  points  particularly  worthy  of  notice  in   the 
reign  of  James ;  the  gunpowder  plot,  the  nuptial  expedition  of  the  princa 


THE  EEYOLUTION  IN  ENGLAND.  269 

ofWales,  and  the  increasing  opposition  in  parliament.  1.  James  had 
promised  toleration  to  the  English  Catholics,  for  the  purpose  of  rendering 
them  favorable  to  his  ascension  of  the  throne.  Scarcely,  however,  -was 
the  crown  firmly  settled  upon  his  head,  before  he,  like  Elizabeth,  levied 
a  heavy  capitation  tax  upon  the  Catholic  non-conformists,  that  he  might 
enrich  his  favorites,  and  defray  the  expenses  of  his  court  festivals.  The 
deluded  Catholics  were  exasperated.  A  conspiracy  was  formed  for  blow- 
ing up  the  king  and  all  the  members  of  the  Upper  and  Lower  House  at 
the  opening  of  parliament,  by  means  of  a  mine  of  gunpowder  to  be  formed 
in  the  cellar  of  the  parliament-house,  and  then  for  changing  the  govern- 
ment. The  plot  was  discovered  and  frustrated  a  short  time  before  its 
execution,  by  a  warning  in  writing  received  by  a  Catholic  peer.  The 
chief  conspirator  (Guy  Fawkes)  was  seized  and  executed ;  the  other 
participators  in  the  plot  fled,  and  excited  an  insurrection,  in  which  most 
of  them  perished.  The  English  Catholics  were  then  compelled  to  pay  a 
heavy  fine,  and  to  take  a  particular  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  king.  2.  James, 
in  his  conceit,  thought  that  no  one  but  the  daughter  of  a  king  of  the  first 
rank  was  a  fit  spouse  for  his  son,  and  accordingly  made  proposals  for  the 
hand  of  one  of  the  Spanish  princesses.  This  project  excited  great  dis- 
content among  the  English,  both  because  they'  were  unwilling  to  have  a 
Catholic  queen,  and  because  the  lengthened  negotiations  with  Spain  that 
•were  occasioned  by  it  prevented  the  king  from  giving  any  assistance  to 
his  exiled  Protestant  son-in-law,  Frederick  V.  of  the  Palatinate  (§  373). 
At  length,  the  pope  and  the  Spanish  court  gave  their  consent,  ai)d  there 
appeared  to  be  nothing  more  to  prevent  the  union.  At  this  point,  the 
frivolous  Buckingham  persuaded  prince  Charles  to  make  a  voyage  to 
Madrid,  and  the  king,  who  in  his  youth  had  surprised  his  Danish  bride 
in  a  similar  manner,  favored  the  undertaking.  They  arrived  at  Madrid 
under  assumed  names,  and  were  treated  when  recognized  with  great  dis- 
tinction. But  Buckingham's  loose  and  insolent  behavior  gave  offence. 
He  made  enemies  of  the  Spanish  court  and  prevented  the  marriage. 
Henrietta  of  France  became  the  wife  of  Cliarles.  3.  Elizabeth  had 
given  but  little  liberty  to  the  parliament ;  but  the  greatness  of  her  talents 
for  government,  and  her  frugal  administration,  had  afforded  the  people  a 
compensation.  But  when  James,  in  the  conviction  of  his  kingly  perfec- 
tion, pursued  the  same  path,  abridged  more  and  more  the  privileges  of  the 
parliament,  and  burthened  the  importation  and  exportation  of  every  kind 
of  goods  with  arbitrary  taxes,  a  vehement  opposition  arose.  It  was  in 
vain  the  king  threatened,  repeatedly  dissolved  the  pariiament,  and  placed 
the  boldest  speakers  under  arrest ;  every  fresh  assembly  held  the  same 
language;  and  when  James  at  length  declared  that  their  supposed  rights 
were  nothing  but  privileges  for  which  they  were  indebted  to  the  royal 
k  D  1621  g^^^c^j  ^^^^  members  of  the  Lower  House  registered  a  protest, 
by  which  they  declared  that  the  making  of  laws,  the  consent- 
23* 


270  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

ing  to  taxes,  and  the  other  befitting  rights  and  privileges  of  parliament, 
were  the  undoubted  native  riglits  and  inheritance  of  every  Englishman. 
Enraged  at  this  audacity,  the  king  tore  the  leaf  with  his  own  hand  from 
the  record,  dissolved  the  parliament,  and  ordered  a  few  deputies  to  be 
imprisoned  ;  but  the  spirit  of  resistance  remained  alive  among  the  peo- 
ple, and  displayed  itself  still  more  violently,  when  Charles  I.,  a  proud 
and  obstinate  ruler,  took  possession  of  the  throne. 

Charles  I.,  §  388.  The  government  of  Charles  I.  be^in  with  so  vio- 

A.  D,  1625-  lent  a  quarrel  with  the  parliament,  that  the  latter  was  twice 
■^^*^'  •  dissolved  during  the  first  two  years  of  his  reign.  The  sup- 
port afforded  to  the  German  Protestants,  and  a  war  with  France  occa- 
sioned by  the  fickle  Buckingham,  occasioned  great  expenses.  The  king 
Avas  consequently  extremely  indignant  that  the  parliament  Avas  sparing  in 
voting  supplies,  and  had  not  once,  during  his  whole  government,  consent- 
ed to  the  levying  of  tonnage  and  poundage  upon  exports  and  imports,  as 
had  hitherto  been  the  custom.  But  when  the  French  war  took  a  disas- 
trous termination,  and  the  blood  and  honor  of  England  were  ignomini- 
ously  sacrificed,  the  third  parliament  threatened  Bucking- 
ham wdth  an  impeachment.  The  king,  to  save  his  favorite, 
was  obliged  to  recognize  ttys  validity  of  the  Petition  of  Pight  presented 
by  both  houses,  and  by  this  means  to  grant  its  ancient  privileges  to  the 
parliament,  and  liberty  of  speech  and  security  of  person  and 
property  to  its  members.  Buckingham  was  shortly  after  as- 
sassinated, upon  which  the  king  removed.  Thomas  Wentworth,  an  elo- 
quent member  of  the  opposition,  from  parliament  into  the  privy  council, 
made  him  earl  of  Strafford  and  governor  of  Ireland,  and  followed  his 
advice  in  everything.  Wentworth,  an  ambitious  and  energetic  man,  now 
exerted  his  most  zealous  efforts  to  strengthen  the  power  of  the  throne, 
and  with  this  object,  advised  the  king  to  govern  for  some  time  without  a 
parliament.  For  the  purpose  of  raising  money  for  the  current  expenses, 
the  government  levied  the  usual  imposts  without  the  consent  of  the  par- 
liament, laid  heavy  indirect  taxes  upon  light  wines,  salt,  soap,  and  similar 
articles,  and  revived  ancient  and  obsolete  claims  of  the  throne,  such  as 
ship-money,  which  in  former  times  had  replenished  the  royal  treasury. 
Charles,  at  the  saine  time,  endeavored  to  establish  the  Anglican  Church 
on  a  firmer  foundation,  and  to  suppress  the  Puritans  and  Presbyterians, 
whose  democratic  opinions  were  every  day  extending  among  the  people. 
In  this  undertaking,  he  made  use  of  the  services  of  Bishop  Laud  of 
London,  whom  he  appointed  to  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury.  Laud 
had  the  cathedral  of  St.  Paul's  consecrated  afresh,  enriched  the  churches 
with  images  and  ornaments,  and  the  worship  of  God  with  ceremonies, 
removed  the  Puritan  preachers  from  their  offices,  and  had  heavy  and 
degrading  punishments  pronounced  by  the  courts  (the  High  Commission 
and  the  judges  of  the  Star  Chamber)   against  all  those  who  opposed  the 


THE    REVOLUTION   IX   ENGLAND.  271 

existing  institutions.  Thus  Prjnne,  a  Puritan  writer,  was  condemned 
to  be  exposed  in  the  pillory,  to  lose  both  his  ears,  and  to  be  imprisoned 
for  life,  because,  in  a  bulky  volume  he  had  written,  he  had  condemned 
dancing,  masks,  and  theatrical  amusements,  matters  in  which  the  court 
delighted. 

§  389.  These  measures,  which  threatened  to  annihilate  the  civil  and 
religious  liberties  of  England,  excited  a  great  commotion  over  the  whole 
country.  John  Hampden,  a  man  of  considerate  and  resolute  character, 
refused  payment  of  the  ship-money,  and  conducted  his  defence  before  a 
court  of  justice  so  successfully,  that  the  injustice  of  the  government  be- 
came most  apparent.  The  deposed  Puritan  ministers  wandered  about  the 
country,  representing  the  proceedings  of  Laud  as  the  commencement  of 
the  restoration  of  Catholicism,  and,  by  their  passionate  exhortations, 
strewed  the  seeds  of  hatred  against  the  court  and  the  clergy.  But  the 
king  retained  his  resolution ;  and,  unwarned  by  the  discontent  openly  ex- 
pressed in  England,  he  even  attempted  to  introduce  the  Episcopal  Church 
and  the  Anglican  form  of  worship  into  Scotland,  a  country  ever  zealous 
for  its  faith.  When  the  first  attempt  at  celebrating  divine  service  under 
the  new  form  was  made  in  the  cathedral  church  of  Edinburgh,  a  tumult 
arose  against  the  performance  of  the  "  worship  of  Baal."     The  crowd 

shouted  "  Pope !  "  "  Antichrist !  "  "  Stone  him  ! "  hurled  seats 
July,  1637.  ^ 

at  the  priest,  and  drove  him  from  the  building.      The  old 

Covenant  "  for  the  protection  of  the  pure  religion  and  the  Church  against 
the  errors  and  corruptions  of  Popery"  was  renewed  amidst  fasting  and 
prayer.  The  bishops  were  driven  away,  the  Presbyterian  form  of  wor- 
ship restored,  and  the  people  called  to  arms.  Upon  this,  Charles  deter- 
mined to  put  down  resistance  by  force ;  but  his  troops  gave  way  power- 
less before  the  zealous  Scots,  who  marched  into  the  field  with  prayer  and 
psalmody ;  the  hostile  squadrons  crossed  the  English  borders,  and  nothing 
was  left  to  the  king  but  to  call  together  the  parliament,  after 

A.  n.  1640.  .  1       ,.      1  Til.  r»      1 

an  interval  ot  eleven  years,  and  to  ask  tlie  assistance  ot  the 
nation. 

§  390.  The  parliament  now  summoned  is  known  in  history  under  the 
name  of  the  Long  Parliament.  The  most  influential  members  and 
speakers,  as  Hampden,  Ilollis,  Ilazelrig,  Cromwell,  &c.,  were  opposed  to 
absolute  monarchical  power  and  •  Episcopal  Church  government;  they 
wanted  security  for  the  ancient  privileges  of  the  Estates,  and  for  religi- 
ous liberty.  But  during  their  contest  against  the  absolute  power  of  kings 
and  bishops,  they  separated  from  each  other  :  the  more  violent  gradually 
acquired  the  democratical  views  of  the  Puritans  ;  and  whilst  they  mingled 
civil  and  religious  freedom  together,  they  aimed  at  an  object  that  was 
only  attainable  in  a  free  repubhcan  commonwealth.  The  new  parlia- 
ment immediately  assumed  a  hostile  attitude  against  the  court  and  gov- 
ernment.    Instead  of  at  once  voting  supplies  against  the  Scottish  rebels, 


272  THE   M0DERI7   EPOCH. 

the  parliament  entered  into  a  secret  alliance  with  them,  and  was  the 
cause  that  they  maintained  their  position  on  the  frontiers.  It  then  com- 
menced its  attack  upon  the  arbitrary  proceedings  in  Church  and  State. 
Strafford,  "the  great  apostate,"  and  Archbishop  Laud,  were  impeached. 
It  was  in  vain  that  the  king,  for  the  purpose  of  saving  them,  yielded  to 
all  the  demands  of  the  House ;  it  was  in  vain  that  Strafford  defended 
himself  for  seventeen  days  with  dignity  and  presence  of  mind,  and  prov- 
ed, in  the  most  convincing  manner,  that  the  charges  brought  against 
him  could  not  be  regarded  as  high  treason  ;  —  the  Lower  House  declared 
that  he  must  be  considered  as  convicted  of  an  attempt  to  destroy  the 
liberties  of  the  country ;  the  Upper  House  embraced  the  same  opinion, 
and  the  king  had  the  w^eakness  to  confirm  the  sentence,  and  to  sacrifice 
the  most  faithful  of  his   servants   to  the   rage  of  the  people.  ,    Strafford 

died  upon  the  scaffold  with  great  composure.  Laud,  his 
May  11, 1641.  .        .         .  ^  •       ■,      ,  . 

companion  in  misfortune,  was  retained  three  years  in  con- 
finement, before  his  life  also  was  put  an  end  to  by  the  axe  of  the  execu- 
tioner. The  abolition  of  the  spiritual  courts,  and  the  exclusion  of  the 
bishops  from  the  Upper  House,  were  the  forerunners  of  the  fall  of  the 
Episcopal  High  Church. 

§  391.  Shortly  after  this,  intelligence  got  abroad  that  the  Protestant 
settlers  in  Ireland  had  been  set  upon  and  murdered  by  the  Catholic  in- 
habitants. This  event  was  laid  to  the  charge  of  the  court,  and  especially 
of  the  queen,  and  made  use  of  as  a  proof  that  Papists,  bishops,  and  cour- 
tiers had  united  in  a  conspiracy  for  the  destruction  of  religion  and  liber- 
ty. From  this  point,  the  struggle  assumed  more  and  more  of  a  religious 
character ;  and  as  the  parliament  now  overstepped  the  limits  of  a  mo- 
narchical constitution  in  their  demands,  inasmuch  as  they  interfered  with 
the  prerogatives  of  government,  and  required  that  the  appointment  of 
the  higher  officers  of  state,  and  of  the  commanders  of  the  army,  together 
with  the  management  of  the  land  and  sea  forces,  should  be  dependent 
upon  their  approval,  the  two  parties  became  more  decidedly  adverse. 
The  people  called  the  adherents  of  the  king,  who  w^ere  mostly  noblemen 
and  officers,  "Cavaliers;"  they  distinguished  their  opponents,  however, 
by  the  nickname  of  Roundheads,  from  the  cut  of  their  hair.  '  The  at- 
tempt of  the  king  to  arrest  five  of  the  most  violent  leaders  of  the  oppo- 
sition during  a  debate  failed.  They  fled,  but  were  brought  back  the  next 
day  to  the  parliament-house  in  triumph  by  the  people.  Enraged  at  this, 
Civil  War  Charles  retired  to  York  and  declared  w^ar.  The  queen  fled 
A.  D.  1642  -  to  Holland  to  claim  foreign  assistance ;  but  as  the  whole 
•^^^^"  military  force  of  the  Continent  was  engaged  in  the   Thirty 

Years'  War,  no  help  could  be  obtained.  The  war  commenced  with  une- 
qual means  for  the  contest.  For  whilst  the  king  was  unprovided  with 
money,  and  his  army  suffered  from  every  kind  of  want,  the  parliament 
was  in  possession  not  only  of  all  the  public  revenue,  but  was  amply  sup- 


THE  REVOLUTION  IN  ENGLAND.  273 

ported  by  private  contributions.  At  the  first  summons,  families  brouglit 
their  plate,  women  their  ornaments  ;  and  every  tax  and  impost,  that  had 
been  obstinately  contested  with  the  king,  were  cheerfully  surrendered  to 
the  parliament.  Charles's  small  but  practised  army  was,  nevertheless, 
at  first  successful  against  the  parliamentary  forces,  that  were  led  into  the 
field  by  the  earl  of  Essex.  In  two  encounters,  the  royal  cavalry,  which 
was  commanded  by  Cliarles's  nephew,  Kupert  of  the  Palatinate,  gained 
the  advantage.  In  the  commencement  of  the  second  year,  the  parlia- 
ment also  experienced  losses,  arao^g  which,  the  death  of  the  upright 
and  gallant  Hampden  was  the  most  severely  felt.  But  when  Oliver 
Cromwell,  a  zealous  Puritan,  formed  a  resolute  band  of  cavalry  from 
amongst  his  devout  friends,  which,  in  the  cause  of  God,  rushed  blindly 
into  the  fight,  matters  assumed  a  different  aspect.  In  the 
"  ^  '  '  battle  of  Marston  Moor,  Rupert,  by  his  impetuosity,  lost  the 
victory  to  Cromwell's  gloomy  squadrons.  From  this  time,  the  name  of 
Cromwell  stood  uppermost  in  the  army,  and  the  Puritans  took  advantage 
of  the  favorable  opportunity  to  banish  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer 
from  Divine  worship,  and  to  thrust  aside  Episcopacy  by  the  Calvinistic 
discipline  and  the  synodial  form  of  Church  government.  Images,  orna- 
ments, organs,  and  so  forth,  disappeared  from  the  churches,  painted  win- 
dows were  broken,  monuments  destroyed,  and  festivals  forbidden. 

§  392.  But  divisions  soon  arose  in  the  camp  of  the  conquerors.  The 
Independents,  the  boldest  and  most  energetic  of  the  Puritans,  were  dis- 
contented with  the  synodial  constitution  of  the  Presbyterians;  they 
demanded  the  entire  independence,  in  religious  matters,  of  every  indivi- 
dual congregation,  and  refused  to  recognize  the  decisions  of  the  synods  as 
laws  universally  valid.  Violent  contests  took  place  between  the  moderate 
Puritans  (Presbyteriaris),  and  the  Radicals  (Independents).  The  latter 
February,  passed  the  Self-denying  Ordinance  through  the  parliament, 
1645.  in  virtue  of  which,  no  member  of  either  house  could  fill  any 

place  of  command  or  oflficial  'situation.  Essex  was,  by  this  means,  com- 
pelled to  lay  down  his  military  office,  and  Fairfax,  a  talented  officer, 
entirely  under  the  influence  of  Cromwell,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
army.  Cromwell,  the  head  of  the  Independents,  had  been  one  of  the 
most  zealous  advocates  of  the  Self-denying  Ordinance.  He  repaired  to 
the  army  to  resign  his  command  into  the  hands  of  Fairfax  ;  but  the  latter 
at  once  gave  the  parliament  to  understand  that  Cromwell  was  indispensa- 
ble—  it  was  only  he  who  could  lead  the  cavalry;  for  where  he  fought, 
in  the  name  of  God,  along  with  his  pious  squadron,  there  the  victory  was 
sure  to  be.  Parliament  consented,  and  the  civil  war  burst  forth  afresh 
, .  ...-   ^'it^^  redoubled  violence.    But  the  battle  of  Naseby  destroyed 

June  14,  1645.  n  r^^        i  ^ 

the  last  hopes  ot  Charles :  he  retreated  with  the  remains  of 
his  army  to  Oxford.  When  Cromwell  and  Fairfax  prepared  to  besiege 
bim  there,  he  embraced  a  desperate  resolution ;  disguised  as  a  servant^ 


274  THE   MODERN  EPOCH. 

he  escaped  with  two  attendants  to  the  Scottish  camp  on  the  northern 
frontier,  in   the  hope  of  finding  truth  and  attachment  among  his  own 
countrymen.     But  all  sympathy  for  fallen  greatness  was  extinguished  in 
the  bosom  of  the  Scots,  who  were  guided  entirely  by  their  austere  clergy. 
They  watched  him  narrowly,  and  compelled  him  to  attend  the  lengthened 
discourses  of  their  ministers,  w^hose  usual  text  was  the  misdeeds  of  him- 
self and  his  ancestors ;   and  when  they  found  tbat  it  was  impossible  to 
prevail  upon  him  to  accept  the  Presbyterian  faith,  or  to  subscribe  the 
Covenant,  they  sold  their  king  for  a  small  price.     For  the  moderate  sum 
of  £400,000,  Charles  was  delivered  up  to  the  commissioners 
*       of  parliament,  who  confined  him  in  a  strong  castle. 
§  393.  In  the  mean  time,  the  division  between  the  Presbyterians,  who 
■were  the  superior  pajty  in  the  parliament,  and  the  Independents,  w^ho 
prevailed  in  the  army,  became  every  day  greater.    Cromwell  w^as  on  the 
side  of  the  latter ;  but  he  knew  well  how  to  conceal  the  falsehood  of  his 
heart  by  an  outward  appearance  of  sanctimony.*    Whilst  he  was  playing 
the  part  of  a  mediator,  the  captive  Charles  was  carried  off  by  a  zealous 
tailor,  with  a  troop  of  horse,  and  delivered  up  into  the  power  of  the  army. 
Upon  this,  Cromwell  marched  upon  the  capital  for  the  pur- 
'        '      pose  of  giving  the  Independents  the  superiority  in  parliament 
November,       also.      In  the  meanAvhilel  the  king  escaped  to  the  Isle  of 
1648.  Wight ;  and  both  Presbyterians   and  Independents  sought, 

for  some  time,  to  gain  him  over  to  their  own  side,  and  to  make  their 
peace  with  him  in  return  for  certain  concessions.  But  Charles,  who 
relied  upon  foreign  assistance,  conducted  himself  in  a  deceitful  and  am- 
biguous manner,  and  thus  deprived  himself  of  the  last  chance  of  a  peace- 
ful release.  Cromwell  now  resolved  upon  his  destruction.  The  army, 
acting  under  his  secret  directions,  made  itself  master  of  the  king's  person, 
and  conducted  him  to  a  solitary  castle  on  the  sea-coast.  Colonel  Pride 
then  surrounded  the  parliament-house  with  his  troops,  and  commanded 
December,  eighty-one  of  the  Presbyterian  members  to  be  excluded  by 
1648.  force.     After  this  proceeding,  which  was  known  by  the  name 

of  "Pride's  Purge,"  Cromwell  took  possession  of  the  royal  vapartments  in 
Whitehall,  —  for  he  was  now  lord  and  ruler,  and  the  so-called  Rump 
Parliament,  which  consisted  of  Independents,  was  a  mere  passive  tool  in 
his  hand.  It  was  determined  to  accuse  the  king  of  treason  before  an 
extraordinary  court,  for  having  made  w^ar  against  the  parliament. 
"  Charles  Stuart "  was  four  times  put  upon  his  trial,  and  condemned  to 
death  as  a  traitor,  murderer,  and  enemy  of  his  country.  He  was  allowed 
three  days  to  prepare  himself,  and  to  take  leave  of  his  children.  ^  He 

*  The  character  given  by  Weber  in  the  text  to  Cromwell  cannot  be  regarded  as  an 
impartial  one.  Cromwell's  behavior  was  certainly  not  always  distinguished  by  perfect 
candor,  but  his  worst  enemies  will  scarcely  deny  that  his  rehgious  professions  were,  in  a 
great  measure,  sincere. —  Translator. 


THE  REVOLUTION  IN  ENGLAND.  275 

was  then  led  forth  upon  a  scaffold  constructed  in  front  of  "Whitehall,  and 
January  30,  Covered  with  black,  where  the  sentence  was  carried  into  exe- 
1649.  cution  by  two  masked  executioners.     An  innumerable  multi- 

tude gazed  in  silence  upon  the  frightful  scene.  It  was  only  when  the 
executioner  seized  the  blood-dropping  head  by  the  hair,  and  exclaimed, 
"This  is  the  head  of  a  traitor!"  that  the  assembled  people  reheved  their 
oppressed  bosoms  by  a  hollow  groan. 

h.  OLIVER  CROMWELL   (a.  d.  1649-1658). 

§  394.  The  intelligence  of  the  king's  death  excited  a  fearful  sensatiop 
in  Ireland  and  Scotland.  The  Prince  of  AVales,  who  was  living  in 
Holland,  was  recalled  to  Scotland  and  acknowledged  as 
Charles  II.,  but  was  obliged,  beforehand,  to  sign  the  Cove- 
nant and  enter  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Ireland  also  acknowledged 
the  new  king,  and  flew  to  arms.  Upon  this,  Cromwell,  after  arranging  a 
republican  government  in  England,  in  which  Milton,  the  blind  composer 
of  "  Paradise  Lost,"  occupied  a  post,  marched  against  the  disobedient 
island.  His  path  to  victory  lay  over  blood  and  corpses ;  and  when  he 
himself  left  the  country  to  carry  the  sword  into  Scotland,  other  republi- 
can generals  pursued  the  same  course.  In  three  yeara,  the  threatening 
rebellion  was  quelled;  but  Ireland  became  a  depopulated  country  of 
lawless  beggars,  where  the  avenger  of  blood  established  his  fearful  dwell- 
ing. The  arms  of  the  republic  were  triumphant  in  Scotland  also.  The 
Scottish  army  had  occupied  a  strong  position,  which  Cromwell  could  not 
reach.  Hunger  and  sickness  soon  diminished  the  number  of  his  troops, 
60  that  he  was  already  meditating  a  retreat.  At  this  juncture,  the 
preachers  who  accompanied  the  Scottish  army,  and  who  were  annoyed 
by  the  cheerftil  military  life  and  the  hilarity  of  the  king  and  his  asso- 
ciates, advised  the  commanders  to  make  an  attack.  When  Cromwell 
beheld  the  movement  in  the  Presbyterian  army,  he  exclaimed,  "  They 
are  coming  down,  the  Lord  has  delivered  them  into  our  liands ! "  The 
battle  of  Dunbar,  fought  upon  Cromwell's  birthday,  Septem- 
ber 3rd,  terminated  in  the  defeat  of  the  Scots.  Cromwell 
took  Edinburgh,  and  penetrated  into  the  heart  of  the  country.  The  Lord 
of  Hosts,  who  was  invoked  both  by  Presbyterians  and  Independents  with 
fasting  and  prayer  and  hypocritical  lip-service,  was  with  the  bold  and 
strong.  Charles  suddenly  hazarded  a  daring  undertaking.  He  marched 
with  his  troops  across  the  English  border,  and  called  upon  the  adherents 
of  royalty  for  support.  Few  joined  him,  and  thus  it  happened  that  the 
September  3,  royal  army  suffered  a  complete  overthrow  at  Worcester, 
1651.  exactly  a  twelvemonth  after  the  battle  of  Dunbar.     This 

battle  made  Charles  a  houseless  fugitive,  for  whose  capture  the  parlia- 
ment offered  a  large  reward.  After  a  thousand  dangers  and  adventures, 
he  escaped  in  disguise  to  France.     Scotland  was  compelled  to  submit  to 


276  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 

the  republican  government  by  General  Monk.  The  free  state  of  Eng 
land  was  also  involved  in  a  war  with  Holland.  During  this,  the  republi- 
cans showed  that  they  were  not  only  victorious  on  land,  but  powerful  at 
sea.  Greatly  as  the  maritime  heroes  of  Holland,  Tromp  and  Ruyter, 
distinguished  themselves  by  their  courage  and  ability,  Admiral  Blake,  a 
man  of  the  old  republican  stamp,  and  of  rude  virtues,  and  General  Monk, 
who  was  equally  experienced  in  land  and  naval  warfare,  succeeded  at 
length  in  carrying  off  the  victory.  The  Dutch  were  obliged  to  consent 
to  a  disgraceful  peace,  whilst  the  Navigation  Act,  which  was  proclaimed 
October,  in  England  during  the.  war,  and  which  prohibited  foreigners 

1651.  from  bringing  any  thing  but  their  own  productions  to  Eng- 

land in  their  own  ships,  gave  a  fresh  impulse  to  commerce. 

§  395.  During  these  proceedings,  Cromwell  had  fallen  out  with  the 
Lower  House,  and  for  this  reason  he  resolved  upon  dissolving  the  Long 
(Rump)  parliament.  After  surrounding  the  house  with  troops,  he  entered 
the  apartment  in  his  dark  puritanical  dress,  delivered  a  dis- 
'  '  course  which  was  filled  with  invectives,  and  then,  with  the 
help  of  the  soldiers  who  had  entered,  drove  forth  those  who  were  present, 
exclaiming  to  one,  "  You  are  a  drunkard ; "  to  another,  "  You  are  an 
adulterer ; "  to  a  thii-d,  "  You  are  a  blasphemer  of  God ! "  A  state  coun- 
cil, under  the  presidentship  of  Cromwell,  then  undertook  the  formation 
of  a  new  parliament.  For  this  purpose,  lists  of  all  the  God-fearing  peo- 
ple were  made  out  in  every  quarter,  and  from  these  ''  saints."  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  kingdom  were  chosen.  This  assembly  (named  in 
mockery,  Barebones'  parliament,  from  the  leather-seller,  Praise- God 
Barebones),  gave  evidence  of  its  disposition  and  religious  views  by  the 
Biblical  names  of  the  greater  number  of  its  members  (Habakkuk, 
Ezekiel,  Stand-fast-in-the-Faith,  &c.).  But  Cromwell  was  not  able  to 
manage  these  strange  men  so  easily  as  he  had  hoped  ;  and  as  they  wished 
to  introduce  several  vigorous  measures,  which  would  have  produced  great 
changes,  he  took  advantage  of  the  openly-displayed  discontent  to  effect  a 
December,  violent  dissolution  by  means  of  his  soldiers.  After  this,  a 
1653.  new  constitution,  projected  by  General  Lambert,  came  into 

existence,  in  which  a  parliament  of  400  members  composed  the  legisla- 
tive body,  and  Cromwell,  as  Lord  Protector,  possessed  the  executive 
power  and  the  command  of  the  land  and  sea  forces.  As  Protector, 
Cromwell  governed  energetically  and  gloriously.  His  talents  for  govern- 
ment and  his  strength  of  will  procured  him  respect  and  authority  abroad, 
and  his  respectable  household,  and  his  frugal  and  citizen-like  mode  of 
life,  awakened  esteem  and  confidence  at  home.  But  honorably  as  he 
filled  the  lofty  situation  in  which  fate  had  placed  him,  he  nevertheless 
found  many  enviers  and  opponents,  both  among  the  republicans  and 
royalists,  who  embittered  the  evening  of  his  life,  and  never  suffered  him 
to  attain  to  a  quiet  possession  of  the  government.     Rendered  gloomy  by 


THE  REVOLUTION  IN  ENGLAND.  277 

Fuspicion,  and  in  constant  fear  of  assassination,  Cromwell  died  on  hig 
Septembers,  birthday,  a  day  that  he  had  always  regarded  as  particularly 
1658.  fortunate. 

§  39 G.  Cromwell's  weak  son,  Richard,  inherited  the  digrrity  of  Lord  Pro- 
tector, which,  however,  he  did  not  know  how  to  maintain.  Three  powers 
%vere  soon  arrayed  in  hostile  opposition,  the  protector,  the  parliament, 
and  the  army,  commanded  by  Monk,  Lambert,  and  others.  The  military 
power  was  victorious ;  the  parliament  was  dissolved,  and  the  old  Eump 
parliament  again  summoned  ;  Richard  Cromwell,  who  was  neither  a 
soldier  nor  a  preacher,  was  obliged  to  abdicate,  and  to  seek  for 
'  '  safety  in  a  foreign  land.  But  the  Rumj)  parliament  was 
also  obliged  to  yield  in  a  short  time  to  the  power  of  the  army ;  upon 
which  the  direction  of  affairs  was  undertaken  by  a  committee  of  safety, 
under  the  presidentship  of  Lambert.  During  all  these  constitutional 
struggles,  the  opinion  gradually  gained  ground  that  nothing  but  the  return 
of  the  royal  family,  and  the  reostablishment  of  monarchy,  could  effect  the 
permanent  reestablishment  of  order.  For  this  purpose.  General  Monk 
entered  into  an  alliance  with  Charles  Stuart,  who  was  living  in  the 
Netherlands,  but  concealed  his  plans  and  opinions  most  carefull}'.  He 
obtained  the  arrest  of  Lambert,  the  dissolution  of  the  committee  of  safety, 
and  the  assembly  of  a  new  parliament.  With  this  assembly,  which  con- 
sisted for  the  most  part  of  royalists,  Monk  hastened  to  effect  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Stuarts.    An  amnesty,  and  liberty  of  conscienr-e,  Avere  all  that 

Charles  had  to  promise  before  his  solemn  entrance  into  Lon- 
May,  29, 1660. 

don,  where  he  was  received  by  an  exulting  people.     But 

even  these  conditions  were  not  observed.  Sentence  of  death  was  pro- 
nounced upon  all  those  who  had  sat  in  judgment  upon  Charles  L,  and  ten 
of  them  were  actually  executed  as  regicides.  The  triumph  of  the  royalists 
at  the  destruction  of  their  enemies  was  much  diminished  by  the  resolu- 
tion displayed  by  the  Puritans  in  their  last  moments.  Cromwell's  body 
was  torn  from  the  grave  and  suspended  on  the  gallows.  The  Episcopal 
Church  was  restored,  and  the  Presbyterian  clergy  again  deprived  of 
their  places. 

C.   THE    LAST    TWO    STUARTS    (CHARLES    II.    16G0-1G85,    AXI^ 

JAMES  II.  1685— 1G88.) 

§  397.  The  government  of  the  fickle,  characterless,  and  voluptuous 
Charles  was  fatal  to  England.  Neither  the  fate  of  his  father,  nor  the 
melancholy  passages  in  his  own  life,  served  him  either  for  instruction  or 
warning.  Severely  as  the  land  was  visited  by  the  plague,  and  by  a 
frightful  conflagration  that  destroyed  two  thirds  of  London,  no  interrup- 
tion was  given  to  the  splendid  and  joyous  life  that  was  led  by  the  royal 
court;  and  when  extravagant  expenditure  had  produced  debts  and  want 
of  money,  and  the  parliament  was  not  so  free  in  its  grants   as  the  king 

24 


278  THE   MODERN    EPOCH. 

desired,  Charles  sold  the  honor  and  interests  of  his  country  to  the  French 
king,  Louis  XIV.  At  that  time  especially,  it  was  looked  upon  as  a  mark 
of  refinement  in  France  if  a  man  left  the  Protestant  Church  for  the 
Catholic.  This  way  of  thinking  found  some  imitation  in  England.  The 
duke  of  York,  the  brother  of  the  king,  openly  embraced  Catholicism,  and 
Charles  was  a  Catholic  in  heart,  although  he  outwardly  conformed  to  the 
English  Church,  and  only  betrayed  his  real  convictions  when  on  his 
death-bed,  by  receiving  the  Catholic  sacraments.  The  more,  however, 
the  Stuarts  favored  Catholicism,  the  more  sturdily  did  the  people  adhere 
to  the  faith  of  their  fathers.  The  fire  of  London  was  attributed  by  them 
to  the  Papists,  and  this  belief  was  perpetuated  by  a  monument ;  and  that 
the  public  offices  should  not  be  made  use  of  as  rewards  for  these  changes  of 
religion,  the  parliament,  after  a  long  contest,  carried  the  Test  Act,  which 
enacted  that  none  but  members  of  the  English  Church,  and  confessors  of 
the  Protestant  doctrine,  should  be  capable  of  admission  into  parliament, 
or  of  holding  ofiices  or  military  posts.  As  long  as  Clarendon,  the  histo- 
rian of  the  English  "  llebellion,"  remained  at  the  head  of  the  ministry, 
the  king  was  in  some  degree  restrained  within  the  bounds  of  moderation 
and  legality ;  but  when  the  former  fell  into  disgrace,  and  was  compelled 
to  end  his  days  as  an  outlaw  in  a  foreign  country,  Charles  allowed  him- 
self to  commit  acts  of  all  kinds  of  violence,  tyranny,  and  lawlessness. 
A  ministry  that  was  formed  of  talented  but  unprincipled  statesmen,  and 
distinguished  by  the  people  as  the  "  Cabal "  ministry  from  the  initials  of 
its  members,  now  conducted  the  government  according  to  the  wishes  of 
the  king,  without  regard  to  the  privileges  and  honor  of  the  people.  Cor- 
ruption and  venality  were  no  longer  regarded  as  disgraceful  among  the 
higher  classes,  since  the  king  himself  drew  a  yearly  stipend  from  Louis 
XIV.  for  supporting  the  French  in  their  war  against  the  Dutch.  A  new 
contest  at  this  time  sprang  up  between  the  king  and  the  parliament. 
For,  the  more  openly  the  former  strove  for  absolute  power,  the  more  did 
the  latter  endeavor  to  protect  the  privileges  of  the  peoj:»le  and  the  religion 
of  the  country.  The  parliament,  anxious  lest  the  English  Church  should 
be  exposed  to  danger  under  a  Catholic  king,  demanded  the  exclusion  of 
the  duke  of  York  from  the  throne ;  and  Charles  found  himself  so  far 
obliged  to  yield,  that  he  sent  his  brother  out  of  the  country  for  some  time, 
and  formed  a  new  ministry,  in  which  the  ingenious  earl  of  Shaftesbury, 
M'ho  had  gone  over  from  the  king's  council  to  the  popular  party,  was  the 
president.  It  was  under  his  administration  that  the  Habeas 
Corpus  Act,  that  sacred  law  for  the  freedom  of  person,  came 
into  existence.  According  to  this  act,  no  one  could  be  imprisoned,  with- 
out a  written  order  of  the  court  stating  the  grounds  of  the  imprisonment ; 
and  witliin  three  days,  the  prisoner  was  to  be  brought  before  the  ordi- 
nary judge?,  and  cause  was  to  be  shown  why  he  should  not  be  released. 
Xn  the  midst  of  these  parliamentary  struggles,  two  parties  sprang  up,  the 


THE   REVOLUTION   IN   ENGLAND.  279 

Whigs  and  the  Tories,  that  exist  to  the  present  daj.  The  VHiigs  re- 
garded the  constitution  of  the  state  as  a  mutual  compact  between  the  king 
and  the  nation,  and  attributed  to  the  hitter  the  right  of  active  resistance 
in  case  of  any  infringement  of  the  compact ;  the  Tories,  on  the  other 
hand,  rejected  the  principle  that  the  royal  power  proceeded  from  the 
people,  and  demanded  passive  obedience  from  the  subject.  The  Tories 
gained  the  upper  hand  during  the  latter  years  of  Charles  II.'s  reign,  in- 
asmuch as  tlie  court  took  advantage  of  a  conspiracy  contrived  by  some 
worthless  men  against  the  lives  of  the  king  and  his  brother,  to  ruin  the 
heads  of  the  Whig  party.  Lord  Russell  and  Algernon  Sidney,  two  of 
the  noblest  and  most  respected  of  men,  died  upon  the  scaffold;  Shaftes- 
bury fled  to  Holland  ;  the  duke  of  York  again  regained  his  rights  and 
offices  ;  and  when  Charles  died  a  few  years  afterwards  with- 
out legitimate  offspring,  the  Duke  ascended  the  English 
throne,  under  the  title  of  James  II. 

James  IL,  §  398.  A  few  weeks  after  James's  ascension  of  the  throne, 

A.  D.  1685  -  Monmouth,  a  natural  son  of  Charles  II.,  attempted,  by  tlie 
^^^^'  aid  of  the  Whigs,  to  deprive  his  uncle  of  the  crown.     The 

insurrection  failed  of  success.  Monmouth  died  on  the  scaffold,  and  the 
frightful  cruelty  that  James  displayed  against  all  the  supporters  and 
abettors  of  the  enterprise  destroyed  the  last  sparks  of  attachment  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people.  The  name  of  the  chief  judge,  Jeffreys,  who  pass- 
ed through  the  counties  with  the  axe  of  justice  and  a  crew  of  execu- 
tioners, is  written  with  letters  of  blood  in  the  annals  of  P2nglish  history. 
The  victory  which  he  had  gained  so  easily,  and  the  terror  of  the  people, 
induced  the  king  to  hope,  that  by  cunning  and  severity  he  might  gradu- 
ally restore  the  Catholic  religion  to  its  former  supremacy  in  England. 
With  this  object,  he  made  the  detested  Jeffreys  chancellor,  presented 
many  offices  and  military  appointments  to  the  Catholics  and  those  who 
had  gone  over  to  the  lloman  Church,  and  aimed  at  neutralizing  the  Test 
Act  by  the  introduction  of  an  edict  of  toleration.  But  as  the  parlia- 
ment, despite  the  bribery  used  in  the  elections,  could  not  be  brought  to 
accept  this  edict,  James  attempted  to  destroy  the  Test  Act  by  another 
plan  ;  he  declared  that  the  throne  possessed  the  power  of  granting  a  dis- 
pensation from  this  law;  a  privilege  by  which  the  power  and  operation  of 
all  laws  would  have  been  paralyzed.  The  English  people  looked  on  qui- 
etly for  some  time  at  these  proceedings,  although  with  inward  repugnance, 
inasmuch  as  the  king  being  old  and  having  no  male  descendants,  and  hia 
two  daughters  having  been  brought  up  in  the  English  Church  and  mar- 
ried to  Protestant  princes,  the  elder,  Mary,  to  William  of  Orange 
(§  403),  and  the  younger,  Anne,  to  a  Danish  prince,  they  hoped  for  a 
speedy  deliverance.  But  when  the  intelligence  of  the  birth  of  a  prince 
of  Wales  put  an  end  to  all  hope  of  a  release  from  the  yoke  of  poj^jry, 
they  began  to  entertain  the  purpose  of  freeing  themselves  by  their  own 


28U  THE    MODERN   EPOCH 

efforts,  with  the  assistance  of  Wilham  of  Orange.  The  genuineness  of 
the  young  prince  was  called  in  question ;  crowds  of  discontented  Britons 
Btreamed  towards  the  Hague  ;  the  Whigs  united  themselves  with  William 
of  Orange,  and  promised  him  the  support  of  the  Protestant  part  of  the 
nation.  James  did  not  perceive  the  storm  that  was  gathering  around  his 
head,  until  William  had  landed  with  a  Dutch  force  on  the  shores  of  Eng- 
land, with  the  avowed  purpose  of  defending  the  Protestant  religion  and 
the  liberties  of  the  country.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  king  now  turned 
himself  to  the  army  and  the  people,  and  promised  the  removal  of  every 
measure  repugnant  to  the  Constitution ;  the  ground  on  which  he  stood 
had  been  rendered  insecure  by  the  treachery,  hypocrisy,  and  perjury 
wdth  which  the  Stuarts  had  rendered  the  nation  familiar.  When  a  part 
of  the  army  went  over  to  William,  and  the  general  voice  declared  itself 
against  the  king,  James  sent  his  wife  and  son  to  France,  threw  the  great 
seal  into  the  Thames,  and  then  fled  himself  in  despair  from  the  land  of 
December,  li^s  fathers,  of  whose  fair  crown  he  had  deprived  himself  and 
1GS8.  his  Catholic  olrl^priiig.     He  lived  from  this  time  forth  at  St. 

Germain,  a  pensioner  of  Louis  XIV. 

§  399.  After  the  flight  of  James,  the  representatives  of  the  English 
people  declared  the  throne  forsaken,  and  agreed  that  the  Catholic  line  of 
the  house  of  Stuart  should  be  excluded  from  the  government,  and  that 
this  should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  royal  pair,  William  and  Mary. 
Instructed  however  by  the  past,  they  secured  the  liberties  of  the  nation 
against  any  future  arbitrary  acts  by  the  Bill  of  Rights,  without  at  the 
same  time  weakening  overmuch  the  power  of  the  king.  The  J^cots  ac- 
knowledged the  new  government,  and  regained  their  Presbyterian 
Church ;  but  the  Catholic  Irish,  suj)ported  by  France,  and  led  into  the 
field  by  James  II.  himself,  were  first  compelled  to  submis- 
sion  by  the  bloody  battle  of  the  Boyne,  and  again  curtailed 
of  their  privileges  and  property.  From  this  time,  England,  by  her  naval 
power,  her  trade,  industry,  and  prosj)erity,  took-the  lead  of  all  other  na- 
A  D  1701.  tions.  AVhen  a  premature  death  carried  the  sickly  William 
.  „  ,  ,,  childless  to  the  i^rave,  he  was  succeeded  by  Anne,  the 
1701  - 1714.  younger  daughter  of  James  IL,  during  whose  reign  the  union 
A.  D.  1707.  between  Scotland  and  England  was  completed,  so  that,  from 
tills  time,  the  Scottish  representatives  gave  their  voices  in  the  English 
parliament.  Anne  also  survived  the  whole  of  her  children,  so  that  the 
English  crown  devolved  upon  the  Elector,  George  of  Hanover,  the 
grandson  of  Elizabeth,  Palgravine  and  Queen  of  Bohemia.  Two  at- 
tempts of  the  Stuarts,  [a.  d.  1715  and  1745],  to  expel  the  house  of 
Hanover  by  violence,  and  to  repossess  themselves  of  the  English  crown, 
terminated  unsuccessfully. 


AGE   OF  LOUIS  XIV.  2S1 


3.    THE   AGE    OF    LOUIS    XIV. 


a     RICHELIEU   AXD    MAZARIN. 


iouis  xm.  §  ^^^'  '^'^^  ^*'^*  P^^^  ^^  ^^^^  reign  of  the  weak  Louis  XIII., 

A.  D.  1610-     ^Yho  only  numbered  nine  years  at  the  time  of  his  father's 
1643.  murder  (§  365),  was   full  of  mischief  for  France.      During 

the  time  the  queen-mother,  Mary  of  Medicis,  conducted  the  government, 
Italian  favorites  exerted  a  great  influence  upon  aifairs,  enriclied  theni- 
selves  at  the  expense  of  the  French,  and  irritated  the  pride  of  the  na- 
tion by  their  insolence.  Enraged  at  this,  the  nobility  took  up  arms,  and 
fdled  the  country  with  rebellion  and  the  tumult  of  war.  When  at  length 
Louis  XIII.  himself,  upon  coming  of  age,  assumed  the  government,  he 
indeed  consented  that  the  foreign  favorites  should  be  removed  by  murder 
and  execution,  and  banished  his  mother  from  the  court ;  but  the  people 
gained  little  by  it.  The  new  favorites  in  whom  the  king,  who  assessed 
no  self-reliance,  reposed  his  confidence,  were  not  distinguishe(i^R)m  the 
former  either  by  virtue  or  talents ;  for  this  reason,  both  the  nobles  of  the 
kingdom  and  the  Huguenots,  who  felt  themselves  injured  in  their  rights, 
again  rose  against  the  government,  and  threw  the  land  into  fresh  confu- 
sion. This  melancholy  condition  of  affairs  was  only  put  an  end  to  when 
Cardinal  Richelieu  was  admitted  into  tiie  state  council,  and 
introduced  a  complete  change  of  system.  This  great  states- 
man maintained  an  almost  absolute  sway  in  the  court  and  in  the  kingdom 
for  nearly  eighteen  years,  though  the  king  never  loved  him,  the  queen 
and  the  nobility  were  constantly  attempting  his  overthrow,  and  a  succes- 
sion of  cabals  and  conspiracies  were  plotted  against  him.  The  .greatness 
of  his  mind  triumphed  over  all  obstacles.  Richelieu's  efforts  were  di- 
rected towards  the  extension  and  rounding  of  the  French  territory  with- 
out, and  the  increasing  and  strengthening  of  the  royal  power  within.  In 
furtherance  of  the  former  of  these  objects,  he  sought  to  weaken  the  house 
of  Hapsburg,  and  for  this  purpose  entered  into  alliances  with  the  enemies 
of  the  emperor  not  only  in  Germany,  in  the  time  of  the  Thirty  Years* 
"War,  but  in  Italy  and  other  places  ;  and,  to  attain  his  aims  in  regard  to 
the  latter  project,  he  neglected  to  call  togethci*  the  estates  of  the  king- 
dom, broke  the  power  of  the  nobility  and  of  the  independent  officials 
and  judges  in  the  parliament,  and  attacked  the  Huguenots,  who  had  form- 
ed an  almost  independent  alliance  in  the  south  and  west  of  France,  with 
their  own  fortresses,  an  effective  militia,  and  great  privileges.  After 
conquering  the  most  important  of  the  Huguenot  towns  (Xismes,  Mon- 
tauban,  Montpellier),  and  destroying  their  fortifications,  in  three  wars, 
and  when  he  had  at  length  taken  Rochelle,  the  bulwark  of  the  Calvin- 
ists,  after  a  siege  of  fourteen  months,  he  proceeded  to  deprive  the  Pro- 
testants of  their  political  privileges  and  of  their  independent  position, 
24* 


2? '2  •      THE  MODERN   EPOCH. 

but  granted  them,  I  y  the  Edict  of  Nismes,  liberty  of  conscience  and 
equal  rights  with  Catholic  subjects.  The  turbulent  nobles  had  been  de- 
prived of  their  greatest  suppoct  by  the  disarming  of  the  Huguenots,  and 
the  war  could  now  be  prosecuted  against  them  with  success.  The  most 
daring  were  got  rid  of  by  banishment  and  the  executioner.  Even  t^ 
queen-mother  and  her  second  son,  the  duke  of  Orleans,  who  had  at- 
tempted to  procure  the  fall  of  Richelieu,  were  compelled  to  leave  the 
country,  and  the  confidential  friend  of  the  latter,  Henry,  duke  of  IMont- 
morency,  a  scion  of  one  of  the  most  renowned  fomilies  of  France,  died 
at  Toulouse  by  the  hand  of  tlie  executioner.     A  similar  fate 

A    D    163*^ 

awaited  the  count  of  Cinq-Mars  and  his  friend,  De  Thou,  a 
few  jG£irs  later,  when,  in  conjunction  with  the  queen  and  some  of  the 
nobles,  they  formed  a  conspiracy  against  the  mighty  cardinal.  The  par- 
liament, the  upper  tax-offices  and  courts  of  justice,  which,  like  the  king, 
claimed  an  independent  authority  on  account  of  their  offices  being  he- 
redita|fc  were  weakened  by  the  establishment  of  'extraordinary  courts 
and  higher  officers,  who  were  dependent  upon  the  minister. 

§  401.  In  the  year  1G42,  died  Richelieu,  hated  and  feared  by  the  no- 
bility and  the  people,  but  admired  by  contemporaries  and  posterity ; 
Louis  XIII.,  a  prince  without  either  great  virtues  or  great  vices,  and  de- 
pendent upon  every  one  who  could  either  acquire  his  favor  or  render 
himself  formidable  to  him,  soon  followed  him.  His  widow,  Anne  of 
Austria,  the  proud  and  ambitious  sister  of  the  king  of  Spain,  undertook 
Louis  XIV.  ^^^®  government  during  the  minority  of  his  son.  But  as  she 
A.  T>.  1643-  reposed  the  whole  of  her  confidence  on  the  Italian,  Mazarin, 
I'' 1^-  the  inheritor  of  the  office  and  the  principles  of  Richelieu,  she 

met  with  vehement  opposers  among  the  nobility  and  in  the  parliament,  who 
attempted  to  regain  their  former  power  and  position.  The  people,  in  the 
hope  of  being  relieved  of  some  of  their  heavy  taxes,  and  guided  by  the 
clever  and  dexterous  Cardinal  Retz,  embraced  their  cause,  with  the  in- 
tent of  compelling  the  court  to  remove  Mazarin,  and  to  adopt  a  different 
^^  p.  plan  of  government.     This  gave  occasion  to  a  furious  civil 

1648  - 1653.  war,  which  is  knowii  in  history  as  "  the  War  of  the  Fronde." 
Mazarin  was  obliged  to  leave  the  country  for  a  short  time,  but  so  immo- 
vable were  the  favor  dnd  confidence  of  the  queen,  that  he  governed 
France  from  Cologne  as  he  had  formerly  done  in  Paris.  But  his  ban- 
ishment did  not  last  long.  When  Louis  XIV.  had  attained  the  years  of 
kingly  majority,  and  Turenne,  the  commander  of  the  royal  troops,  had 
conquered  his  rival,  the  great   Conde,  the  general  of   the  insurgents,  in 

the  suburb  of  St.  Antoine,  Mazarin  returned  in  triumph. 
A.  D.  1653.        TT.        1  '         ^     .  .         ,  ,      , 

His  solemn  entry  into  Pans  was  a  sign  that  absolute  power 

had  gained  the  victory,  and  that  henceforth  the  will  of  the  monarch  was  to 

be  law.     Mazarin  enjoyed  for  six  years  longer  the  greatest  respect  in 

France  and  Europe ;  Cardinal  Retz,  the  ingenious  composer  of  the  Me- 


AGE   OF  LOUIS  XIV.  283 

moirs  of  this  war,  was  obliged  to  leave  his  country,  after  he  had  previously 
expiated  his  turbulent  conduct  in  the  prison  of  Vincennes  ;  Conde,  poor 
and  unhappy,  wandered  among  the  Spaniards,  till  the  grace  of  his  master 
allowed  hiin  to  return  and  take  possession  of  his  estates  ;  Mazarin's 
nieces,  Italian  females  without  name  or  position,  were  endowed  with  the 
wealth  of  France,  and  sought  for  as  brides  by  the  greatest  nobles ;  and 
the  members  of  parliament  adapted  themselves  without  opposition  to  the 
directiors  they  received  from  above,  after  Louis  had  appeared  before 
them  in  his  boots  and  riding  whip,  and  demanded  their  obedience  with 
threats.  Louis  now  gave  effect  to  his  principle,  *'  I  am  the  state  "  {Vetat, 
A  D  1659  "^'^^^  moi).  The  peace  of  the  Pyrenees  with  Spain  was  the 
last  work  of  !Mazarin.  He  died  shortly  after,  leaving  enor- 
March  9,  mous  wealth  behind  him.  Ilis  death  took  place  at  the  mo- 
^^^^'  ment  when  Louis  began  to  grow  weary  of  him,  and  was 

longing  to  seize  the  reins  of  government  in  his  own  powerful  grasp. 

b.    GOVERNMENT  AND  CONQUESTS  OF  LOUIS  XIV. 

§  402.  After  the  death  of  Mazarin,  Louis  XIV.,  in  whom  kingly  abso- 
lutism attained  its  highest  point,  appointed  no  prime  minister,  but  sur- 
rounded himself  with  men  who  merely  executed  his  will,  and  whose 
highest  aim  was  to  increase  and  spread  abroad  the  renown,  glory,  and 
honor  of  the  king.  In  the  choice  of  these  men,  Louis  displayed  judg- 
ment and  the  talents  of  a  ruler.  His  ministers,  especially  Colbert,  the 
great  promoter  of  French  industry,  manufactures,  and  trades,  as  well  as 
his  generals,  Turcnne,  Conde,  Luxemburg,  and  the  engineer,  Vauban,  as 
much  surpassed,  in  talent,  acquirements,  and  dexterity,  the  statesmen  and 
soldiers  of  all  other  countries,  as  Louis  XIV.  himself  was  preeminent 
among  the  princes  of  his  age,  in  the  greatness  of  his  power,  in  command- 
ing presence,  and  kingly  dignity.  He  rendered  the  age  of  Louis  XIV. 
the  most  illustrious  in  the  French  annals,  and  caused  the  Court  of  Ver- 
sailles (the  seat  of  the  royal  residence)  to  be  everywhere  praised  and 
admired  as  the  model  of  taste,  of  refinement,  and  of  a  distinguished 
mode  of  living.  But  as  he  sought  nothing  but  the  gratification  of  his  own 
selfishness,  of  his  own  love  of  pleasure,  of  his  pride,  and  of  his  desire  for 
renown  and  splendor,  his  reign  became  the  grave  of  freedom,  of  morals, 
of  firmness  of  character,  and  of  manly  sentiments.  Court  favor  was  the 
end  of  every  effort,  and  flattery  the  surest  road  to  arrive  at  it ;  virtue 
and  merit  met  with  little  acknowledgment. 

§  403.  Louis  XIV.  wished  to  enlarge  his  empire,  and  to  render  his 
name  illustrious  by  military  renown.  He  took  advantage,  therefore,  of 
the  death  of  the  Spanish  king,  Philip  IV.,  to  make  pretensions  to  his 
Spanish  War  ii^^^eritance  as  the  husband  of  Philip's  daughter,  and  to  march 
A.  D.  an  army  into  the  Spanish  Netherlands.  By  the  triple  alliance 

1667  - 1668.     Qf  England,  Holland,  and  Sweden,  he  was  indeed  compelledj 


284  THE  MODERN   EPOCH. 

by  tlic  peace  of  Aix,  to  surrender,  after  a  short  campaign,  the  greater 
.  part  of  his  conquests;   but  many  of  the  frontier  towns  of 

Flanders  remained  with  France,  and  Avere  converted  by  Vau- 
ban  into  impregnable  fortresses.  As  Holland  had  been  the  chief  instru- 
ment in  checking  the  victorious  course  of  the  haughty  king,  so  she  did  not 
fail  to  experience  the  vengeance  of  the  French  potentate.  He  won  Swe- 
den to  his  side,  purchased  the  favor  of  the  English  king  by  annuities  and 
mistresses  (§  397),  and  concluded  an  alliance  with  the  Elector  of  Colcgno 
and  the  bishop  of  Munster.  Thus  prepared  and  protected  on  every  side, 
Dutch  War  Louis  began  a  second  war,  which  at  first  was  directed  against 
A.  1).  Holland  alone,  but  in  which  almost  all  the  European  states 

16(2-  Qtd.  y^^f^YQ  involved  during  the  seven  years  of  its  continuance. 
After  tlie  celebrated  passage  of  the  Rhine  at  Tollmis,  the  French  army  pur- 
sued its  rapid  course  of  victories  into  the  territories  of  the  States  General. 
Holland  was  now  in  extremities.  The  republicans,  who  had  hitherto  con- 
ducted the  affairs  of  the  State  with  great  credit,  had  been  more  solicitous 
about  improving  the  navy  than  upon  maintaining  or  increasing  the  land 
forces ;  how  could  they  resist  the  stately  armies  of  France,  conducted,  as 
they  were,  by  tlie  most  celebrated  generals  ?  Liege,  Utrecht,  and  Upper 
Issel,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy;  French  dragoons  already 'made 
incursions  into  the  province  of  Holland,  and  approached  to  within  two 
miles  of  the  capital ;  —  the  terrified  republicans  implored  peace,  but  were 
not  listened  to.  But  v.diilst  the  French  army  was  wasting  time  in  the 
siege  of  the  Dutch  fortresses,  the  republicans,  to  whom  the  whole  of 
the  mischief  was  ascribed,  were  overthrown  by  the  Orange  party,  their 
chiefs,  John  and  Cornelius  de  Witt,  murdered  in  the  streets  of  the  capi- 
tal, and  the  government  then  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  shrewd  and  war- 
like stadtliolder,  William  HI.  of  Orange.  This  celebrated  general  aroused 
the  courage  and  patriotic  enthusiasm  of  the  Hollanders;  they  cut  through 
their  dykes,  and  rendei-ed  the  inundated  country  inapproachable  by  the 
French  ;  the  walls  of  Groningen  defied  all  the  efforts  of  the  enemy,  an'd 
the  marshal  of  Luxemburg's  daring  march  against  Amsterdam,  over  the 
frozen  waters,  was  frustrated  by  a  sudden  thaw.  These  and  other  cir- 
cumstances saved  Holland.  For  as  the  great  Elector  of  Brandenburg, 
Frederick  Vv'^illiam,  now  came  to  the  assistance  of  the  Dutch,  and  also 
induced  the  emperor  Leopold  to  take,  an  interest  in  the  war,  the  French 
were  obliged  to  divide  their  power,  and  to  send  their  chief 
force  to  the  Ilhine.  Spain,  also,  and  the  German  empire, 
soon  entered  into  the  war  against  France. 

§  404.  The  military  power  of  France  increased  with  the  number  of 
her  enemies.  Tarenne  ci'ossed  the  Rhine,  after  having  barbarously 
ravaged  the  lands  of  the  Palatinate,  and  pressed  forwards,  burning  and 
ravaging,  into  Franconia.  The  German  princes  were  divided  ;  the  im- 
perial minister  of  war  was  in  the  pay  of  Louis,  and  betrayed  the  mili- 


AGE   OF  LOUIS   XIV.  2S5 

tary  plans  to  the  enemy  ;  the  Austrian  generals  were  either  incompetent, 
or,  like  Montecuculi,  engaged  in  Hungary.  The  triumph  of  France 
would  have  been  complete,  had  not  the  great  Elector  saved  the  military 
reputation  of  Germany.  Louis  XIV.,  for  the  purpose  of  compelling  the 
lutter  to  separate  himself  from  the  array  of  the  Rhine,  had  induced  his 
allies,  the  Swedes,  to  attack  the  march  of  Brandenburg.  But  the  ener- 
getic Frederick  William  appeared  in  his  own  territories  before  the 
enemy  entertained  the  slightest  suspicion  of  his  approach,  and  gave  the 
surprised  Swedes  a  complete  overthrow  in  the  battle  of 
'  '  Fehrbellin.  This  battle  was  the  foundation  of  Prussia's 
greatness.  A  month  later,  Turenne,  the  greatest  general  of  his  age,  was 
killed  by  a  cannon-ball,  near  Sasbach,  and  the  enemy  compelled  to 
retreat  across  the  Rhine.  But  the  war  nevertheless  continued  for  three 
years  longer,  and  was  particularly  destructive  to  the  lands  on  the  I^ilosel 
and  the  Saar,  where  the  French  committed  frightful  ravages.  It  was 
not  until  the  English  parliament  demanded,  with  menaces,  that  the 
government  should  dissolve  the  alliance  with  France  and  support  the 

Dutch,  that  Louis  resolved  to  put  an  end  to  the  war.     By 
A.  D.  1079.  ,  .  ^^.  ,       T^       ,         ,       .        ,  . 

the  peace  ot  iSimeguen,  the  Dutch,  who  in  the  mean  time 

had  made  the  office  of  stadtholder  hereditary  in  the  male  line  of  the  gal- 
lant William  of  Orange,  received  back  the  whole  of  their  lost  towns  and 
territories.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Spaniards  were  obliged  to  relinquish 
Franche-Comte,  and  the  whole  of  the  fortified  places  in  the  line  of  Va- 
lenciennes and  Maubeuge,  to  Franpe,  and  the  Gei-man  empire  lost  not 
only  the  town  of  Freiburg  in  the  Breisgau,  but  was  obliged  to  submit  to 
tiie  greatest  humiliations.  The  dukedom  of  Lorraine,  which  belonged  to 
Germany,  and  of  which  the  French  had  taken  possession  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war,  was  given  back  to  the  duke,  who  was  engaged  in 
the  Austrian  service,  under  such  degrading  conditions,  that  the  latter 
preferred  to  allow  it  to  remain  still  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy  ;  and  the 
great  Elector  saw  himself  compelled  to  give  up  to  the  Swedes  the  lands 
and  towns  he  had  conquered  with  so  much  difficulty  in  Pomernnia. 

§  405.  The  timorous  accjihiescence  of  the  German  princes  inflamed  the 
insolence  and  ambition  of  Louis  XIV.  He  asserted  that  a  number  of 
districts  and  portions  of  territory,  which,  at  an  earlier  period,  had  belonged 
to  the  towns  and  provinces  which  had  fallen  to  France  in  the  Peaces  of 
Westphalia  and  Nimeguen,  were  included  in  the  cession.  To  arrange 
this  matter,  he  established  the  so-called  chambers  of  reunion  in  Metz  and 
Brcisach,  and,  supported  by  their  decisions,  took  possession  of  a  number 
of  cities,  towns,  boroughdpvillages,  mills,  nay,  even  whole  provinces,  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine.  Success  only  increased  the  audacity  of  the 
French  king,  so  that,  at  length,  in  the  midst  of  peace,  he  wrested  the 
September,  ^^'^e  town  of  Strasburg  from  the  German  empire.  The  trai- 
1681.  torous  bishop,  Francis  Egon,  of  Furstenburg,  assisted  in  the 


286  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 

Eurprise  and  occupation  of  the  place.  The  once  free  burghers  \vere  com- 
pelled, after  being  disarmed,  to  take  the  oath  of  subjection  to  the  foreign 
potentate  upon  their  knees.  The  ornaments  of  German  aichitecture 
were  restored  to  the  Catholic  worship,  and  the  arsenal  was  emptied.  In- 
stead of  chastising  this  insolence  with  their  united  forces,  Austria,  Spain, 
August  15,  and  the  German  empire  concluded  a  truce  for  twenty  years 
1684.  with  the  tyrannical  king,  at  Rcgensburg,  by  which  all  the 

annexed  and  plundered  provinces  were  given  up  to  Louis,  with  the 
single  condition,  that  he  should  be  satisfied  with  what  he  had  got,  and 
should  put  an  end  to  his  annexations. 

Austria's  distress  and  triumph. 

§  406.  During  this  time,  the  emperor  Leopold  was  engaged  in  the 
eastern  portion  of  his  dominions.  In  Hungary,  the  oppression  exercised 
by  the  government  upon  the  Protestants,  the  burdensome  quartering  of 
troops,  and  some  acts  of  violence  against  certain  magnates,  had  produced 
a  formidable  rebellion  at  the  moment  when  the  Turks  were  renewinsr 

o 

their  former  plans  of  conquest,  and  some  active  chief  viziers  were  awak- 
nlng  the  warlike  spirit  of  the  janisaries.      The  Austrian    government 
hoped  to  suppress  the  insurrection  by  severity.    It  condemned  the  leaders 
to  death  upon  the  scaiFold,  and  outraged  the  chartered  rights  of  the 
nation.    But  these  acts  of  violence  excited  the  love  of  free- 
dom and  the  military  spirit  of  the  Plungarians.     Emmerick 
Tokeli,  an  active  noble,  whose  property  had  been  confiscated,  unfurled 
the  banner  of  rebellion.     In  a  short  time,  he  had  a  consider- 
able army  at  his  command,  with  which  he  drove  the  Aus- 
trian forces  out  of  Hungary.     Louis  XIV.  afforded  him  assistance,  and 
the  Porte,  which  recognized  him  as  tributary  king  of  Hun- 
gary,  despatched  a    powerful  army  for  his  defence.    The 
Turks  marched,  plundering  and  devastating,  to  the  walls  of  Vienna.    The 
court  fled  to  Lintz,  and  the  capital  of  Austria  seemed  lost.     But  the 
courage  of  the  citizens  and  of  their  leader,  Rudiger  von  Staremberg,  to- 
gether with  the  Ottoman's  want  of  skill  in  ccftiducting  sieges,  preserved 
Vienna  for  sixty  days,  in  spite  of  all  attacks,  till  at  length  the  imperial 
army,  commanded  by   Charles  of  Lorraine,  and  in  conjunction  with  a 
Polish  force  under  the  heroic  king,  John  Sobieski,  came  to  the  help  of 
September,      the  hardly-pressed  town.     A  bloody  engagement  under  the 
1G83.  walls  of  Vienna  terminated  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  Turks. 

They  made  a  hasty  retreat,  and  left  an  enormous  booty  in  the  hands  of 
the  victors.  From  this  time,  the  fortune  of  tife  war  remained  with  the 
Austrians.  Hungary  was  conquered,  Tokeli  compelled  to  fly,  and  Buda, 
which  had  been  in  possession  of  the  Turks  for  146  years,  was  wrested 
from  their  hands.  After  the  criminal  court  of  Eperies  had  deprived 
the  Hungarian  nobility  of  their  most  enterprising  leaders,  and  spread  ter- 


AGE   OF  LOUIS  XIV.  2S7 

ror  tlirough  the  whole  nation,  the  emperor  Leopold  was  enabled,  at  the 
Diet  at  Presburg,  to  abolish  elective  monarchy,  and  to  banish  certain 
privileges  from  the  constitution  that  interfered  with  the  royal  power, 
without  any  opposition.  In  this  way,  Hungary  became  the  inheritance 
of  the  house  of  Hapsburg.  The  Turks  made  great  efforts  to  regain  that 
which  had  been  lost,  and  streams  of  Turkish  and  Christian  blood  were 
ghcd  around  the  walls  of  Belgrade  ;  but  those  great  heroes,  Charles  of 
Lorraine,  prince  Eugene,  and  Louis  of  Baden,  held  victory 
firmly  to  the  Austrian  banners.  By  the  peace  of  Carlowitz, 
Transylvania,  and  the  whole  of  the  land  between  the  Danube  and  the 
Theiss,  were  ceded  to  the  Austrians. 

d.    THE    WAR    OF    0RLEA3IB. 

§  407.  For  the  purpose  of  creating  a  diversion  in  favor  of  the  Turks 
against  the  superior  power  of  Austria,  Louis  XIV.  took  advantage  of* 
affairs  relating  to  the  inheritance  of  the  Palatinate  and  the  election  of  the 
Wiir  of  archbishop  of  Cologne,  to  engage  in  the  third  war,  called  the 

Orleans,  A.  D.  war  of  Orleans.  When  the  elector  Charles  died  without 
1GS9-1697.  male  issue,  and  the  land  fell  into  the  collateral  Catholic  line 
of  Pfalz  Neuberg,  Louis  XIV.  claimed  not  only  the  movable  property, 
but  also  the  immovable  estate,  as  the  inheritance  q£  Elizabeth  Charlotte, 
the  sister  of  the  deceased  Elector,  and  the  wife  of  l!Wis*s  brother,  the  duke 
of  Orleans ;  and  when  this  claim  was  not  admitted,  he  marched  an  army 
upon  the  Rhine.  For  the  purpose  of  rendering  it  impossible  for  the 
enemy  to  penetrate  into  France,  Louvois,  the  hard-hearted  minister  of 
war,  gave  command  for  creating  a  desert  between  the  two  kingdoms  by 
devastating  the  banks  of  the  Rhine.  Hereupon,  the  wild  troops  fell  like 
incendiaries  upon  the  flourishing  villages  of  the  Bergstrasse,  the  rich 
cities  on  the  Rhine,  and  the  blooming  districts  of  the  southern  Palatinate, 
and  reduced  them  to  heaps  of  ashes.  The  shattered  tower  of  the  castle 
of  Heidelberg  is  yet  a  silent  witness  of  the  barbarity  with  which  Melac 
and  other  leaders  executed  the  commands  of  a  merciless  government. 
Towns  and  villages,  vineyards  and  orchards,  were  in  flames  from  Ilaardt- 
gt'birge  to  !Nahe  ;  in  Manheira,  the  inhabitants  themselves  were  obliged 
to  assist  in  destroying  their  own  buildings  and  fortifications ;  a  great  part 
of  Heidelberg  was  consumed  by  fire,  after  the  bridge  of  the  Xeckar  had 
been  blown  up  ;  in  Worms,  the  cathedral  with  many  of  the  dwelling- 
houses  became  the  prey  of  the  flames ;  and  in  Spire,  the  French  drove 
.  out  the  citizens,  set  fire  to  the  plundered  city  and  the  ve- 
'  *  nerable  cathedral,  and  desecrated  the  bones  of  the  ancient 
emperors. 

The  second  occasion  of  the  war,  in  which,  beside  the  German  empire 
and  the  emperor,  the  Netherlands,  Spain,  and  the  dukes  of  Savoy  and 
Piedmont  became  involved,  was  the  appointment  to  the  spiritual  elector-* 


288  THE  MODERN    EPOCH. 

Bliip  in  Cologne,  wliere  Louis  XTV.,  by  dint  of  bribery,  had  secured  the 
election  of  William  von  Furstenburg,  a  man  in  the  interests  of  France ; 
but  both  pope  and  emperor  refused  confirmation.  In  this  war,  also, 
v/hich  lasted  for  eight  years,  the  French  army,  which  was  conducted  by 
the  most  distinguished  generals,  maintained  its  si1[^>remacy  over  the  far 
superior  force  of  the  enemy.  In  Italy,  in  the  Netherlands,  in  heavily 
afilicted  Germany,  in  the  north  of  Spain,  the  French  had  generally  the 
A  D  169'>        advantage  ;  even  at  sea  they  maintained  their  honor,  although 

the  battle  of  La  Hogue  went  against  them.  It  was  a  cause 
of  m.uch  surprise  that  Louis  should  consent  to  the  universally  desired  ter- 

mination  of  the  war,  and'  should  shgw  himself  far  more  mo- 

A.  D.  1697.  ,  .        , 

derate  m  the  peace  of  liyswick  (between  Hague  and  Delft) 
than  in  that  of  Nimegten.  The  German  empire  was  the  only  loser, 
inasmuch  as  it  was  obliged  to  leave  Strasburg  and  all  the  annexed  pro- 
vinces to  France.  Louis's  reason  for  concluding  the  peace  so  hastily  was, 
that  he  wished  to  have  his  hands  free  at  the  approaching  vacancy  of  the 
Spanish  crown. 

e.   LIFE   AT    THE    COURT.      LITERATURE.       CHURCH. 

§  408.  It  was  during  the  last  three  decades  of  the  seventeenth  century 
that  France  stood  at  ^e  culniinating  point  of  her  power  abroad  and  of 
her  prosperity  at  hom^so  that  the  flattering  chronicles  of  those  days  de- 
scribed the  age  of  Louis  XIV.  as  the  golden  age  of  France.  Trade  and 
industry  received  a  prodigious  development  by  the  care  of  Colbert ;  the 
woollen  and  silk  manufactories,  the  stocking  and  cloth  weaving,  which 
flourished  in  the  southern  towns,  brought  prosperity,  the  maritime  force 
increased,  colonies  were  planted,  and  the  productions  of  France  were  car- 
ried by  trading  companies  to  all  quarters  of  the  globe. 

The  court  of  France  displayed  a  magnificence  that  had  never  before 
been  witnessed.  The  palace  of  Versailles,  and  the  gardens  which  were 
adorned  with  statues,  fountains,  and  alleys  of  trees,  were  a  model  of  taste 
for  all  Europe ;  fetes  of  all  kinds,  jovial  parties,  ballets,  fireworks,  tlie 
opera  and  the  theatre,  in  the  service  of  which  the  first  intellects  in 
France  employed  their  talents,  followed  upon  each  other  in  attractive 
succession ;  poets,  artists,  men  of  learning,  all  were  eager  to  do  honor  to 
a  prince  who  rewarded  with  a  liberal  hand  every  kind  of  talent  that  con- 
duced either  to  his  amusement  or  to  his  glory.  Sumptuous  buildings, 
as  the  Hospital  of  Invalides,  costly  libraries,  magnificent  productions  of 
the  press,  vast  establishments  for  the  natural  sciences,  academies,  and 
similar  institutions,  exalted  the  glory  and  renown  of  the  great  Louis. 
The  refined  air  of  society,  the  polished  tone,  the  easy  manners  of  the 
nobility  and  courtiers,  subdued  Europe  more  permanently  and  exten- 
sively than  the  weapons  of  the  army.  The  French  fashions,  language, 
and  literature,  bore  sway  from  this  time  in  all  circles  of  the  higher  classes. 


AGE   OF  LOUIS  XIV.  239 

The  consequences  of  the  establishment  of  the  French  Academy  by  Riche- 
lieu were  a  development  of  the  language,  style,  and  literary  composition, 
that  was  extremely  favorable  to  tlie  diffusion  of  the  literature.  The  lan- 
guage, so  particularly  adapted  for  social  intercourse,  for  conversation,  and 
for  epistolary  writing,  remained  from  henceforth  the  language  of  diplo- 
macy, of  courts,  and  of  the  higher  classes  ;  and  although  the  literar}'  pro- 
ductions are  wanting  in  strength,  elevation,  and  nature, — the  polish  of  the 
form,  and  the  ease  and  felicity  of  the  style,  gave  French  taste  the  supre- 
macy in  Europe,  and  strengthened  the  French  people  in  the  agreeable 
delusion  that  they  were  the  most  civilized  of  nations.  In  the  time  of 
Louis,  dramatic  poetry  reached  its  highest  excellence  in  Peter  Corneille 
(1G84),  whose  "  Cid"  is  regarded  as  the  foundation  and  commencement 
of  classical  stage  poetry;  in  J.  Kacine  (1G99),  who,  in  his  Iphigenia  and 
Phtedra  ventured  to  emulate  Euripides,  and  in  the  talented  writer  of 
comedies,  JMoliere  (1G73),  whose  Tartuffe,  L'Avare,  Le  Misanthrope,  &c. 
evince  a  profound  knowledge  of  human  nature  in  its  aberrations.  Boi- 
leau  (Despreaux)  (1711),  a  dexterous  versifier,  was  admired  as  the 
French  Horace  on  account  of  his  odes  and  satires;  Lafontaine's  (1694) 
fables  and  stories  are  still  familiar  in  all  families  as  school  and  children's 
books,  and  the  adventures  of  Telemachus  by  Bishop  Fenelon  (1715)  are 
translated  into  all  European  languages,  and  have  an  immense  circulation. 
At  the  same  time,  the  eloquence  of  the  pulpit  was  cultivated  by  Bossuet 
(1704)  and  other  spiritual  orators;  the  philosophy  of  scepticism, by  the 
Ilugueiiot,  Bayle  ;  and  the  literature  of  polemics  by  the  religious  party 
of  the  Jansenists,  in  its  contests  against  the  Jesuits  and  their  dangerous 
morality.  In  this  latter  class,  the  Provincial  Letters  of  Pascal  occupy 
the  first  rank. 

§  409.  But  however  flatterers  may  sing  the  praises  of  the  age  of  Louis 
XIV.,  one  spot  of  shame  remains  ineradicable  —  the  persecution  of  the 
Huguenots.  The  French  king  believed  that  the  unity  of  the  Church 
was  inseparable  from  a  perfect  monarchy.  For  this  reason  he  oppressed 
the  Jansenists,  a  Catholic  party,  which  first  contended  against  the  Jesuits, 
and  afterwards  against  the  head  of  the  Church  himself;  and  he  compelled 
the  Calvinists,  by  the  most  severe  persecutions,  either  to  fly,  or  to  return 
into  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Colbert,  who  esteemed  the 
Huguenots  as  active  and  industrious  citizens,  prevented  for  Bome  time 
these  violent  measures ;  but  the  suggestions  of  the  royal  confessor.  La 
Chaise,  the  zeal  for  conversion  of  the  affectedly  pious  Madame  Main- 
tenon,  who  had  been  first  a  tuljOress  of  the  court,  and  afterwards  Louis's 
trusted  wife,  and  the  cruelty  of  Louvois,  the  minister  of  war,  at  length 
triumphed  over  the  advice  of  Colbert.  A  long  succession  of  oppressive 
proceedings  against  the  Huguenots  prepared  the  way  for  the  great  stroke. 
The  number  of  their  churches  was  restricted,  and  their  worship  confined 
to  a  few  of  the  principal  towns.  Louis's  paroxysms  of  repentance  and 
25 


290  THE  MODERN  EPOCH, 

devotion  were  always  tlie  sources  of  fresh  oppressions  to  the  Calvinistic 
heretics,  by  whose  conversion  he  thought  to  expiate  his  own  crimes. 
They  were  gradually  excluded  from  office  and  dignities ;  converts  were 
favored ;  in  this  way,  the  ambitious  were  enticed,  the  poor  were  won  by 
money,  which  flowed  from  the  king's  conversion  chest,  and  from  the  libe- 
ral gifts  of  the  pious  illustrious ;  a  wide  field  was  opened  to  the  zeal  for 
proselytism  by  the  enactment  that  the  conversion  of  children  under  age 
was  valid.  Families  were  divided,  children  were  torn  from  their  parents 
and  brought  up  as  Catholics.  Court  and  clergy,  the  heartless  and  elo- 
quent bishop  Bossuet  at  their  head,  set,  all  means  in  motion  to  establish 
the  ecclesiastical  unity  of  France.  When  all  other  means  of  conversion 
failed,  came  the  dragonades.  At  the  command  of  Louvois,  the  cavalry 
took  possession  of  the  southern  provinces,  and  established  their  quarters 
in  the  dwellings  of  the  Huguenots.  The  prosperity  of  the  industrious 
citizens,  whose  substance  was  devoured  by  the  dragoons,  soon  disap- 
peared. The  bad  treatment  by  these  booted  missionaries,  who  quitted  the 
houses  of  the  apostates  to  fall  in  doubled  numbers  upon  those  who  re- 
mained stedfast,  operated  more  effectually  than  all  the  enticements  of  the 
court  or  the  seductions  of  the  priests.  Thousands  fled  abj-oad  that  they 
October  might  preserve  their  faith  upon  a  foreign  soil.     At  last  came 

1G85.  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.     The  religious  wor- 

ship of  the  Calvinists  was  now  forbidden,  their  churches  were  torn  down, 
their  schools  closed,  their  preachers  banished  from  the  land ;  when  the 
emigration  increased  to  a  formidable  degree,  this  was  forbidden,  under 
punishment  of  the  galleys  and  forfeiture  of  goods.  But  despite  ail  threats 
and  prohibitions,  upwards  of  500,000  French  Calvinists  carried  their 
industry,  their  faith,  and  their  courage  to  Protestant  lands.  Switzerland, 
the  Palatinate  of  the  Rhine,  Brandenburg,  Holland,  and  England,  offered 
an  asylum  to  the  persecuted.  The  silk  manufacture  and  stocking-weav- 
ing were  carried  abroad  by  the  fugitive  Huguenots.  Flatterers  extolled 
the  king  as  the  exterminator  of  heresy,  but  the  courage  of  the  peasants 
in  Cevennes,  and  the  number  of  Huguenots  who  contented  themselves 
with  private  devotion,  show  how  little  religious  oppression  conduced  to 
the  desired  end.  For  when  the  persecution  was  carried  into  the  distant 
valleys  of  the  Cevennes,  wliere  Waldenses  and  Calvinists  lived,  according 
♦,o  ancient  custom,  in  the  simplicity  of  tlie  faith,  the  oppressors  met  with 
un  obstinate  resistance.  Persecution  called  forth  the  courage  of  its  vic- 
tims, oppression  urged  zeal  into  fanaticism.  Led  on  by  a  young  mecha- 
nic, the  Camisards,  clad  in  a  linen  frock,  rushed  "  with  naked  breast 
against  the  marshals."  A  frightful  civil  war  filled  the  peaceful  valleys 
of  Cevennes;  fugitive  priests,  in  the  gloom  of  the  forest,  exhorted  the 
evangelical  brethren  to  a  desperate  defence,  till,  at  length,  the  persecutors 
grew  wear3\  Nearly  two  millions  of  the  Huguenots  remained  without 
rights  and  without  religious  worship. 


NORTH  AMERICA.  291 


IV.   THE    COLONIZATION   OF   NORTH   AMERICA. 

[a.  d.  1606-1732.] 

§  410.  North  America,  with  the  exception  of  Mexico,  was  not  colo- 
nized by  Europeans  so  c^arly  as  the  southern  part  of  the  Continent.  Tho 
discoveries  of  Cabot  had  given  England  a  valid  claim  to  the 
whole  coast  from  Labrador  to  Florida ;  but  the  country  pre- 
sented none  of  the  allurements  that  had  incited  and  rewarded  the  Spanish 
adventurers.  Fertile  and  well-wooded,  indeed,  intersected  by  noble  rivers, 
and  inclosing  safe  and  capacious  harbors  and  bays,  it  seemed  a  promis- 
ing region  for  permanent  settlements  and  agricultural  industry,  but 
offered  only  a  faint  prospect  of  wealth  to  be  obtained  from  gold  and  silver 
mines,  or  from  plundering  the  native  inhabitants.  There  was  little 
chance  of  glory  or  gain  in  subduing  feeble  and  destitute  tribes,  who  had 
hardly  risen  above  tlie  lowest  stage  of  savage  life.  Buccaneering  Eng- 
lishmen, like  Drake,  Frobisher,  and  Hawkins,  thirsting  for  adventure 
and  gold,  contemptuously  overlooked  the  North  American  Indians,  pre- 
ferring to  attack  and  rob  the  wealthy  settlements  already  formed  by  the 
Spaniards  at  the  south.  A  party  of  French  Huguenots  attempted  to 
colonize  Florida ;  but  the  Spaniards,  who  claimed  the  country,  surprised 
the  infant  settlement,  and  massacred  nearly  all  its  inhabitants,  not  sparing 
even  the  women  and  children.  This  slaughter  was  soon 
avenged  by  a  Frenchman,  Dominique  de  Gourges,  who  cap- 
tured Fort  Carolina,  where  the  victors  had  established  themselves,  and 
hanged  all  his  prisoners  ;  but  he  made  no  attempt  to  form  another  colony, 
and  did  not  even  disturb  the  little  Spanish  city  of  St.  Augustine,  which 
remained,  but  did  not  flourish,  as  the  only  permanent  settlement  of  Euro 
peans  on  the  coast  north  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  during  the  sixteenth  ccn 
tury. 

The  English,  under  the  direction  of  Sir  "Walter  Raleigh  and  his  half- 
brother,  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  attempted  to  create  a  settlement  on 
A«D  the  coast  of  what  was  subsequently  called  North  Carolina, 

1583-15S7.  Three  parties  of  colonists  were  sent  thither,  but  they  were 
few  in  number,  and  ill  provided  with  necessaries ;  one  returned,  and  tho 
other  two  perished,  either  from  starvation  or  the  hostility  of  the  natives. 
Early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  the  French,  under  De  Monts  and 
Champlain,  explored  the  country  around  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  that  bor- 
dering on  the  St.  Lawrence,  laying  claim  to  Aeadie  (Nova  Scotia)  and 
Canada,  which  together  were  called  New  France.  De  Monts  founded 
Port  Royal  (Annapolis),  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  in 
1606;  and  two  years  afterwards,  Champlain  established  on  the  St.  Law- 
rence the  post  of  Quebec.  In  1609,  the  Dutch  sent  out  Henry  Hudson, 
who  explored  the  American  coast  for  a  considerable  distance,  entered 


292  THE    MODERN    EPOCH. 

New  York  harbor,  and  sailed  up  the  river  which  now  bears  his  name. 
Stimulated  by  a  feeling  of  rivalry  with  the  French,  the  English  renewed 
their  attempts  at  colonization  on  a  larger  scale.  James  I.  granted  the 
whole  country,  from  Cape  Fear  to  Passamaquoddy  Bay,  to  two  companies 
of  merchants  and  adventurers.  The  southern  portion,  from  the  thirty- 
fourth  to  the  forty-first  degree  of  latitude  was  given  to  the  London  Com- 
pany; and  the  northern  part,  from  the  thirty-eighth  to  the  forty-fifth 
degree,  was  to  be  colonized  by  the  Plymouth  Company.  Neither  was  to 
commence  a  settlement  within  one  hundred  miles  of  a  spot  already  occu- 
pied by  the  other.  Such  associations,  looking  only  to  the  profits  of  trade, 
and  intended  to  remain  as  commercial  corporations  within  the  limits  of 
England,  were  but  ill  fitted  for  the  great  enterprise  of  founding  and  nour- 
isliins  colonies  on  a  distant  coast.  All  their  undertakings  resulted  in  dis- 
appointment  and  loss ;  and  they  were  finally  dissolved  while  the  settle- 
ments which  they  had  created  were  still  in  the  weakness  of  infancy. 
§  411.  Virginia.  The  first  band  of  colonists  sent  out  by  the  London 
Company  established  themselves  on  a  spot  which  they  called 
Jamestown,  on  the  James  river,  about  fifty  miles  above  its 
entrance  into  Chesapeake  Bay.  The  situation  was  an  unhealthy  one, 
and  most  of  the  adventurers  were  poor  gentlemen  or  broken  down  trades- 
men, unused  to  toil,  and  "  fitter  to  breed  a  riot  than  to  found  a  colony." 
The  direction  of  affairs  had  been  given  to  a  council,  consisting  of  seven 
persons,  nominated  by  the  Company  in  England.  John  Smith,  a  military 
adventurer  of  great  courage,  enterprise,  and  sagacity,  was  one  of  them  ; 
and  the  incompetency  of  his  colleagues  soon  becoming  manifest,  he  gra- 
dually assumed  the  lead,  and  several  times  rescued  the  feeble  settlements 
from  the  imminent  perils  of  savage  warfare  and  famine.  Half  of  the 
emigrants  perished  during  the  first  six  months  ;  and  if  the  colony  had  not 
been  fed  by  frequent  supplies  of  food  and  additional  settlers  from  Eng- 
land, the  enterprise  must  soon  have  been  abandoned.  In  spite  of  Smith's 
remonstrances,  the  settlers  wasted  their  time  in  seeking  for  gold  and  sil- 
ver, instead  of  cultivating  the  ground ;  and  they  actually  sent  a  vessel  to 
England  laden  with  dirt  in  which  glittering  specks  had  been  discovered, 
which  they  mistook  for  gold.  Smith  explored  the  country,  and  coasted 
the  bay  in  an  open  boat,  entering  the  principal  rivers  and  inlets,  and  thus 
obtaining  the  requisite  information  for  the  construction  of  a  chart,  which 
^vas  transmitted  to  England  and  published.  Li  one  of  these  expeditions, 
he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  savages,  and  was  on  the  point  of  being  put  to 
death,  when  he  was  rescued  by  the  chieftain's  daughter,  Pocahontas,  and 
after  an  imprisonment  of  a  few  weeks,  was  sent  back  to  Jamestown.  But 
the  colony  was  soon  deprived  of  his  invaluable  services  ;  in  1609,  he  was 
severely  injured  by  the  accidental  explosion  of  his  powder  bag,  and  was 
compelled  to  return  to  England  for  surgical  aid.  After  his  departure, 
the  affairs  of  the  colony  again  declined,  and  the  settlers  more  than  once 


VIRGINIA.  293 

determined  to  abandon  the  undertaking,  and  return  home.  But  they 
were  prevented  by  the  seasonable  arrival  of  ships,  bringing  fresh  sup- 
plies and  a  reinforcement  of  men,  whose  broken  fortunes  in  their  native 
land  made  them  eager  to  brave  the  perils  of  a  desperate  enterprise.  Thus 
often  rescued  from  the  brink  of  ruin,  the  colony  struggled  on,  till  its 
members  at  last  became  inured  to  their  novel  situation,  and  acquired  the 
habits  of  life  which  alone  could  meet  its  exigencies.  Novel  recruits  were 
sent  out  from  time  to  time  to  keep  up  their  numbers.  In  1G19,  ninety 
young  women  arrived,  of  irreproachable  character,  who  were  sold  at  the 
price  of  their  passage,  to  become  wives  to  the  planters.  Many  cargoes 
of  vagrants,  thieves,  and  jailbirds  also  came,  to  serve  as  indented  servants 
for  a  term  of  years,  and  afterwards  to  become  free  colonists.  Then  a 
more  lasting  impression  was  made  on  the  future  character  anil  fortunes 
of  the  settlement  by  the  introduction  of  twenty  negro  slaves,  who  were 
brought  by  a  Dutch  trading  vessel,  and  readily  purchased  by  the  settlers. 
Tobacco  had  now  become  the  staple  product  of  the  colony,  and  slaves 
were  profitably  employed  in  its  cultivation. 

§  412.  The  London  Company  obtained  a  new  charter  in  1G09,  which 
gave  them  the  power  of  enacting  all  necessary  laws  for  the  Colony,  and 
appointing  a  governor  and  other  officers  to  see  that  the  laws  were  exe- 
cuted. Whatever  discontent  may  have  been  excited  among  the  emi- 
grants by  this  measure,  which  gave  the  whole  control  of  their  affairs  to  a 
council  resident  in  England,  they  welcomed  the  appointment  of  Lord 
De  la  War  to  be  their  first  governor,  as  the  good  abilities  and  amiable 
but  resolute  character  of  this  nobleman  seemed  to  promise  a  successful 
administration.  Unfortunately  he  remained  in  ofHce  but  a  short  time, 
owing  to  the  failure  of  his  health ;  and  his  successors,  Dale,  Gates,  and 
Argal,  governed  with  a  rigor  and  severity  which  occasioned  loud  com- 
plaints. But  they  had  many  dissolute  and  turbulent  subjects  to  rule ; 
and  the  order  and  discipline  which  they  preserved  were  favorable  to  the 
prosperity  of  the  settlement.  Hitherto  the  land  had  been  held  in  com- 
mon, and  the  products  of  all  labor  were  thrown  into  a  common  stock. 
But  experience  having  shown  that  this  policy  placed  the  idle  and  the 
dissolute  on  a  par  with  the  virtuous  and  the  industrious,  besides  dis- 
couraging the  latter,  each  settler  now  received  an  allotment  of  land  as 
his  own,  and  was  allowed  to  work  on  his  own  account.  The  savages  had 
occasionally  given  much  trouble,  and  in  1622,  they  were  nearly  success- 
ful in  a  plot  which  they  had  formed  for  the  entire  destruction  of  the  set- 
tlements. In  one  day,  they  killed  three  hundred  and  forty-seven  of  the 
whites.  A  furious  war  succeeded,  in  which  the  Indians,  indeed,  were 
defeated  and  driven  back  with  great  slaughter,  so  that  they  never  became 
formidable  again.  But  the  colony  had  received  a  fearful  blow,  from 
which  it  recovered  with  slowness  and  difficulty.  The  number  of  settle- 
ments was  reduced  from  eighty  to  eight,  and  a  famine  ensued  that  de- 

25* 


294  "  THE  MODERN   EPOCH. 

stroyed  many  lives.  The  first  colonial  assembly  was  called  by  Gov. 
Yeardley  in  1619,  and  two  years  afterwards,  a  special  ordinance  con- 
firmed  the  right  of  holding  such  a  local  legislature. 

The  proceedings  of  the  Company  in  England  had  now  awakened  the 
jealousy  of  the  crown  ;  and  these  misfortunes  gave  King  James  the 
pretext  that  he  wanted  for  depriving  them  of  their  charter,  and  taking 
the  government  into  his  own  hands.  Of  course,  it  was  administered  on 
the  arbitrary  principles  which  were  then  in  favor  at  court.  Complete 
legislative  and  executive  power  was  given  to  a  governor  and  a  council  of 
twelve  persons,  all  nominated  by  the  crown ;  and  this  power  was  tyran- 
nically exercised.  Yet  the  General  Assembly,  though  not  formally 
authorized,  was  still  permitted  to  meet,  though  it  was  much  restricted 
in  the  exercise  of  its  functions.  At  one  time,  the  patience  of  the  settlers 
gave  way,  and  they  seized  their  governor,  Sir  John  Harvey, 
and  sent  him  a  prisoner  to  England  to  answer  for  his  mis- 
conduct. With  the  native  obstinacy  of  his  character,  Charles  I.  resented 
this  act  as  savoring  of  audacity  and  rebellion,  and  sent  back  the  obnox- 
ious governor,  with  a  fresh  commission,  under  which  he  ruled  more 
tyrannically  than  ever.  Still,  the  prevailing  sentiment  in  the  colony  was 
eminently  loyal,  and  during  the  English  Civil  War,  they  took  sides,  as 
long  as  they  durst,  with  the  king,  against  the  Parliament.  Many  of  the 
settlers,  as  has  been  said,  were  decayed  gentlemen  and  unportioned  sons 
of  noble  families,  in  whose  minds  the  prejudices  of  rank  were  rather 
heightened  than  diminished  by  the  want  of  fortune.  The  Church  of 
England  was  established  by  law,  regular  stipends  being  allotted  to  its 
ministers  in  every  parish,  and  the  preachers  of  any  other  persuasion  were 
not  allowed  to  exercise  their  functions.  The  English  law  of  primogeni- 
ture and  entail  regulated  the  descent  of  property;  and  the  wealthier 
colonists,  directing  the  labor  of  many  indented  servants  and  slaves,  lived 
apart  on  their  plantations,  affecting  something  of  the  state  of  a  landed 
aristocracy.  After  the  ruin  of  the  king's  cause  at  home,  in  1645,  many 
of  the  disbanded  cavaliers  found  refuge  in  Virginia,  bringing  with  them 
their  sentiment  of  chivalrous  attachment  to  Church  and  King. 

§  413.  In  1671,  Gov.  Berkeley  estimated  the  population  of  the  colony 
at  40,000,  including  2,000  negro  slaves,  and  6,000  indented  white  ser- 
vants. Tlie  character  of  his  administration  may  be  inferred  from  a  com- 
munication made  by  him,  this  year,  to  the  English  Privy  Council.  "  I 
thank  God,"  he  wrote,  "  there  are  no  free  schools  or  printing,  and  I  hope 
we  shall  not  have  any  these  hundred  years ;  for  learning  has  brought 
disobedience,  and  heresy,  and  sects  into  the  world,  and  printing  has 
divulged  them,  and  libels  against  ihe  best  government.  God  keep  us 
from  both!"  Yet  a  few  years  afterwards,  discontent  had  become  so 
general  that  a  rebellion  broke  out,  and  for  a  few  months  the  insurgenta 
had  entire  control  of  the  government.     Nathaniel  Bacon,  a  young  law- 


VIRGINIA.  295 

j^er,  distinguished  for  his  talents  and  activity,  was  the  popular  leader  in 
this  movement.  The  people  wished  to  commence  hostilities  with  the 
Indians,  whose  conduct  had  been  such  as  to  occasion  great  excitement 
and  fears  of  a  general  conspiracy  against  the  whites.  But  it  is  probable 
that  other  grievances,  some  of  which  were  of  long  standing,  were  the 
tree  causes  of  the  outbreak,  and  that  the  Indian  war  was  only  a  pretext. 

Six  hundred  volunteers  were  collected.  Bacon  was  chosen 
▲.  D.  1676.  . 

their  leader,  and  Gov.  Berkeley  was  asked  to  give  him  a  com- 
mission to  act  against  the  savages.  The  governor  not  only  refused,  but 
commanded  the  men  to  disperse  under  pain  of  being  considered  as  traitors ; 
and  summoning  those  who  were  faithful  to  his  standard,  he  set  out  in  pur- 
suit of  them.  But  while  he  was  gone,  the  counties  near  Jamestown  broke 
out  in  insurrection,  seized  the  capital,  and  took  possession  of  the  govern- 
ment. Berkeley  was  compelled  to  yield,  to  dissolve  the  old  Assembly, 
which  had  been  long  in  session  and  had  become  unpopular,  and  to  issue 
writs  for  a  new  election.  Bacon  and  a  large  majority  of  his  friends  were 
returned  to  the  new  Assembly.  Among  them  were  many  persons  of 
wealth  and  influence.  A  commission  to  act  against  the  Indians  was  still 
refused  him,  and  fearing  treachery,  he  left  the  city,  called  together  his 
adherents,  returned  at  the  head  of  500  men,  and  dictated  his  own  terms  to 
the  enraged  but  powerless  Berkeley.  Bacon  was  appointed  general,  was 
authorized  to  raise  an  army  of  a  thpusand  men,  and  to  prosecute  the  war 
vigorously.  The  Assembly  then  turned  its  attention  to  the  redress  of 
grievances.  The  right  of  choosing  members  of  the  Assembly  and  of 
voting  in  parish  matters  was  restored  to  the  freemen,  some  unjust  exemp- 
tions from  taxes  were  taken  away,  tippling  houses  were  regulated,  and  an 
act  was  passed  of  oblivion  and  indemnity  foi*  those  who  had  been  engaged 
in  the  recent  disturbances.  But  the  governor's  spirit  was  not  yet  sub- 
dued. After  the  Assembly  was  dissolved,  he  again  denounced  Bacon  as 
a  rebel,  retired  for  a  time  to  Accomac  to  muster  his  friends,  and  then 
returned  with  an  armed  force,  and  took  possession  of  the  capital.  But 
the  insurgents  besieged  him  there,  and  he  was  again  obliged  to  leave, 
while  th3  town  was  set  on  fire  and  wliolly  consumed.  But  in  the  midst 
of  these  successes,  Bacon  was  suddenly  taken  sick  and  died;  and  no  pro- 
per person  being  found  to  take  his  place,  the  army  was  dispersed,  and 
the  insurrection  abandoned.  Berkeley  returned  in  triumph,  and  punish- 
ed the  rebels  with  great  rigor,  some  of  their  leaders  being  condemned 
and  executed,  dnd  others  were  sentenced  to  pay  heavy  fines.  He  then 
went  to  England,  where,  instead  of  the  praise  and  rewards  that  ha 
expected,  he  was  severely  censured  for  his  cruelty.  He  died  a  few 
months  afterwards,  as  it  was  reported,  of  chagrin.  An  act  of  general 
pardon  and  oblivion  was  sent  out  from  England,  and  other  mild  and 
popular  measures  soon  wiped  out  the  memory  of  Bacon's  rebellion. 
Needy  ex»d  covetous  governors  still  provoked  occasional  discont/uit ;  bui 


\  y 

296  THE   MODERN   El'OCH. 

the  spirit  of  the  people  was  eminently  loyal,  so  that  thuj"  wme  tardy  and 
reluctant  to  acknowledge  the  revolution  of  1688,  and  only  after  repeated 
commands  was  a  proclamation  issued  announcing  the  succession  of 
William  and  Mary  to  the  English  throne. 

§  414.  Ply3I0UT1I.  Far  different  was  the  character  of  the  emigrants 
who  founded  tlie  New  England  Colonies,  under  grants  from  the  Ply- 
mouth Company.  These  were  Puritans  of  the  straitest  sect,  Independ- 
ents in  their  notions  of  Church  government,  and  now  fast  verging 
towards  repHblicanism,  in  consequence  of  their  long  continued  opposition 
to  the  constituted  authorities  of  Church  and  State  at  home.  The  intole- 
rant spirit  of  the  English  hierarchy  and  the  arbitrary  proceedings  of  the 
court  made  their  residence  in  England  uncomfortable,  if  not  perilous ; 
and  they  looked  to  voluntary  exile  for  deliverance.  A  company  of  them, 
under  the  llev.  John  Robinson  as  pastor,  and  William  Brewster  as 
ruling  elder,  embarked  for  Holland  in  1G08,  carrying  their  wives, 
children,  and  little  property  along  with  them.  They  were  kindly 
received  by  the  Dutch,  who  were  Protestants,  and  they  remained  over 
ten  years  in  peace  at  Leyden.  But  Puritans  as  they  were,  they  were 
still  Englishmen  ;  they  disliked  the  sound  of  a  foreign  language,  and  the 
prospect  that  their  children  would  intermarry  with  the  Dutch,  and  forget 
their  English  parentage  and  the  customs  of  their  forefathers.  The 
greater  part  of  them,  therefore,  determined  to  emigrate  to  America,  and 
for  this  purpose,  returned  first  to  England,  where  they  easily  procured 
the  promise  of  a  grant  of  land  from  the  London  Company,  as  they  in- 
tended to  establish  themselves  within  what  were  then  the  limits  of  Vir- 
ginia. They  sailed  from  Plymouth  in  the  ship  Mayflower,  and  after  a 
tedious  and  stormy  voyage  of  over  two  months,  arrived  at  Cape  Cod, 
nearly  two  degrees  north  of  the  place  which  they  had  aimed  at.  The 
lateness  of  the  season,  however,  the  fatigues  of  the  voyage,  and  the  perils 
of  coasting  along  a  shore  which  had  been  but  imperfectly  explored,  pre- 
vented them  from  putting  to  sea  again,  and  they  sought  a  spot  for  their 
settlement  in  that  neighborhood.  But  as  they  were  then  without  the 
limits  of  the  Virginia  Company,  and  the  Crown  had  refused  to  grant 
them  a  charter,  they  deemed  it  necessary,  before  leaving  the  vessel,  to 
sign  an  ngreement,  promising  to  submit  to  whatever  "just  and  equal 
laws  and  ordinances  might  be  thought  convenient  for  the  general  good." 
They  selected  Plymouth,  which  ofFei-ed  a  tolerably  good  harbor  in  the 
southwestern  part  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  as  a  suitable  place  for,  the  com- 
mencement of  a  colony;  and  on  the  22d  of  December,  1620,  the  Pil- 
grims, as  they  might  now  well  be  termed,  landed  there,  numbering  only 
one  hundred  and  one,  including  the  women  and  children.  John  Carver 
was  chosen  their  first  governor,  and  Miles  Standish  their  military  leader, 
as  they  had  some  apprehensions  of  the  savages.  Divided  into  nineteen 
families,  they  immediately  began  to  fell  trees   and  construct  houses,  in 


PLYMOUTH.  297 

which  to  find  shelter  against  the  rigors  of  the  winter.  But  their  expo- 
sure was  necessarily  great,  and  they  had  but  a  slender  stock  of  provisions 
and  other  necessaries.  Sickness  came  upon  them,  and  during  the  first 
five  months,  they  lost  more  than  half  of  their  number. 

One  of  their  associates,  who  had  been  left  behind  in  England,  obtained 
for  them  a  grant  of  land  from  the  Company  wliich  was  now  incorporated, 
under  a  new  charter,  as  "  The  Council  established  at  Plymouth,  in  the 
County  of  Devon,  (England,)  for  tlie  Planting,  Ruling,  Ordering,  and 
Governing  of  New  England  in  America."  This  grant  authorized  the 
colonists  to  choose  a  Governor,  Council,  and  General  Court,  for  the 
enactment  and  execution  of  laws.  Strictly  speaking,  however,  tiie  Com- 
pany had  no  right  to  give  them  any  thing  more  than  the  property  of  the 
soil.  A  charter  from  the  Crown  was  necessary  to  complete  their  politi- 
cal organization  ;  and  this  they  never  obtained.  But  the  necessity  of  the 
case  compelled  them  to  act  as  if  they  had  received  full  powers;  and  their 
remoteness  and  insignificance  prevented  the  authorities  at  home  from 
questioning  their  right.  The  agreement  which  they  had  signed  on  board 
the  Mayflower  was  the  basis  of  their  legislation  ;  and  for  some  time,  all 
the  settlers  came  together  in  a  general  assembly,  to  enact  the  necessary 
laws.  Thus,  in  its  origin,  the  colony  was  the  purest  democracy  on  earth. 
Time  showed  the  inconveniences  of  such  an  arrangement,  and  the  legisla- 
tive power  was  then  delegated  to  an  Assembly,  composed  of  representa- 
tives from  the  several  towns.  Land  and  other  property  were  at  first 
held  in  common,  the  Company  in  England  being  entitled  to  a  specified 
share  of  the  total  profits.  But  this  experiment  turned  out  like  the  simi- 
lar one  in  Virginia  ;  finding  that  industry  was  discouraged  by  it,  the 
Colonists  succeeded  in  purchasing,  on  credit,  the  share  of  tlie  London 
partners.  A  division  was  then  made  of  the  land  and  movable  property, 
and  henceforth  each  one  reaped  the  fruits  of  his  own  toil.  The  people 
were  united  in  religious  faith,  and  wished  not  to  be  disturbed  by  theolo- 
gical controversies  ;  so,  when  one  Lyford,  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of 
England,  was  sent  out  to  them  as  a  suitable  pastor,  in  place  of  Robinson, 
who  had  died  at  Leyden,  they  refused  to  receive  him,  and  exercised  their 
undoubted  right  of  ownership  of  the  soil,  by  expelling  him,  and  two  who 
adhered  to  him,  Oldham  and  Conant,  from  their  territory.  These 
banished  persons  established  themselves  at  Nantasket,  just  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  Plymouth  colonists.  The  soil  around  Plymouth  was  thin 
and  poor,  and  the  people  had  brought  but  few  worldly  goods  along  with 
them ;  thus,  the  progress  of  the  settlement  was  slow.  Some  of  their  old 
companions,  who  had  been  left  behind  in  Holland,  now  came  out  to  join 
them;  and  a  few  others,  attracted  by  similarity  of  worship,  and  by  the 
prospect  of  driving  a  little  trafiic  in  fish  and  peltry,  were  added  to  their 
number.  But  ten  years  after  the  landing  at  Plymouth,  the  population 
numbered  only  three  hundred.     Their  territory,  indeed,  was  but  small, 


r/' 


2PS  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

being  bounded  on  the  land  side  by  a  line  drawn  northerly  from  the  moutl 
of  Narraganset  river,  till  it  met  one  carried 'westerly  from  Cohasset 
rivulet,  "  at  the  uttermost  limits  of  a  place  called  Pocanoket." 

§  415.  Massachusetts.  But  encouraged  by  the  growth  of  thi3 
colony,  feeble  as  it  was,  the  Council  of  New  England  proceeded  to  make 
lavish  grants  of  their  remaining  lands,  and  to  send  out  other  bands  of 
emigrants,  taking  little  care  to  define  the  boundaries  of  the  new  grants, 
or  to  avoid  ceding  to  one  company  or  individual  the  very  tract  already 
bestowed  upon  another.  This  negligence  was  the  cause  of  much  subse- 
quent dispute  and  difficulty.  A  few  persons  also  established  themselves 
at  various  points  along  the  coast,  who  had  no  formal  title  to  any  land,  but 
who  were  afterwards  generally  admitted  to  have  an  imperfect  right, 
founded  on  occupancy  and  prescription.  Some  few  fishing  settlements 
were  thus  established;  but  their  inhabitants  had  not  the  disposition  to 
toil,  the  habits  of  order  and  self-denial,  or  the  indomitable  perseverance 
which  characterized  the  Puritans.  All  their  establishments  were  subse- 
quently absorbed  by  the  Massachusetts  colony,  which  became  the  chief 
agent  in  the  settlement  of  New  England. 

The  persecution  of  all  who  would  not  conform  to  the  Established 
Church  still  continuing  in  England,  and  king  Charles  having  avowed  his 
purpose  to  govern  without  a  Parliament,  many  of  the  wealthier  class  of 
Puritans  now  determined  to  emigrate  to  America,  A  company  was 
formed  at  the  instigation  of  Mr.  White,  a  clergyman  of  Dorchester; 
among  its  members  were  John  Humphrey  and  Isaac  Johnson,  two  bro- 
thers-in-law of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  John  Winthrop,  a  gentleman  of 
landed  property  in  Suffolk,  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall,  John  Endicott, 
Thomas  Dudley,  William  Coddington,  Richard  Beliingham,  Matthew 
Cradock,  and  other  merchants  and  lawyers  of  wealth  and  influence  in 
London  and  some  of  the  northern  and  midland  counties.  They  obtained 
from  the  Council  for  New  England  a  grant  of  a  tract  of  land,  bounded 
by  two  parallel  lines  running  westward  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  one  draw^n 
three  miles  north  of  any  part  of  the  Merrimac  river,  and  the  other,  three 
niilss  south  of  any  portion  of  the  Charles.  Soon  afterwards,  their  organ- 
ization v/as  completed  by  a  charter  from  the  Crown,  which  incorporated 
them  under  the  title  of  the  "  Governor  and  Company  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  in  New  England,"  with  pov;er  to  admit  what  new  members  or  free- 
men they  might  choose.  They  were  supposed  to  be  a  private  trading 
corporation,  resident  in  England,  where  they  were  to  make  laws  and 
regulations  for  the  government  of  their  colony  in  America.  A  governor, 
deputy-governor,  and  eighteen  assistants  were  to  have  the  management 
of  their  affairs  ;  and  these  officers  were  to  be  chosen,  and  all  important 
law^s  enacted,  at  a  "  Great  and  General  Court"  of  all  the  freemen,  to  be 
held  quarterly.  A  company  of  sixty  or  seventy  persons,  under  John 
Endicott,  were  sent  out  in  1628,  who  commenced  a  settlement  at  Salem; 


MASSACHUSETTS.  299 

and  these  were  followed,  the  next  year,  by  six  ships,  bringing  about  two 
hundred  colonists,  of  whom  many  were  indented  servants,  together  with 
a  stock  of  cattle  and  other  necessaries.  It  was  soon  manifest,  however, 
.that  a  colony,  to  be  prosperous,  must  have  the  management  of  its  own 
affairs,  without  being  obliged  to  wait  for  orders  from  a  distance.  John 
Winthrop  and  many  other  leading  stockholders  offered  to  emigrate,  if 
they  were  allowed  to  carry  the  charter  and  the  government  along  with 
thsm.  The  legality  of  such  a  measure  was  at  least  doubtful ;  but  the 
urgency  of  the  case  removed  all  scruple,  and  the  colonists  probably  hoped 
that  the  remoteness  of  their  new  home  would  screen  their  proceedings 
()'om  public  notice.  New  officers  were  therefore  chosen  from  those  who 
were  disposed  to  emigrate;  and  in  April,  1630,  a  fleet  of  fifteen  ships, 
equipped  at  an  expense  of  £20,000,  sailed  from  the  Isle  of  Wight,  hav- 
ing on  board  Winthrop  and  Dudley  as  governor  and  deputy-governor, 
together  with  most  of  the  assistants,  and  a  company  of  about  one  thou- 
sand persons.  They  began  a  settlement  at  Charlestown,  but  soon  removed 
to  the  neighboring  peninsula  of  Trimountain,  which  they  named  Boston, 
after  the  English  town  whence  some  of  the  chief  emigrants  came.  The 
hardships  of  the  first  winter,  which  was  a  severe  one,  caused  disease  to 
break  out  among  them,  and  over  two  hundred  died,  among  whom  were 
Isaac  Johnson,  and  his  wife,  the  lady  Arabella.  But  after  this  period,  the  . 
order  and  industry  which  prevailed  iii  the  colony,  the  commencement  of 
trade  with  Virginia  and  the  Dutch  at  Manhattan  (New  York),  and  the 
rapid  influx  of  settlers,  driven  away  from  England  by  the  religious  and 
political  persecution  which  still  raged  there,  laid  the  foundations  of  steady 
growth  and  permanent  prosperity.  During  the  first  ten  years  after  the 
settlement  of  Massachusetts,  about  twenty-five  thousand  persons  left  their 
native  land  to  find  a  home  in  New  England. 

§  416.  The  government  of  the  colony  was  theocratic  in  many  of  its 
features,  modified  at  first  by  an  aristocratic  or  patriarchal  element,  which 
was  soon  eliminated,  however,  by  the  force  of  circumstances,  that  set 
strongly  towards  republican  institutions.  The  few  men  of  wealth  and  con- 
sideration, who  were  the  leaders  of  the  emigration,  naturally  strove  to 
retain  the  chief  power  and  influence  in  their  own  hands,  and  to  govern 
aecoiding  to  their  notions  of  what  religion  and  the  word  of  God  required; 
and  in  this  attempt,  they  were  strongly  seconded  by  the  ministers  of  the 
churches.  At  first,  the  people,  with  the  instinctive  respect  of  English- 
men for  rank  and  station,  gave  way  to  them,  and  conferred  the  whole 
power  of  legislation  on  the  governor  and  the  assistants,  who  were  fami- 
liarly known  as  "  the  magistrates."  Even  a  council  for  life  at  one  time 
was  instituted,  but  it  continued  only  for  a  few  years,  and  the  freemen 
also  resumed  the  pov/er  of  enacting  laws.  Still,  they  were  moderate  in  (^ 
the  exercise  of  their  functions ;  aud  persons  once  chosen  to  the  board  of 
magistrates  were  usually  reappointed,  no  one  being  left  out  but  for  some 


300  THE    MODERN    EPOCH. 

extraordinary  cause.  Purity  of  faith  and  worship  was  the  chief  motive 
for  establishing  the  colony.  The  people  wished  to  be  free,  not  only  from 
persecution,  but  from  the  presence  of  other  sects  and  from  theological  con- 
troversies. Only  such  persons  were  to  be  admitted  to  be  freemen,  or  voters, 
as  those  who  were  already  freemen  should  designate ;  and  tliis  privilege 
was  soon  confined  by  law  to  those  who  were  members  of  the  churches. 
But  as  there  was  little  difference  among  them  in  point  of  religious  opi- 
nion, and  as  most  of  the  adult  males,  or  at  least,  nearly  all  tlie  head.]  of 
families,  were  church  members,  this  exclusive  privilege  created  no  gene- 
ral discontent.  The  magistrates  exercised  their  large  powers  resolutely 
to  keep  out  heretics  and  schismatics,  and  to  maintain  rehgious  worship 
and  practice  in  all  their  purity.  Those  who  did  not  agree  with  them 
were  required  to  go  elsewhere,  and  establish  a  colony  for  themselves. 
Iloger  Williams,  and  some  followers  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  did  so,  and 
founded  a  new  settlement  in  Rhode  Island.  Others  took  refuge  in  New 
Hampshire ;  but  Massachusetts  claimed  the  land  there  as  a  part  of  her 
own  territory,  and  from  1640  to  1G80,  the  claim  was  made  good.  A  few 
Quakers  gave  great  annoyance  by  their  fanatical  and  outrageous  conduct; 
they  were  once  and  again  dismissed,  with  threats  in  case  they  returned. 
They  did  come  again,  and  then  three  of  them  were  hanged.  The  magis- 
trates, on  this  occasion,  published  a  defence  of  their  conduct,  dwelling 
especially  on  the  case  of  Mary  Dyer,  who  was  a  third  comer,  and  had 
been  once  reprieved  when  already  on  the  gallows,  as  a  proof  that  they 
desired,  not  the  death,  but  the  absence,  of  the  Quakers.  Some  adherents 
of  the  Church  of  England,  who  had  come  out  without  invitation  to  join 
them,  were  summarily  sent  back  to  the  mother  country.  Two  hundred 
years  ago,  the  principles  of  religious  toleration  were  but  little  understood; 
yet  as  the  Company  owned  the  territory,  and  had  emigrated  for  the 
avowed  purpose  of  forming  a  religious  community  by  themselves,  it  is 
perhaps  harsh  in  us  to  charge  them  with  intolerance.  They  had  a  right 
to  expel  intruders. 

§  417.  Of  course,  great  severity  of  manners  and  punctiliousness  of  reli- 
gious observances  were  enjoined.  Various  sumptuary  laws  were  eaact- 
ed ;  the  Sabbath  was  observed  with  Jewish  strictness ;  blasphemy,  witch- 
craft, and  adultery,  were  punished  with  death ;  slanderers  were  whipt, 
cropped,  and  banished.  But  except  in  these  particulars,  and  a  few  others 
of  no  great  importance,  the  Mosaic  law  was  not  established  in  the  colony. 
The  people  had  good  sense  enough  to  see  that  it  was  not  adapted  to  the 
circumstances  and  the  times.  No  restriction  was  imposed  upon  them 
except  that  contained  in  the  Charter,  that  no  laws  should  be  made  repug- 
nant to  the  laws  of  England  ;  and  this  was  construed  very  liberally,  to 
mean  that  no  part  of  the  English  law  was  in  force  there  till  it  was 
expressly  reenacted.  At  first,  the  magistrates  governed  without  any 
other  rule  than  their  own  sense  of  right  and  their  interpretation  of  the 


MASSACHUSETTS.  301 

law  of  God.  But  the  people  becoming  jealous  of  so  large  a  discretion,  a 
code,  or  "  Body  of  Liberties,"  was  established,  consisting  of 
one  hundred  articles,  drawn  up  with  sing'ular  brevity  and 
clearness,  embracing  many  of  the  best  and  most  liberal  provisions  of  the 
English  Common  Law,  and,  in  some  respects,  in  advance  both  of  English 
and  American  law  at  tlie  present  day.  This  code  became  the  basis  of 
legislation,  not  only  in  Massachusetts,  but  throughout  New  England,  the 
other  colonies  adopting  many  of  its  most  important  provisions.  In  one 
important  respect,  the  Mosaic  rule  was  followed  in  preference  to  the 
English  law ;  the  estates  of  persons  dying  without  a  will  were  divided 
equally  among  the  children,  except  that  the  eldest  son  received  a  double 
share.  This  law,  favoring  the  distribution  rather  than  the  aggregation 
of  property,  made  the  establishment  of  a  territorial  aristocracy  impossible, 
kept  up  the  idea  of  equality  among  the  people,  and  tended  strongly  to  the 
development  of  republican  sentiments. 

Another  circumstance,  which  silently  fostered  the  democratic  spirit  of 
the  people,  was  the  great  extent  of  their  territory  in  comparison  with 
their  numbers,  and  the  disposition  that  has  characterized  them  from  that 
day  to  this,  to  spread  themselves  over  the  face  of  the  country,  instead  of 
remaining  together  on  one  spot.  When  as  yet  they  were  only  a  few  hun- 
dred in  number,  instead  of  seeking  pro(x3Ction  against  the  savages  and 
other  perils  of  the  wilderness  by  union  and  concentration,  they  colonized 
a  dozen  or  twenty  distinct  townships,  the  extremes  of  which  were  some 
thirty  miles  apart.  Eight  townships  were  represented  in  a  General 
Court  held  only  two  years  after  Winthrop  landed ;  and  before  the  colony 
was  ten  years  old,  or  contained  in  all  more  than  15,000  settlers,  at  least 
twenty  distinct  settlements  were  formed.  But  the  most  remarkable 
instance  of  this  tendency  to  segregation  took  place  as  early  as  1634,  when 
Mr.  Hooker  and  his  whole  church  at  Newtown  petitioned  for  leave  to 
remove  to  Connecticut,  the  avowed  reason  for  this  step  being  the  want 
of  pasturage  for  their  cattle ;  and  "  it  was  alleged  by  Mr.  Hooker  as  a 
fundamental  error,  that  the  towns  were  set  so  near  to  each  other."  The 
settlements  being  thus  scattered,  and  the  colony  as  a  whole  being  imper- 
fectly organized,  each  town  was  obliged  from  the  first  to  direct  its  own 
expenditures  and  manage  its  own  affairs.  The  inhabitants  held  town- 
meetings,  levied  taxes  to  provide  for  their  common  wants,  chose  execu- 
tive officers,  afterwards  termed  "  selectmen,"  and  in  fact  created  a  little 
republic  nearly  complete  in  organization.  It  is  now  generally  admitted, 
that  the  tone  of  American  politics  and  the  general  character  of  American 
institutions  have  been  more  controlled  by  the  influences  of  the  township- 
system  of  New  England  than  by  all  other  causes  united. 

In  the  main,  also,  there  was  great  equality  among  the  colonists  in  point 
of  fortune  and  social  position.  Many  English  gentlemen  and  wealthy 
merchants,  as  we  have  seen,  favored  the  emigration,  and  some  embarked 

26 


302  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

in  it.  But  the  Imppy  and  the  powerful  do  not  often  go  into  exile,  and 
the  perils  and  hardships  of  a  home  in  the  wilderness  prevented  many 
persons  of  wealth  from  joining  in  the  enterprise,  and  caused  others  to 
leave  it  after  a  brief  sojourn  in  New  England.  Humphrey,  Salfonstall, 
Vane,  and  Vassall  returned  to  their  native  land  after  a  short  stay,  and 
the  Johnsons  died.  The  great  bulk  of  the  colonists  were  of  the  middling 
and  lower  classes  of  English  society  ;  very  few  were  wealthy,  nearly  all 
were  dependent  on  the  labor  of  their  hands.  Equality  of  social  claims 
was  the  natural  basis  of  equality  of  political  rights.  There  was  a  germ 
of  republicanism  in  the  colony  from  the  outset,  —  a  natural  tendency 
towards  universal  eligibility  and  universal  suffrage. 

§  418.  The  first  care  of  the  settlers  of  Massachusetts  was  to  provide 
for  universal  education  and  universal  worship.  The  several  townships 
that  were  organized  were  so  many  distinct  churches,  which  admitted  their 
own  members,  chose  their  own  pastors,  and  managed  their  own  affairs. 
Each  town,  either  by  levying  a  tax  or  by  voluntary  contributions,  pro- 
vided buildings  for  public  worship  and  salaries  for  their  ministers.  When 
Boston  was  but  six  years  old,  the  General  Court  passed  an  order,  appro- 
priating a  sum,  equal  to  the  amount  raised  by  a  year's  taxation  to  defray 
all  the  public  expenditures  of  the  colony,  for  the  establishment  of  a  col- 
lege at  Newtown ;  and  two  years  afterwards,  John  Harvard,  a  clergyman 
of  Charlestown,  bequeathing  half  of  his  estate  for  the  same  object,  Har- 
vard College  was  founded.  Free  schools  were  established  in  several  of 
the  towns;  and  in  1649,  a  general  system  of  popular  education  was  esta- 
blished throughout  the  colony,  each  township  being  required  to  maintain 
a  free  school  for  reading  and  writing,  and  every  town  of  a  hundred  house- 
holders a  grammar  school,  "  to  fit  youths  for  the  university."  The  pre- 
amble of  this  law  declares  that  the  motive  for  passing  it  was  to  provide 
"  that  learning  may  not  be  buried  in  the  grave  of  our  fathers," — "  it  be- 
ing one  chief  project  of  that  old  deluder,  Sathan,  to  keep  men  from  the 
knowledge  uf  the  Scriptures,  as  in  former  times  keeping  them  in  an 
unknown  tongue,  so  in  these  latter  times  by  persuading  men  from  the  use 
of  tongues."  The  grim  Puritan  of  those  days  believed  his  child's  soul 
would  be  in  danger  if  he  were  not  enabled  to  read  the  Bible  for  himself; 
and  thus  care  for  general  education  naturally  grew  out  of  care  for  the 
interests  of  religion.  As  the  democratic  spirit  spread  among  the  people, 
they  reclaimed  the  legislative  authority  for  themselves ;  and  a  body  of 
representatives,  consistino;  of  two  or  three  delegates  from  each 

A.  D.  1634.  ^  .-,,,,'',  .  „  n        , 

town,  were  united  with  '*  the  magistrates  for  the  purpose  of 
enacting  laws.  At  first,  the  representatives  sat  and  voted  in  the  same 
chamber  with  the  assistants;  but  in  1644,  a  division  was  made,  and  the 
two  classes  afterwards  formed  separate  houses  of  legislation. 

§  419.  During  the  first  few  years  in  the  history  of  the  settlement,  the 
Indians  had  given  no  cause  for  alarm.     Just  before  the  arrival  of  the 


MASSACHUSETTS.  303 

whites,  a  contagious  disease  had  raged  among  the  native  tribes,  nearly 
exterminating  some  of  them,  so  that  the  territory  seemed  providentially 
left  vacant  for  occupation  by  the  English.  But  as  the  white  settlements 
increased  in  number,  the  jealousy  of  the  Indians  was  aroused;  and  in 
1G37,  the  Pequods,  a  tribe  dwelling  on  the  banks  of  what  is  now  called 
the  Thames  river,  in  Connecticut,  began  hostilities.  But  as  they  were 
yet  very  imperfectly  provided  with  fire-arms,  they  formed  but  a  con- 
temptible enemy.  A  band  of  eighty  men,  under  Captain  Mason,  were 
sent  against  them,  who,  with  the  aid  of  a  few  friendly  Indians,  attacked 
their  pallsadoed  village  in  the  grey  of  the  morning,  forced  their  way  into 
it,  set  fire  to  the  wigwams,  and  killed  about  six  hundred  of  the  savages. 
The  next  month,  another  band  attacked  the  remainder  of  the  tribe,  who 
had  taken  refuge  in  a  swamp,  killed  many  of  them,  and  took  about  two 
hundred  prisoners,  who  were  afterwards  kept  as  slaves,  a  portion  being 
Fent  to  the  West  Indies  to  be  sold.  The  few  who  escaped  found  a  home 
among  the  Narraganset  and  Mohegan  Indians,  and  the  Pequod  tribe 
ceased  to  exist. 

To  guard  against  the  dangers  apprehended  not  only  from  the  Indians, 
but  from  the  Dutch  and  the  French,  a  confederacy  was  formed  in  1G43, 
between  the  four  colonies  of  Massachusetts,  Plymouth,  Connecticut,  and 
New  Haven,  to  form  rules  for  regulating  intercourse  with  the  savages, 
and  to  render  mutual  aid  if  a  war  should  break  out.  In  consequence  of 
this  union,  the  whites  became  more  respected  and  feared  by  the  native 
tribes,  several  of  whom  sought  their  alliance  and  protection.  But  in 
1G75,  Philip  of  Mount  Hope,  a  chief  of  the  Wampanoags  in  Rhode 
Island,  began  hostilities,  in  which  he  was  soon  joined  by  nearly  all  the 
native  tribes  in  New  England.  The  Indians  were  now  well  supphed 
with  fire-arms,  and  were  expert  in  the  arts  of  ambush  and  forest  waifare, 
in  which  as  yet  the  whites  were  very  deficient.  A  fearful  contest  ensued, 
which  brought  all  the  white  settlements  to  the  verge  of  destruction.  It 
lasted  nearly  a  year,  in  the  course  of  which,  upwards  of  two  thousand 
Ijidians  were  killed  or  taken,  and  some  of  the  New  England  tribes  were 
exterminated.  The  whites  sutfered  terribly ;  twelve  or  thirteen  of  their 
towns  were  entirely  ruined,  six  hundred  houses  had  been  burned,  and 
about  six  hundred  men  had  fallen  in  battle.  No  assistance  was  received 
from  England,  and  the  expenses  of  the  war  burdened  Massachusetts  with 
a  heavy  debt.  But  henceforward,  no  great  danger  was  apprehended  from 
the  Indians,  except  when  they  acted  as  allies  of  the  French. 

§  420.  Frequent  complaints  were  made  to  the  Privy  Council  in  Eng- 
land, that  the  acts  of  trade  were  generally  disregarded  by  Massachusetts, 
and  that  the  conduct  and  laws  of  the  colony  in  many  other  respects  were 
in  violation  of  the  charter  and  subversive  of  the  authority  of  the  crown. 
Commissioners  were  sent  out  to  make  inquiries  respecting  these  subjects 
of  complaint.     But  the  breach  was  only  widened  by  this  measure,  as  the 


304  THE    MODERN   EPOCIL 

commissioners  were  captious  and  insolent  in  their  language  and  conduct, 
and  the  General  Court  was  obstinate  and  not  over  respectful.  Charles 
II.,  who  had  just  triumphed  after  a  long  contest  with  the  popular  party 
at  home,  had  taken  away  the  franchises  of  the  city  of  London,  and  confis- 
cated the  charters  of  nearly  all  the  boroughs  in  the  realm,  was  in  no 
humor  to  be  bearded  by  a  few  daring  sectaries  in  New  England.  Legal 
proceedings  were  instituted,  and  before  Massachusetts  could  engage  coun- 
sel in  her  defence,  judgment  was  entered  by  default,  and  the  charter  de- 
clared to  be  forfeited.  The  government  of  the  colony  was  thus  thrown 
entirely  into  the  hands  of  the  king ;  and  James  II.,  who  had  now  come  to 
the  throne,  appointed  Sir  Edmund  Andros  to  be  governor  of  all  New 
England,  the  charters  of  the  other  colonies  being  either  forfeited  or  in 
abeyance.  The  popular  legislative  assemblies  were  dissolved,  and  Sir 
Edmund,  with  authority  to  appoint  and  remove  the  members  of  his  coun- 
cil at  pleasure,  enacted  laws  and  governed  as  he  saw  fit.  For  more  than 
two  years,  his  yoke  was  heavy  upon  the  necks  of  the  people.  Then  came 
a  rumor  that  a  revolution  had  taken  place  in  England,  and  that  the  Prince 
of  Orange  already  was,  or  would  soon  be,  on  the  throne,  in  place  of  the 
deposed  James  II.;  and  without  waiting  to  learn  whether  it  was  any  thing 
April,  more  than  a  rumor,  the  inhabitants  of  Boston  seized  their 

A.  D.  1689.  arms,  imprisoned  Andros  and  his  chief  adherents,  and  rein- 
stated their  beloved  charter  government,  with  the  venerable  Simon  Brad- 
street  at  its  head.  Then  ensued  a  negotiation  with  the  government  of 
"William  and  Mary,  for  the  restoration  of  the  old  charter.  But  the  king 
and  his  ministers  were  determined  to  strengthen  the  royal  prerogative, 
and  they  would  only  offer  a  new  charter,  far  less  liberal  in  its  provisions 
than  the  old  one,  with  the  significant  intimation  that  the  colony  might 
take  that  or  none.  Finding  that  they  would  otherwise  be  governed  at 
the  royal  pleasure,  the  people  very  reluctantly  accepted  the  new  instru- 
ment, by  which  Plymouth  and  Maine  were  united  to  Massachusetts,  and 
the  appointment  of  the  governor,  secretary,  and  all  admiralty  oliicers  was 
reserved  to  the  crown.  The  governor  might  convoke  and  adjourn  the 
General  Court  at  pleasure ;  he  had  a  negative  upon  the  election  of  coun- 
cillors and  the  enactment  of  laws,  and  a  right  to  nominate  all  judges  and 
military  officers.  The  laws  were  to  be  transmitted  to  England,  even 
after  he  had  sanctioned  them;  and  if  disapproved  by  the  king  within 
three  years  from  the  time  of  their  enactment,  they  became  void.  The 
right  of  suffrage  was  no  longer  confined  to  church  members,  but  was 
given  to  all  who  had  40  shillings  income  from  freehold  property,  or  40 
pounds  of  personal  estate. 

§  421.  The  first  royal  governor  appointed  was  Sir  William  Phips, 

whose  administration  was  distinguished  only  by  the  unhappy,  popular 

delusion,  usually  called  the  Salem  Witchcraft.    Some  children 

were,  or  pretended  to  be,  thrown  into  convulsions ;  and  they 


NEW   ENGLAXD.  305 

accused  certain  persons  of  bewitching  them.  The  mania  spread ;  others 
declared  that  they  were  afflicted,  pinched,  and  bruised,  and  when  the  wit- 
nesses and  the  accused  were  confronted  in  open  court,  the  former  seemed 
to  be  thrown  into  an  agony,  and  charged  the  latter  with  tormenting  them 
by  diabolical  means.  Every  one  against  Avhom  they  "cried  out"  was 
arrested,  and  the  •prisons  were  soon  filled.  Some  weak-minded  persons 
among  the  prisoners  were  persuaded  or  terrified  into  a  confession  of 
guilt,  and  tiien  bore  witness  against  others ;  and  upon  this  accumulation 
of  evidence,  many  were  convicted.  Twenty  persons  were  hanged,  among 
whom  was  Mr.  Burroughs,  a  clergyman  ;  and  one  old  man,  aged  eighty 
years,  was  pressed  to  death.  Many  others  were  cried  out  against,  and 
lied  for  their  lives.  At  last,  the  extravagance  of  the  evil  began  to  work 
its  cure.  The  witnesses  accused  some  persons  who  stood  so  high  in 
character  and  station,  that  the  belief  even  of  the  credulous  mob  was 
hocked.  A  reaction  took  place,  juries  refused  to  convict,  the  jails  were 
emptied,  and  some  of  the  judges  and  those  who  had  been  active  in  the 
prosecutions  made  a  public  profession  of  their  errors  and  their  peni- 
tence. 

§  422.  Other  New  England  Colonies.  Having  sketched  the 
liistory  of  Virginia,  Plymouth,  and  Massachusetts,  during  the  seven- 
teentli  century,  a  few  words  must  suflice  for  the  other  Colonies.  Roger 
AVilliams  and  some  other  religious  exiles  from  Massachusetts  colonized 
Rhode  Island  in  1638,  having  purchased  the  land  of  the  Narraganset 
Indians,  They  obtained  a  patent  from  the  Long  Parliament  six  years 
afterwards,  and  in  1GG3,  Charles  II.  granted  them  a  very  liberal  charter, 
under  which  they  chose  their  own  ofiicers  and  enacted  their  own  laws 
Avith  almost  as  much  freedom  as  if  they  had  been  an  independent 
republic.  By  the  influence  of  Williams,  perfect  religious  toleration  was 
established  in  this  Colony,  men  being  held  responsible  for  their  religious 
opinions  and  practice  only  to  their  God.  The  territory  of  Connecticut 
was  granted,  in  1630,  to  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  who  soon  assigned  his 
right  to  Lord  Say  and  Scale,  Lord  Brook,  and  others.  Several  settle- 
merts  were  formed  on  the  Connecticut  river,  in  1635-6,  by  Mr.  Hooker 
and  other  emigrants  from  Massiichusetts,  who  at  first  acknowledged  tlie 
authority  of  the  Colony  they  had  just  left,  but  soon  established  a  govern- 
ment for  themselves,  modelled  on  that  of  Massachusetts.  Hartford  was 
their  chief  town.  About  the  same  time.  Lord  Say  and  Scale  with  his 
associates  sent  over  John  Winthrop  the  younger,  with  instructions  to 
build  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut,  and  erect  buildings  to 
accommodate  such  settlers  as  might  come  thither.  This  was  the  origin 
of  Saybrook.  In  1637,  Mr.  Davenport,  with  a  company  of  emigrants, 
some  of  them  men  of  wealth,  arrived  in  New  England,  and  after  some 
hesitation  as  to  the  choice  of  a  place,  they  founded  a  settlement  at  New 
Haven.  They  were  rigid  Puritans,  who  wished  to  establish  a  community 
26* 


306  THE   MODERN    EPOCn. 

conforming  in  all  tilings  to  their  peculiar  principles.  They  admitted 
only  church  members  to  be  freemen,  and  resolved  that  the  Word  of  God 
should  be  the  only  rule  in  their  administration.  The  Dutch  laid  claim 
to  the  whole  country,  and  the  dispute  between  them  and  the  English 
settlers  was  more  than  once  on  the  verge  of  breaking  out  into  open  war. 
Charles  II.,  soon  after  his  restoration,  granted  to  CoHnecticut  a  charter 
quite  as  liberal  as  that  given  to  Rhode  Island ;  but  as  this  instrument 
brought  together  the  two  distinct  settlements  of  Hartford  and  New 
IIave;i,  the  people  of  the  latter  place  were  very  reluctant  to  accept  it, 
and  only  yielded,  after  some  years'  delay,  to  the  fear  that  a  general 
governor  might  be  sent  out  from  England  to  rule  them.  From  the 
period  of  this  union,  16G5,  the  progress  of  the  Colony  was  steady  and 
l^rosperous.  The  territory  of  New  Hampshire  was  granted  by  the 
Plymouth  Company  to  Capt.  John  Mason,  in  1G29.  But  few  settlements 
were  formed  under  his  management,  principally  by  fishermen  and  exiles 
from  Massachusetts,  w^ho  remained  for  some  time  without  any  govern- 
ment but  such  as  they  established  for  themselves.  Exeter,  Dover,  and 
Portsmouth,  then  called  Strawberry  Bank,  w^ere  the  only  towns  that  con- 
tained many  inhabitants.  In  1641,  they  voluntarily  placed  themselves 
under  the  protection  of  Massachusetts,  who  had  always  claimed  the  land, 
and  who  continued  to  govern  them  till  1G79,  wlien,  by  a  decree  of  the 
king  in  council.  New  Hampshire  was  made  a  separate  province,  to  be 
governed  by  a  President  and  Council,  appointed  by  the  king,  and  a 
House  of  Representatives  elected  by  the  people.  Frequent  disputes 
ensued,  both  with  their  rulers,  and  with  Mason  and  his  heirs  respecting 
the  titles  to  their  lands.  But  after  the  Revolution  of  1 688,  most  of  these 
controversies  were  quieted,  and  excepting  frequent  hostilities  with  the 
Indians,  the  people  prospered.  Maine  was  originally  granted  to  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges,  and  was  purchased  of  his  heirs,  in  1677,  by  Massa- 
chusetts, for  £1,200,  it  having  been  governed  by  that  Colony  for  many 
years  previous,  under  a  disputed  title.  The  controversy  ending  with  tliis 
purchase,  Maine  remained  a  part  of  Massachusetts  till  a  very  recent 
period. 

§  423.  New  York.  The  Dutch,  founding  on  the  explorations  of 
Henry  Hudson  a  claim  to  the  Hudson  river  and  an  indefinite  extent  of 
territory  through  which  it  Hows,  built  some  fortified  trading  posts  near 
its  mouth  as  early  as  1613.  They  also  explored  the  northern  coast  of 
Eong  Island  Sound,  and  both  shores  of  Delaware  Bay ;  and  on  the 
strength  of  these  discoveries,  an  Amsterdam  company  obtained  from  the 
States  General  an  exclusive  grant  to  trade  along  the  coast  between  the 
40th  and  45th  degrees  of  latitude,  a  region  by  them  called  New  Nether- 
iand.  The  English  never  allowed  their  claim,  which  only  became  im- 
portant w^hen,  in  1621,  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Dutch  AVest  India 
Company,  a   wealthy  association   with  large  privileges,  and  capable  of 


NUW  YORK.  307 

conducting  extensive  operations.  Under  their  direction,  Fort  Orange 
was  built  where  Albany  now  stands;  and  in  1626,  the  island  of  Man- 
hattan was  purchased  of  the  Indians,  and  Fort  Amsterdam  erected  at 
its  southern  extremity.  As  yet,  traffic  with  the  savages  in  peltry  was 
the  only  object  of  these  establishments  ;  but  in  1629,  a  scheme  was  ma- 
tured for  forming  Dutch  settlements  in  the  country.  Extensive  grants 
of  land  were  offered  to  any  member  of  the  Company,  who,  under  the 
name  of  Patroon,  should  establish  a  colony  of  at  least  fifty  persons  upon 
it ;  and  as  much  land  as  they  could  cultivate  was  offered  to  any  free 
settlers  who  should  remove  thither  at  their  own  expense.  Under  these 
offers,  some  of  the  most  inviting  lands  were  taken  up;  but  the  progress 
of  cMonizatioa  was  slow,  agriculture  being  made  secondary  to  trade  with 
the  Indians.  A  port  was  established  on  the  Connecticut,  near  Hartford, 
which  soon  led  to  a  sharp  dispute  with  the  English  settlers  in  that 
region.  The  Swedes  also  came  into  collision  with  the  Dutch,  by  attempt- 
ing, under  the  sanction  of  the  renowned  Gustavus  Adolphus,  to  found  a 
settlement  and  trading  post  on  the  west  shore  of  Delaware  Bay,  a  region 
claimed  by  the  Hollanders.  The  Swedes  bought  some  land  of  the 
Indians,  and  built  a  fort  called  Christina,  —  the  germ  of  the  Colony  of 
New  Sweden,  now  the  State  of  Delaware.  The  infant  settlement  was 
prudently  managed,  and  might  in  a  few  years  have  become  prosperous, 
if  the  Dutch  had  not  attacked  it,  in  1655,  with  a  force  of  six  hundred 
men,  who  captured  all  the  Swedish  posts,  and  the  region  was  again 
absorbed  into  New  Netherland. 

A  destructive  Indian  war  was  added  to  the  other  embarrassments  of 
the  Dutch.  The  latter  showed  themselves  as  great  savages  as  their  red 
opponents,  who  nearly  overmatched  them,  and  destroyed  many  of  their 
most  flourishing  "boweries,"  or  plantations.  The  people  were  harshly 
governed,  being  allowed  no  voice  in  the  administration,  and  they  com- 
plained that  "  under  a  king  they  could  not  be  worse  treated."  The 
English  were  determined  to  monopolize  the  coast,  and  in  1664,  Charles 
11.  granted  to  his  brother  a  large  region,  including  New  Netherland,  to 
be  called,  in  future,  in  honor  of  the  Duke,  New  York.  An  expedition 
of  six  hundred  men,  under  Sir  Robert  Nicholls,  was  fitted  out  to  take 
possession  ;  and  so  many  English  were  now  settled  in  the  Colony,  the 
Dutch  also  being  lukewarm  towards  their  own  government,  that  no  op- 
position was  offered.  Liberal  terms  of  capitulation  were  granted,  and 
the  territory  was  annexed  without  a  blow  to  the  domain  of  England. 
No  popular  representation  in  the  government  was  allowed  till  1684,  the 
Duke  of  York  appointing  a  governor  who  ruled  arbitrarily ;  and  even 
after  that  period,  the  administration  continued  to  be  distasteful  to  the 
people.  When  the  news  of  the  revolution  of  1688  arrived,  the  inhabit- 
ants of  New  York  rose  in  arms,  like  their  brethren  of  Boston,  and  under 
the  guidance  of  Jacob  Leisler,  a  wealthy  German  merchant,  deposed  the 


308  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 

former  authorities  of  the  place,  and  instituted  a  government  of  their  own. 
The  colony  remained  under  Leisler's  rule  till  March,  1691,  when  Col. 
Sloughter  arrived,  with  a  commission  as  governor,  and  his  agent  de- 
manded peremptorily  the  surrender  of  the  fort.  Leisler  hesitated  and 
delayed,  and  when  at  last  he  did  obey,  he  was  seized,  together  with  his 
son-in-law,  Milbourne,  tried  for  rebellion,  and  executed.  This  proceed- 
ing was  a  harsh  and  hasty  one  ;  and  the  king  subsequently  restored  their 
confiscated  estates  to  their  heirs,  and  allowed  their  bodies  to  be  takeu 
up  and  reinterred  with  pomp,  while  the  people  cherished  their  memory 
with  affection  and  respect.  • 

§  424.  Maryland.    George  Calvert,  Lord  Baltimore,  a  Roman  Catho- 
lic by  religion,  obtained  from   Charles  I.,  in  1G30,  a  grant  of  tlm  tlten 
uninhabited  shores  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  as  an  asylum  for  the  persecuted 
Papists.     The  charter,  which  secured  liberty  of  conscience,  and  equal 
privileges  to  the  members  of  all  Christian  sects,  was  not  issued  till  after 
this  lord's  death,  and  was  then  given  to  Cecil,  his  eldest  son  and  heir. 
He  sent  out  his  brother,  Leonard  Calvert,  as  governor,  with 
about  two  hundred  emigrants,  mostly  Roman  Catholics,  and 
a  settlement  was  formed  at  St.  Mary's,  the  new   colony  being  called 
Maryland,  in  honor  of  Queen  Henrietta  Maria.     The  proprietary  had 
full  power  to  enact  all  necessary  laws,  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  Eng- 
land, and  not  without  the  advice  and  approbation  of  the  freemen  of  the 
province  or  their  representatives;  —  this  being  the  first  provision  in  any 
colonial  charier  for  giving  a  legislative  power  to  the  people.   The  province 
was  wisely  and  moderately  governed,  liberal  grants  of  land  being  oSered 
to  all  comers,  to  be  held  by  the  payment  of  a  quit  rent  to  the  proprietor. 
Baltimore  did  not  wish  to  shut  out  heretics  from  his  colony  ;  Puritans 
and  Church  of  England  men  were  invited  to  come,  under  a  promise  of 
enjoying  equal  privileges  with  the  Catholics ;  thus  Maryland  became  a 
general  asylum  for  the  persecuted  of  all  sects.     We  are  not  surprised  to 
learn,  therefore,  that,  before  Lord  Baltimore's  death  in  1676,  he  was  in 
receipt  of  a  considerable  income  from  the  province,  which  then  contained 
about  sixteen  thousand  inliabitants,  most  of  whom  were  Protestants.  TIiq 
people  wisely  sought  support  from  agriculture  rather  than  mining  and 
trade.     Yet  they  did  not  pass  through  the  tirije  of  the  Civil  War  and  the 
domination  of  the  Long  Parliament  without  annoyances  and  contests. 
During  this  period,  of  course,  Lord  Baltimore's  principles  were  not  in 
favor,  and  his  colony  was  regarded  with  a  jealous  eye.     William  Clay- 
borne  had  obtained  a  royal  license  to  trade  in  all  those  parts,  and  he  and 
his  associates  denied  the  legality  of  the  Maryland  grant.     The  Parlia- 
ment sent  out  commissioners  who  displaced  the  officers  of  the  proprietary, 
and  put  the  government  into  the  hands  of  the  Puritans,  who  soon  passed 
an  act  that  excluded  papists  and  prelatists  from  the  benefit  of  the  act  of 
toleration.     A  civil  war  at  one  time  raged  in  the  colony,  Roundheads 


THE    CAROLIXAS.  301) 

and  Cavaliers  being  opposed  to  each  other,  as  in  the  mother  land.  But 
with  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.,  these  troubles  ceased,  and  the  pros- 
perity of  the  settlement  for  a  long  period  suffered  but  little  interruption. 
Yet  an  order  was  passed  in  1681,  for  intrusting  all  offices  to  Protestants, 
so  that  the  Catholics  were  disfranchised  a  second  time  in  the  colony  they 
had  founded. 

§  425.  The  Carolixas.  The  territory  on  the  coast  south  of  Virgi- 
nia, extending  nominally  as  far  south  as  St.  Augustine,  was  granted,  in 
1 663,  to  the  great  Lord  Clarendon,  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  ftnd  six 
other  eminent  individuals.  The  whole  region  was  to  constitute  one  pro- 
vince, under  the  name  of  Carolina,  the  proprietors  receiving,  together 
with  the  grant  of  the  land,  ample  powers  of  government.  But  a  settle- 
ment had  already  been  formed  near  Albemarle  Sound  by  some  religious 
exiles  from  Virginia,  and  another  one,  near  the  mouth  of  Cape  Fear 
river,  by  some  adventurers  from  New  England,  afterwards  reinforced  by 
a  band  of  emigrants  from  Barbadoes.  In  1670,  three  ships  were  fitted 
out  with  colonists  from  England,  under  the  command  of  William  Sayle, 
who  formed  a  settlement  at  Port  Royal,  which  lie  soon  removed  to  the 
peninsula  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ashley  and  the  Cooper  rivers,  giving  to  the 
town  that  he  founded  there  the  name  of  Charleston.  As  this  place  was  re- 
mote fron  Albemarle,  it  obtained  a  separate  government,  and  thus  were 
created  the  two  colonies  of  Nortli  and  South  Carolina.  The  proprietors 
gave  public  assurance  that  the  settlers  should  enjoy  unrestricted  religious 
liberty,  and  that  tlieir  representatives  should  have  a  voice  in  the  enact- 
ment of  laws.  Unluckily,  they  employed  the  celebrated  philosopher,  John 
Locke,  to  devise  a  scheme  of  government  for  the  colony ;  and  he  gave 
them,  under  the  name  of  the  "Grand  Model,"  the  most  complicated  and 
fanciful  system  that  the  wit  of  man  ever  contrived,  and  which  was  a  per- 
petual source  of  trouble  and  confusion  for  the  quarter  of  a  century  dur- 
ing which  it  was  in  partial  operation.  It  established  two  orders  of  nobi- 
lity, landgraves,  and  caciques;  it  assigned  two  fifths  of  the  land  for 
seignories,  baronies,  and  manors,  to  be  cultivated  by  a  race  of  tenants 
attached  to  the  soil,  and  tlie  remaining  three  fifths  were  allotted  to  private 
freeholders ;  and  it  erected  a  formidable  bureaucracy,  with  officers  and 
titles  enough  for  a  populous  kingdom  of  the  Old  World.  This  rickety 
system  could  never  be  put  into  full  operation,  and  in  1693,  it  was  entirely 
abrogated.  The  motley  i)opulation  was  swelled  by  two  ship-loads  of 
Dutch  emigrants  from  New  York,  and  by  a  cargo  of  slaves  from  Barbadoes. 
After  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  many  Huguenots  came  to 
South  Carolina,  and  settled  along  the  Santee ;  they  had  been  preceded 
by  some  Presbyterian  settlers  from  the  north  of  Ireland,  and  by  a  Scotch 
colony  led  by  Lord  Cardross.  Religious  toleration  and  the  prospect  of 
obtaining  land  oq  easy  terms  were  the  lures  which  drew  so  many  differ- 
ent classes  of  immigrants.     The  population  thus  formed  did  not  show 


310  THE    MODEEISr   EPOCH. 

themselves  very  tractable.  They  persisted  in  keeping  up  an  illegal  traf- 
fic with  New  England,  they  grumbled  at  paying  quit  rent  to  the  proprie- 
taries, and  they  quarrelled  with  the  arbitrary  and  rapacious  governors 
who  were  sent  to  rule  over  them.  But  in  spite  of  these  interruptions, 
the  two  colonies  prospered,  advancing  steadily,  though  not  rapidly,  both 
in  population  and  wealth. 

§  426.  New  Jersey.  The  territory  between  the  Delaware  and  Hud- 
son rivers,  being  included  in  the  surrender  by  the  Dutch  to  the  English 
in  1664,  was  granted  by  the  Duke  of  York,  under  the  name  of  New 
Jerset,  to  Lord  Berkeley  and  Sir  George  Carteret.  They  sent  over 
Philip  Carteret  as  governor,  with  a  liberal  constitution  for 
the  new  colony,  and  bountiful  offers  of  land  to  all  settlers 
who  would  come  thither.  Lord  Berkeley  sold  his  right,  after  he  had  held 
it  ten  years,  to  a  company  of  Quakers,  who,  wishing  to  govern  separately 
a  region  which  might  be  an  asylum  for  the  persecuted  of  their  sect,  made 
an  agreement  with  Carteret  for  the  partition  of  the  territory.  The  west- 
ern portion  was  assigned  to  them,  the  eastern  to  Carteret.  A  large  com- 
pany, consisting  principally  of  Quakers,  then  came  from  England,  and 
settled  in  Burlington  and  its  neighborhood,  ample  privileges  being  secured 
to  them  by  a  new  constitution.  A  dispute. ensued  with  the  Duke  of  York 
respecting  the  title  to  their  lands,  as  he  pretended  that,  under  a  new 
patent  which  he  had  obtained  from  the  crown,  his  original  rights  were 
restored.  But  the  commissioners  in  England,  to  whom  the  matter  was 
referred,  adjudged  his  claim  to  be  invalid,  and  new  settlers  continuing  to 
arrive,  the  colony  became  very  prosperous.  East  Jersey,  also,  in  1682, 
was  sold  by  the  heirs  of  Carteret  to  William  Penn  and  twenty-three  asso- 
ciates, mostly  Quakers,  who  appointed  Robert  Barclay  governor,  and 
endeavored  to  attract  emigrants  thither.  Many  of  the  Scottish  Cove- 
nanters, now  suffering  a  deplorable  persecution  under  Lauderdale  and 
Claverhouse,  fled  from  their  native  land,  and  found  a  pleasant  and  safe 
asylum  in  East  Jersey.  The  numerous  proprietors,  weary  of  quarrelling 
with  each  other  and  with  the  people,  surrendered  their  rights  to  the 
crown  in  1702  ;  and  the  two  divisions  were  then  united  under  one  govern- 
ment. 

§  427.  Pennsylvania.  Another  Quaker  colony  was  established,  on 
a  larger  scale,  by  the  celebrated  William  Penn,  a  man  of  great  ability 
and  integrity,  resolute  in  purpose  and  energetic  in  conduct,  a  keen  con- 
troversialist, and  one  who  displayed  on  many  occasions  more  shrewd- 
ness, knowledge  of  the  world,  and  practical  talent  than  are  often  found 
united  with, a  fervor  and  sincerity  of  religious  behef  which  had  the 
appearance  of  an  unruly  fiuiaticism.  The  Quakers,  indeed,  while  pre- 
serving with  great  steadfastness  most  of  their  inoffensive  external  pecu- 
liarities, had  quietly  undergone  a  considerable  change  in  the  manner  and 
spirit  of  their  proceedings,  —  a  change  attributable  in  some  degree  to 


PENNSYLVAXIA.  311 

tlK  influence  of  Penn  himself.  They  were  no  longer  the  wild  and  ex- 
travagant sectaries,  whose  outrageous  conduct,  twenty  years  before,  had 
troubled  the  peace  of  Massachusetts.  Their  manners  had  become  quiet 
and  discreet,  and  though  they  remained  fearless  of  persecution,  they  no 
longer  courted  it.  In  consideration  of  the  services  of  his  father,  a  dis- 
tinguished admiral,  Penn  obtained  from  Charles  II.  a  grant 
'of  the  territory  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river  Delaware,  ex- 
tending five  degrees  in  longitude,  and  bounded  by  the  40th  and  43d 
parallels  of  latitude  ;  and  the  king  insisted  on  naming  it  Pennsylvania. 
The  charter  gave  him  the  absolute  property  of  the  soil  and  ample  powers 
of  government,  but  required  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  freemen  of  the 
province  for  the  enactment  of  laws.  The  sturdy  and  independent  spirit 
of  the  New  England  colonies  having  taught  the  crown  lawyers  a  lesson 
of  caution  in  drawing  up  colonial  charters,  it  was  stipulated  in  this  case 
that  the  king  might  negative  any  enactment  of  the  assembly,  that  parlia- 
ment might  levy  taxes,  and  that  an  appeal  might  be  made  to  the  crown 
from  the  decisions  of  the  courts  of  justice. 

Acting  under  this  charter,  Penn  drew  up  a  very  liberal  "  Frame  of 
Government,"  and  also  published  a  body  of  laws,  that  had  been  examined 
and  approved  by  a  company  of  proposed  emigrants  in  England.  He 
also  advertised  the  lands  for  sale,  asking  forty  shillings,  besides  a  perpe- 
tual quitrent  of  one  shilling,  for  every  hundred  acres.  Unlimited  free- 
dom of  conscience,  and  the  right  to  be  governed  by  laws  enacted  by 
themselves,  were  secured  to  the  people.  As  the  terms  were  liberal,  and 
the  advantages  of  the  territory,  in  respect  to  cHmate,  situation,  fertility 
of  the  soil,  and  the  friendly  disposition  of  the  neighboring  Indians,  were 
considerable,  a  crowd  of  emigrants  presented  themselves,  comprising 
many  Quakers  and  a  number  from  Holland  and  Germany.  The  Duke 
of  York,  afterwards  James  II.,  with  whom  Penn  was  high  in  favor,  made 
over  to  him  all  his  own  right  to  the  tliree  lower  counties  on  the  Dela- 
ware, first  peopled  by  the  Swedes,  which  had  lately  been  governed  as 
an  appendage  to  the  Duke's  province  of  New  York.  These  counties 
belonged  geographically  rather  to  Pennsylvania  than  New  York,  and 
posseseion  of  them  was  important  for  the  new  colony,  as  they  already 
contained  about  3,000  inhabitants,  Swedes,  Finns,  and  Dutch,  steady  and 
industrious  in  their  habits,  and  inured  to  their  situation.  Besides  these, 
a  number  of  Swedish,  Dutch,  and  English  settlers  were  already  establish- 
ed in  other  portions  of  the  territory,  by  whom  the  new  government  was 
favorably  received.  William  Markham,  one  of  Penn's  kinsmen,  was 
sent  out  in  1G81,  with  three  ships  and  about  three  hundred  emigrants, 
bearing  a  plan  of  the  city  which  was  to  be  founded  at  the  confluence  of 
the  Schuylkill  with  the  Delaware,  and  a  very  friendly  message  to  the 
Indians,  whose  good  will  the  new  proprietor  was  anxious  to  concili- 
ate.    Penn  himself  came  out  the  next  year,  in   the   course  of  "which 


312  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

twentj-tliree  vessels  arrived  laden  with  goods  and  emigrants.  lie  held 
a  friendly  conference  with  the  savages,  under  a  large  elm  at  Kensington, 
v/hich  afterwards  became  an  object  of  much  curiosity  and  respect,  as 
marking  the  site  of  this  famous  interview.  A  treaty  was  made  by  which 
the  Indians  sold  their  lands  on  terms  satisfactory  to  them,  and  stipulated 
to  maintain  peace  and  friendship,  which  promise  was  long  religiously 
observed.  The  savages  named  him  Onas,  and  though  they  gave  the 
same  title  to  the  subsequent  governors  of  the  colony,  they  alwuys  referred 
to  him  as  the  great  and  good  Onas.  After  laying  cut  the  new  city  of 
Philadelphia,  so  called  from  the  spirit  of  brotherly  love  which  was  to 
animate  its  inhabitants,  and  holding  a  conference  with  Lord  Baltimore 
about  the  disputed  boundary  between  Delaware  and  Pennsylvania,  Penn 
returned,  in  1G84,  to  England.  lie  did  not  visit  America  again  till 
1G99,  and  then  made  but  a  short  stay.  The  progress  of  the  new  pro- 
vince was  as  rapid  as  its  commencement  had  been  auspicious.  In  lG8-i, 
it  contained  twenty  settled  townships  and  seven  thousand  inhabitants  ; 
and  not  many  years  afterwards,  the  population  was  estimated  at  thirty 
thousand.  Some  of  the  laws  proposed  by  Penn  and  adopted  by  the 
Assembly  bore  the  imprint  of  his  quaint  and  benevolent  disposition. 
To  prevent  lawsuits,  three  arbitrators  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  county 
courts,  to  hear  and  determine  small  controversies;  children  were  to  be 
taught  some  useful  trade,  to  the  end  that  none  might  be  idle  ;  agents 
who  wronged  their  employers  should  make  restitution  and  one  third 
over ;  and  the  property  of  intestates  was  to  be  divided  equally  among 
the  children,  except  that  the  eldest  son  should  receive  a  double  share. 
And  yet  Penn  reaped  little  but  disappointment  and  vexation  from  his 
connection  with  the  colony.  His  great  mistake  seems  to  have  consisted 
in  reserving  a  quitrent,  instead  of  making  over  the  land  abso'lutely  to  the 
settlers.  Tliough  the  annual  payment  was  but  small,  and  was  justly  due 
to  him,  as  in  no  other  manner  could  he  be  remunerated  for  his  actual 
outlay,  the  demand  of  it  was  a  fruitful  source  of  annoyance  and  discon- 
tent. Penn  had  great  difficulty  in  collecting  it,  became  impoverished, 
and  was  at  one  time  im])risoned  for  debt.  The  impossibility  of  satisfying 
all  the  demands  of  the  people  while  their  uneasiness  really  proceeded 
from  this  annual  exaction,  and  the  boundary  controversy  vvith  Lord 
] Baltimore,  embittered  all  the  hitter  part  of  his  life.  lie  founded  a  pros- 
j.'erous  colony,  but  he  sacrificed  his  own  interests  and  his  peace  of  mind 
in  the  undertaking.  Tlie  lovrer  counties  on  the  Delaware,  complaining 
that  their  peculiar  interests  were  not  attended  to,  were  allowed  to  dissolve 
the  legislative  union  with  Pennsylvania,  but  remained  subject  to  the 
same  governor. 

§  428.  Georgia  was  founded  in  1732,  under  a  plan  formed  by  Gene- 
ral Oglethorpe  and  some  other  benevolent  gentlemen,  in  order  to  esta- 
blish a  place  of  refuge  for  poor  debtors  and  other  indigent  persons  from 


b 


GEORGIA.  313 

Great  Britain,  and  for  persecuted  Protestants  from  all  nations.  A  grant 
was  obtained  from  the  king  of  the  unoccupied  territory  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Savannah  river,  the  land  to  be  apportioned  gratuitously  among  the 
settlers,  charitable  donations  being  made  to  defray  the  expense  of  trans- 
porting them  across  the  Atlantic,  and  supporting  them  during  the  first 
Beason.  Funds  were  freely  contributed  for  this  generous  purpose,  under 
the  hope  that  the  measure*\vould  reduce  the  poor  rates  in  England,  and 
empty  the  workhouses  and  debtors'  jails.  But  the  class  of  [»ersons  thus 
sent  out  were  very  unfit  for  the  work  of  creating  a  new  settlement  and 
subduing  the  wilderness.  They  were  chiefly  broken-down  tradesmen 
and  impoverished  debauchees ;  while  sailors,  agriculturists,  and  laborers 
from  the  country  were  needed.  A  company  of  persecuted  Lutherans 
from  Salzburg,  and  one  of  Scotch  Highlanders,  who  settled  respectively 
the  towns  of  Ebenezer  and  New  Inverness,  formed  industrious  and  thriv- 
ing colonists.  Oglethorpe  brought  over  the  first  band  of  emigrants,  and 
founded  the  city  of  Savannah.  The  colony  being  regarded  as  in  a  state 
of  pupilage,  its  affairs  were  administered,  for  the  first  twenty  years,  by  a 
board  of  trustees,  nominated  in  the  charter,  who  were  to  appoint  their 
associates  and  successors,  and  had  the  exclusive  right  of  legislation.  The 
generous  motto  on  their  official  seal,  noji  sibif  sed  aliis  (not  for  them- 
selves, but  for  others,)  showed  the  benevolent  purposes  with  whicli  they 
acted.  Some  of  their  measures  were  wise,  others  were  preposterous. 
They  strictly  forbade  the  introduction  of  negro  slaves ;  the  use  of  rum 
was  prohibited;  no  grant  "of  land  was  to  exceed  five  hundred  acres;  the 
land  was  not  to  be  sold  or  devised  by  the  holders,  but  was  to  descend  to 
male  children  only,  and  in  case  of  the  failure  of  such  heirs,  was  to  revert 
tOjthe  trustees.  But  these  laws  did  not  long  remain  in  force;  slavery 
was  introduced  from  the  neighboring  province  of  Carolina ;  females  were 
allowed  to  inherit,  and  the  land  became  subject  to  the  same  regulations 
as  other  property.  So  long  as  the  colony  was  managed  by  trustees,  and 
considered  as  an  object  of  charity,  it  languished,  and  large  sums  were 
expended  upon  it  in  vain.  At  last,  the  government  was  abandoned  to 
the  crown,  its  institutions  were  assimilated  to  those  of  the  other  colonies, 
and  it  then  had  a  steady  and  jjrosperous  growth.  The  Methodists  and 
Moravians  were  numerous  in  Georgia,  the  two  renowned  preachers  of 
the  former  denomination,  "Wesley  and  Whitefield,  residing  in  it  for  seve- 
ral years. 

§  429.  It  is  apparent  from  this  review,  that  the  English  colonies  in 
North  America,  with  the  exception  of  Virginia  and  New  York,  wva-q 
founded  and  peopled  chiefly  by  religious  exiles.  The  English  Puritans 
were  most  numerous  in  New  England,  the  Quakers  in  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania,  the  Roman  Catholics  in  Maryland,  Scotch  Presbyterians, 
French  Huguenots,  and  Methodists  in  the  south,  and  German  Lutherans 
in  Pennsylvania  and  elsewhere.  Earnestness,  sobriety,  an  independent 
27 


314  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

spirit,  and  a  determined  hatred  of  oppression  thus  cliaracterized  the 
people  from  the  beginning.  Whatever  emigrants  came  out  solely  in 
quest  of  wealth  were  soon  disabused  of  their  error,  and  either  returned 
to  the  Old  World,  or  learned  to  labor  and  to  endure  in  their  new  home. 
Property  was  very  evenly  distributed,  and  there  were  no  marked  inequa- 
lities of  rank  or  social  position.  Protected  by  their  feebleness  and  insig- 
nificance in  the  outset,  and  by  their  distance  from  the  mother  country, 
the  colonists  were,  in  the  main,  allowed  to  enact  their  own  laws,  and 
manage  their  own  affairs.  Without  any  marked  purpose  of  deviating 
fj'om  the  policy,  or  shaking  off  the  yoke,  of  England,  they  were,  from  the 
commencement,  semi-republican  and  semi-independent.  Disciplined  by 
privation,  exile,  and  peril,  thrown  on  their  own  resources,  governing 
themselves,  their  situation  developed  in  them  the  elements  of  a  thought- 
ful, vigorous,  and  resolute  character.  After  they  had  overcome  the  first 
difHculties  and  obstructions  in  the  way  of  founding  a  new  home  in  the 
wilderness,  their  habits  of  endurance,  industry,  and  frugality  soon  gave 
prosperity  to  their  undertakings.  Agriculture  and  commerce  flourished, 
and  they  increased  rapidly  in  population  and  wealth.  They  were  no 
longer  the  feeble  dependencies  of  a  remote  power;  they  could  boast  that 
they  had  hiid  the  foundations  of  a  great  empire. 


V.    THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY. 

1.    THE. SPANISH    WAR    OF    SUCCESSION    (1702-1714). 

§  430.  When  the  childless  Charles  II.,  the  last  of  the  house  of  Haps- 
burg  in  Spain,  was  near  his  end,  he  suffered  himself,  from  a  feeling  of 
irritation  towards  the  European  powers  who  had  arranged  a  partition  of 
his  lands  during  his  life,  to  be  persuaded  by  the  French  ambassadors  to 
make  a  secret  will,  by  which  the  second  grandson  of  Louis  XIV.,  duke 
Philip  of  Anjou,  was  named  heir  to  the  whole  Spanish  monarchy,  to  the 
exclusion  of  Austria,  which,  according  to  an  earlier  family  compact,  had 
the  nearest  claim  upon  the  vacant  throne.  Charles  II.  died 
at  the  commencement  of  the  new  century,  and  Louis  XIV., 
guided  by  his  council  and  his  second  wife,  Madame  Maintenon,  a  woman 
of  inferior  birth,  determined,  after  some  hesitation,  to  adopt  the  will, 
much  as  his  exhausted  kingdom  required  repose.  This  resolution  was 
followed  by  the  most  desperate  war  that  had  hitherto  taken  place.  The 
Leopold,  emperor  Leopold  took  up  arms  for  the  purpose  of  securing 

A.  i>.  the  inheritance  of  the  Hapsburgs  for  his  second  son,  Charles, 

i6o7  - 1705.     1^^.  force.     On  the  side  of  Austria  were  ranged,  not  only  the 


WAR   OF   THE    SPANISH   SUCCESSION.  315 

greater  part  of  the  princes  of  Germany,  particularly  the  Elector,  Frede- 
rick of  Brandenburg,  who  for  this  assistance  was  adorned  with  the  title 
of  king  of  Prussia,  and  Hanover,  for  which  a  ninth  Electorate  had  re- 
cently been  made,  but  the  maritime  powers,  England  and  Holland ;  the 
latter,  out  of  fear  of  the  threatening  superiority  of  France,  the  former, 
from  anger  that  the  French  king  had  recognized  the  Pretender,  James 
(III.)  Stuart,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  as  king  of  England.  The  Elec- 
tor of  Bavaria  and  his  brother,  the  Elector  of  Cologne,  were  the  only 
princes  that  sided  with  France.  Spain  was  divided.  The  eastern  pro- 
vinces, Aragon,  Catalonia,  Valencia,  were  for  the  Austrian  claimant  of 
the  throne ;  Castile,  on  the  other  hand,  and  the  rest  of  the  kingdom,  took 
up  arms  to  defend  the  Bourbon  king,  Philip  V.,  who  was  descended  on 
his  mother's  side  from  the  Hapsburgs,  and  whose  character  bore  the  im- 
press of  Spain. 

§  431.  The  reason  that  the  fortune  of  the  war  remained  this  time  so 
closely  bound  to  the  banners  of  Austria  and  England,  was,  that  their 
armies  were  conducted  by  the  two  greatest  generals  of  the  age,  prince 
Eugene  of  Savoy,  and  the  duke  of  Marlborough.  The  former  at  once 
increased  the  renown  he  had  already  acquired  in  the  war  against  the 
Turks  by  a  masterly  campaign  in  Italy,  where  he  drove  back  the  gallant 
General  Catinat  and  brought  over  the  duke  of  Savoy  and 
Piedmont  to  the  side  of  Austria ;  while  Marlborough,  who 
was  the  chief  of  the  Whigs,  (who  since  Anne's  coming  to  the  govern- 
ment had  guided  the  political  helm,)  and  consequently,  endowed  with 
almost  unlimited  power,  was  distinguished  both  as  a  warrior  and  states- 
man, but  stained  his  glory  by  avarice  and  love  of  gain.  The  duke 
of  Savoy  brought  the  calamities  of  war  upon  his  own  land  by  his 
alliance  with  Austria.  Vendome,  a  skilful  general,  subdued  Pied- 
mont and  the  fertile  plains  of  Lombardy,  and  thought  to  unite  himself 
with  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  who  had  marched  into  the  Tyrol  ;  but  the 
darinj'  rise  of  the  ;:^allant  Tyrolese,  who,  from  their  inaccessi- 
ble  mountain  heights  and  the  crevices  of  their  valleys, 
attacked  the  Bavarians  with  their  rifles,  and  prevented  their  advance  by 
a  well- managed  guerilla  warfare,  prevented  this  plan.  The  Elector  was 
ccmptilled,  after  severe  loss,  to  evacuate  the  Tyrol ;  whereupon  he  joined 
the  French  army,  which  had  marched  through  the  Ivinzigthal  in  Swabia, 
under  the  command  of  the  marshals  Villars  and  Tallard.  It  was  here 
that  Eugene,  and  Louis  of  Baden,  the  commander  of  the  imperial  forces, 
opposed  themselves  to  the  enemy.  Marlborough,  after  a  masterly  march 
on  the  Rhine  and  the  Mosel,  soon  joined  the  other  two,  upon  which, 
Eugene  and  Marlborough  despatched  the  old  and  cautious  Louis  to  the 
siege  of  Ingoldstadt,  and  then  defeated  the  French  and  Bavarian  army 
August  13,  ^t  the  battle  of  Hochstadt,  (or,  as  the  English  call  it,  the 
1704.  battle  of  Blenheim).     Tallard,  and  a  great  part  of  his  force. 


316  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

were  made  prisoners ;  the  whole  of  the  munitions  of  war  fell  into  the 
hands  of  tlie  enemy.  The  Elector  of  Bavaria  was  obliged  to  follow  the 
French  over  the  Rhine,  and  expose  his  territories  to  the  Austrians,  who 
exercised  the  most  frightful  oppression  there ;  so  that,  at  length,  the  peo- 
ple, driven  to  despair,  made  an  insurrection,  which,  however,  had  only 
the  effect  of  increasing  the  measure  of  their  sufferings.  For  the  purpose 
of  chastising  the  unpatriotic  sentiments  of  the  princely  house  of  Bavaria, 
Josoli  I.,  the  new  emperor,  Joseph  I.,  who  trod  the  same  path  his 
A.  r>.  father  had  done,   pronounced  the  ban  against  Max  Emma- 

3705- 1711.      jj^^i^  ^^^Y  his  brother,  the  Elector  of  Cologne. 

§  432.  Fortune  was  also  adverse  to  the  French  both  in  the  Nether- 
Iklay  23  lands   and  in  Italy.     In  the  former  country,  Marlborough 

1706.  gained  the  splendid  victory  of  Kamillies  from  the  incompe- 

tent marshal  Villeroi,  the  favorite  of  Madame  JMaintenon ;  upon  which, 
the  Spanish  Netherlands  acknowledged  the  Austrian  competitor  for  the 
September  7,  throne :  and  in  Italy,  prince  Eugene  defeated  the  superior 
1706.  force  of  the  French  at  Turin  ;    whereupon,  Milan  and  Lom- 

bardy,  together  with  Lower  Italy  and  Sicily,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
victors.  The  glory  of  Eugene  spread  far  and  wide,  and  his  name  be- 
«ime  henceforth  familiar  in  the  mouths  of  the  people,  who  celebrated  his 
deeds  in  their  songs.  It  was  in  Spain  only  that  Philip  of  Anjou  main- 
tained himself  against  the  English  and  Austrian  army.  It  is  true,  that 
the  provinces  of  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Aragon,  out  of  national  hatred 
to  Castile,  sided,  for  the  most  part,  with  the  Austrian  claimant  of  the 
throne,  when  the  latter  landed  in  Catalonia.  Barcelona,  Valencia,  and 
all  the  cities  of  importance  united  themselves  to  him,  whilst 
tlie  English  fleet  took  Gibraltar.  Philip  V.  .nevertheless 
maintained  his  supremacy  by  the  adherence  of  the  Castilians,  and  visited 
the  revolted  provinces  with  a  severe  chastisement  after  the  victory  of 
April  25,  Almanza.     The  beautiful  plains  of  Valencia  were  ravaged, 

17U7.  the  resolute  inhabitants,  who  were   prepared  to  undergo  the 

worst  extremities  rather  than  submit  themselves  to  the  detested  Casti- 
lians, suffered  death  in  all  its  forms ;  and,  to  avoid  ihe  insults  cf  their 
enemies,  they  even  set  fire  to  their  own  houses,  and  perished,  like  the 
citizens  of  Saguntum  and  Numantia,  beneath  the  ruins.  When  at  length 
resistance  was  broken  by  the  capture  of  Saragossa  and  Lerida,  and  the 
heads  of  the  boldest  had  fallen  beneath  the  axe  of  the  executioner,  the 
three  proviiices  of  Valencia,  Catalonia,  and  Aragon  lost  the  last  remains 
of  their  rights,  and  were  governed  henceforth  by  the  laws  of  Castile. 
Barcelona,  however,  maintained  a  gallant  resistance  to  the  end  of  the 
Vv'ar. 

§  433.  In  the  year  1708,  the  two  great  generals,  Eugene  and  Marl- 
July  ii,  borough,  increased  their  military  renown  by  the  victory  of 
1708.  Oudenarde  on  the  Scheldt.    At  this  point,  Louis  XIV.  began 


WAR    OF   THE    SPANISH   SUCCESSION.  317 

to  despair  of  tlie  successful  termination  of  the  war ;  and,  taking  the  ex- 
hausted condition  of  his  kingdom  into  consideration,  he  now  wished  for 
peace.  But,  by  the  influence  of  Eugene  and  Marlborough,  who  wished 
to  take  advantage  of  their  success  for  the  humiliation  of  France,  condi- 
tions of  great  severity  were  demanded  of  him.  It  was  not  only  required 
that  the  French  king  should  renounce  all  pretensions  to  the  collective 
empire  of  "Spain,  but  that  he  should  surrender  Alsace  and  Strasburg; 
and,  hard  as  this  abasement  must  have  appeared  to  the  proud  potentate, 
hs  would  have  accepted  the  conditions,  had  not  his  enemies  added  the 
degrading  demand,  that  liOuis  should  himself  assist  in  driving  his  own 
grandson  out  of  Spain.  This  appeared  too  severe  to  the  French  court, 
September  11,  ^"^  ^^^  ^^^'^^  continued.  But  in  the  murderous  battle  of 
1709.  Malplaquet,  France  lost  more  troops  than  in  any  previous 

engagement,  and  would  have  been  compelled  to  accept  peace  under  any 
conditions,  had  not  Divine  Providence  now  wished  to  chastise  the  inso- 
lence of  others,  that  men  might  learn  moderation. 

§  134.  A  quarrel  between  the  proud  and  ambitious  wife  of  Marl- 
borough and  queen  Anne,  and  the  intrigues  that  sprung  from  it,  had 
occasioned  the  exclusion  of  the  duchess  from  the  court,  and  the  expul- 
sion of  the  Whig  ministry  by  the  Tories.  The  latter,  with  the  cele- 
brated statesman  and  writer  Bolingbroke  at  their  head,  now  wished  for 
the  termination  of  the  war,  in  order  that  Marlborough,  who  was  at  the 
head  of  the  opposite  party,  might  be  no  longer  indispensable ;  and  with 
this  object,  entered  into  negotiations  for  peace  with  France,  which  were 
brou;;ht  to  a  more  rapid  termination  by  the  death  of  the  em- 

A.D.  1710.  °     ,  IT.,  11-  .  ,  n  „         . 

peror  Joseph  I.  without  male  heirs,  in  the  following  year, 
Charles  VI.,  and  by  the  succ(4^|^ion  of  his  brother,  Charles,  who  was  the 
\^^'  .»  ^       intended  inheritor  of  the  Spanish  monarchy.     It  could  now 

be  no  longer  the  interest  of  the  foreign  powers  to  add  the 
territories  of  Spain  to  those  of  Austria,  and  thus  to  establish  the  supre- 
macy of  the  house  of  Ilapsburg  in  Europe.  A  truce  between  England 
and  Spain,  after  the  conclusion  of  which  Marlborough  lost  all  his  offices, 
May  11,  and  was  accused  in  parliament  of  embezzlement,  was  the 

1713.  forerunner  of  the  peace  of  Utrecht.     By  this,  the  Spanish 

and  American  possessions  were  Iqft  to  the  Bourbon  king,  Piiilip  V., 
under  the  condition  that  the  crowns  of  France  and  Spain  were  never  to 
be  united  ;  England  received  Nova  Scotia  and  other  possessions  in  North 
America  from  France,  and  Gibraltar,  and  certain  commercial  advantages 
from  Spain  ;  the  duke  of  Savoy  received  the  island  of  Sardinia  and  the 
title  of  king. 

The  emperor  and  the  German  empire  did  not  join   in  the  peace    of 

Utreclit,  and  continued  the  war  for  some  time  longer.     But  the  emperor 

quickly  became   convinced  that  he  was  unequal  to  conduct  the  war  by 

himself  for  any  lengthened  period,  and  gave  his  consent  to  the  peace  of 

27* 


318  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

Eastadt,  to  wliicli  also  the  German  empire  acceded  at  Baden  in  tlio 
March  7  Aargau.     By  this,   Austria   obtained   the   Spanish   Nether- 

1714.  lands,  and  JNIilan,  Naples,   and  Sicily,  in  Italy ;    the  Elect- 

September,  ors  of  Bavaria  and  Cologne  were  again  restored  to  their 
^'^^^'  lands  and  titles,  and  the  royalty  of  Prussia  generally  ac- 

knowledged. 

September  1,  §  435.  FRANCE.  Louis  XIY.  died  in  the  following  year, 
1714.  weary  of  life,  and  borne  down   by  severe   strokes   of  fate. 

Within  two  years,  he  had  lost  his  son,  his  grandson,  and  his  intellectual 
Louis  XV.  "^vife,  and  his  eldest  great-grandchild,  so  that  his  youngest 
A.  D.  great-grandchild,  then  five  years  of  age,  succeeded  to  the 

1715-1774.  throne,  under  the  title  of  Louis  XV.  During  his  minority, 
Orleans,  the  government  was  conducted  by  Philip  duke  of  Orleans. 

Regent,  A.  d.  This  prince,  like  his  former  preceptor,  cardinal  Dubois, 
,~  *  M'hom  he  raised  to  the  ministry,  was  a  man  of  intellect  and 
talent,  but  of  most  profligate  morals,  who  despised  religion  and  virtue, 
and  by  his  dissolute  and  voluptuous  life  outraged  decency  and  morality, 
and  squandered  the  revenues  of  the  state.  The  Mississippi  scheme, 
which  was  established  by  the  Scotchman,  Law,  and  which  not  only 
promised  a  high  rate  of  interest,  but  held  out  hopes  of  vast  profits  in 
America,  produced  an  incredible  intoxication  of  mind  throughout  all 
France,  which  the  unprincipled  regent  and  his  companion  well  knew  how 
to  take  advantage  of.  Almost  all  the  gold  coin  flowed  into  the  bank, 
and  was  exchanged  for  paper  money,  till  at  length  a  bankruptcy  took 
place,  which  deprived  thousands  of  their  property,  whilst  the  greedy 
magnates  were  enriched  by  the  spoils. 

§  436.  Spain.  The  Spanish  king,  Philip  Y.,  was  a  weak  prince,  who 
Avas  governed  by  women,  and  who  at  length  fell  entirely  into  melancholy, 
and  surrendered  the  government  of  his  empire  to  his  ambitious  second 
wife,  Elizabeth  of  Parma,  and  the  intriguing  Italian,  Alberoni.  These 
two  contrived,  by  dint  of  war  and  intrigue,  that  Elizabeth's  eldest  son, 
Charles,  should  receive  the  kingdom  of  Naples  and  Sicily ;  and  her 
second  son,  Philip,  the  dukedom  of  Parma,  with  Piacenza  and  Guastalla. 
In  this  w^ay,  these  states  received  Bourbon  rulers.  When  Philip  V. 
Ferdinand  VI.  ^^^^j  ^^^^  ^^  trouble,  into  the  grave,  he  was  succeeded  by 
A.  i>.  his   son,  Ferdinand   VI.,  who  inherited  his  father's   hypo- 

'  -  '^  '  chondria,  and  at  length  sunk  into  an  incurable  melancholy, 
which,  like  that  of  Saul,  could  only  be  relieved  by  singing  and  play- 
ing on  the  harp  ;  hence  the  singer  Farinelli  obtained  great  influence  at 
the  court. 

§  437.  England.  The  free  constitution  of  England  obtained  such 
Georo-el.  Stability  during  the  reigns  of  the  kings  of  the  house  of  Hano- 

A-  ^'  ver,  George  I.,  II.,  and  III.,  that  the  personal  character  of 

1<14-1<2<.      j^i^g  monarch  exercised  but  little  influence  upon  the  course  of 


SWEDEN  AXD  RUSSIA.  319 

events.  Tlie  government,  which  was  responsible  to  parliament,  had 
George  II.,  more  regard  to  the  prosperity  of  the  kingdom  and  to  the 
ir^  - 1760  greatness  of  the  nation,  than  to  the  wishes  of  tlie  court.  It 
Georf-e  UI  ^^'^^  ^^^  ^^^'^  reason  that  trade,  industry,  navigation,  and  pros- 
A.  1).  perity  received  an  immense  development.   Under  George  I., 

1760-1820.  ^^,jj^  restoiHid  the  Whigs  to  his  confidence,  James  (III.)  Stu- 
A.  D.  1715 -17.  ^^j.  attempted,  with  the  aid  of  the  discontented  Tories  (Jaco- 
bites), to  regain  the  English  throne ;  but  his  undertaking  failed,  and  in- 
volved his  adherents  in  heavy  penalties.  The  same  thing  took  place  in  a 
second  attempt,  which  was  hazarded  by  James's  son,  Charles  Edward,  in 

the  rei":n  of  Georjire  II.  Aided  by  France,  he  landed  in  Scot- 
August,  1745.  ,      ,     ",  ,      ^°      ,  -,,  ,  , 

land,  where  he  found  numerous  adherents  among  the  gal- 
lant Highlanders.     His  first  successes  encouraged  him  to  march  upon 

Enghuid.  But  fortune  soon  forsook  him,  and  the  battle 
"  '  of  Culloden  destroyed  tlie  hopes  of  the  Stuarts  for  ever. 
Charles  Edward,  upon  whose  head  the  English  government  had  set  a 
price,  was  saved,  as  once  Charles  II.  had  been,  by  the  friends  and  adher- 
ents of  his  house,  in  a  wonderful  and  romantic  manner.  His  abettors  were 
proceeded  against  with  frightful  severity  ;  there  was  no  end  to  executions 
and  confiscations  of  property  ;  the  prisons  were  filled  with  Jacobites  from 
Edinburgh  to  London. 

2.     CHARLES    XII.    OF    SAVEDEN   AND    PETER    THE    GREAT    OF   RUSSIA    IX 
THE    NORTHERN    WAR    (1700-1718). 

§  438.  Sweden  and  Russia.  At  the  commencement  of  the  eight- 
eenth century,  Sweden  stood  at  the  highest  point  of  her  power.  The 
possessions  of  the  crown  had  been  increased,  and  the  treasury  filled,  by 
the  prudence  and  frugality  of  Charles  XI. ;  the  fleet  and  army  were  in 
good  condition  ;  the  coast  lands  of  the  Baltic,  with  the  rich  towns  of  TVis- 
mar,  Stralsund,  Stettin,  Riga,  and  Revel,  and  the  effluxes  of  the  Weser, 
Oder,  Dwina,  and  Neva,  were  included  in  the  Swedish  territory,  the  site 
now  occupied  by  St.  Petersburg  being  a  swampy  hollow  on  Swedish 
land.  In  courage  and  military  spirit  the  Swedes  were  mferior  to  none. 
Imperial  house  But  a  powerful  neighbor  had  arisen  in  the  East,  since  the 
of  Romanof,  Russians  had  united  and  strengthened  themselves  under  the 
1613.  rule  of  the  house  of  Romanof;  and  they  now  began  to  extend 

their  frontiers  in  every  direction.  This  was  especially  the  case  under 
Alexis  Alexis  Romanof  and  his  two  sons,  Feodor  and  Peter.    Alexis 

A.  D-  conquered  Smolensk  and  the  Ukraine,  compelled  the  warlike 

1640-16  6.  ^^^^  well-mounted  Cossacks  to  acknowledge  the  supremacy 
of  Russia,  and  encouraged  the  civilization  and  industry  of  the  country ; 
Feodor  ^"^  ^^  ^^^®  Feodor  who  established  the  absolute  power  of  the 

A- 1>-  Tzars,  by  destroying  the  genealogical  registers  upon  which 

1676-1682.      ^^^  noble  families  founded  their  pretensions. 


oZU  THE   MODERN  ErOCII. 

§  439.  Peter  the  Great.  Peter  the  Great  perfected  that  wliich 
Peter  the  ^^^^  predecessors  had  commenced.  By  his  extensive  travels 
Great,  a.  d.  through  the  countries  of  Europe,  he  made  himself  acquainted 
1689- l72o,  y,'^^Yi  the  customs  of  civilized  nations,  and  with  the  advan- 
tages of  a  regular  government ;  by  this  means  he  obtained  a  love  for 
civilization,  and  directed  the  whole  of  his  efforts  to  convert  Russia  from 
an  Asiatic  state,  which  it  had  hitherto  been,  into  a  European  one.  With 
this  object,  he  encouraged  the  immigration  of  foreign  artisans,  mariners, 
and  officers  into  Russia,  without  regard  to  the  hatred  of  foreigners  enter- 
tained by  his  countrymen ;  that  he  might  himself  be  able  to  share  their 
labors,  he  made  himself  acquainted  with  the  art  of  ship-building  in  Hol- 
land and  England,  and  inspected  the  workshops  of  artists  and  of  the  art- 
isans of  mills,  dams,  machinery,  &c.  An  insurrection  of  the  Strelitzes, 
produced  by  the  exasperation  occasioned  by  these  innovations,  was  sup- 
pressed, and  taken  advantage  of  by  the  emperor  for  reforming  the  affairs 
of  the  army  upon  the  European  model.  By  the  frightful  punishments 
inflicted  upon  the  guilty,  the  hangings,  beheadings,  and  breakings  upon 
the  wheel,  which  continued  for  weeks,  and  in  which  the  Tzar  himself 
took  a  share,  Peter  showed  that  civilization  had  not  penetrated  his  own 
heart.  Despite  all  his  efforts  to  introduce  European  refinement  into  his 
dominions,  and  despite  his  European  dress,  which  he  commanded  to  be 
worn  by  all  his  subjects,  he  remained,  in  manners,  in  mind,  and  in  his 
mode  of  governing,  a  barbarian,  devoted  to  brandy,  coarse  in  his  desires, 
and  frantic  in  his  wrath. 

§  440.  Poland  under  Frederick  Augustus  the  Strong.   Whilst 

Russia  was  raising  and  confirming  her  power,  Poland,  by  her  v/ild  and  un- 

governed  freedom,  was  proceeding  towards  her  downfall.    After  the  dealli 

of  the  military  king,  John  Sobieski,  a  furious  contest  arose 

respecting  the   election   of  another  sovereign,  from   which 

Frederick  Augustus,  Elector  of  Saxony,  a  prince  distinguished  for  his 

bodily  strength,  as  well  as  for  gallantry  and  love  of  magnificence,  at 

length  came  forth  victorious.      He  was  called  to  the  throne 

'of  Poland,  after  having  gone  over  to  the  Roman    CatlioHc 

Church.     But  the  Polish  nobility,  who  alone  were  in  possession  of  any 

political  rights,  whilst  the  peasants  pined  in  serfdom  and  the  citizens  were 

unable  to  raise  themselves  from  their  subordinate  position,  had  already 

so  contracted  the  royal  power,  that  the  state  had  acquired  the  form  of  an 

aristocratic  republic,  in  which  the  elected  chief  was  little  more  than  the 

executor  of  the  resolutions  of  the  Diet. 

§  441.  When  Charles  XII.  ascended  the  throne,  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
Charles  XK.  J^^'^''"^'  ^^^^  rulers  of  Russia,  Poland,  and  Denmark  thought 
a.  d.  the  time  was  arrived  for  depriving  Sweden  of  the  lands  she 

1697-1718.      Yi^^  conquered.    The  Russian  Tzar,  Peter  the  Great,  wished 
to  obtain  a  firm  footing  on  the  shores  of  the  Baltic;  the  elective  king  of 


SWEDEN   AND   RUSSIA.  321 

Poland,  Frederick  Augustus  the  Strong,  Elector  of  Saxony,  endeavored 
to  get  possession  of  Livonia;    and  the   Danish  king,   Frederick   IV., 
attempted  to  wrest  Schleswic  from  the  duke  of  Holstein-Gottorp,  a  bro- 
ther-in-law of  Charles  XII.     They  accordingly  concluded  an  alliance  by 
the  mediation  of  the  Livonian,  Patkul,  after  which,  Frederick  Augustus 
marched  with  a  Saxon  array  to  the  frontiers  of  Livonia,  and  threatened 
Riga ;  whilst  the  Russians  attacked  Esthonia  and  besieged  Narva ;  and 
the  Danish  king  waged  war  with  the  duke  of  Holstein-Gottorp.     But  to 
the  astonishment  of  Europe,  the  young  king  of  Sweden,  who  had  hitherto 
been  looked  upon  as  obtuse  and  of  weak  intellect,  suddenly  displayed  a 
lively  and  energetic  spirit  and  distinguished  military  talents.     Enraged 
at  the  unprincipled  attempts  of  his  enemies,  he  rapidly  crossed  over  to  the 
island  of  Zealand  with  his  gallant  army,  commenced  at  once 
the  siege  of  Copenhagen,  and  spread  such  terror  among  the 
Danes,  that  Frederick  IV.  renounced  the  alliance  against  the  Swedes,  in 
the  peace  of  Travendal,  and  promised  to  indemnify  the  duke  of  Holstein. 
Hereupon,  Charles  directed  his  arms  against  his  other  oppo- 
nents.    On  the  30th  of  November,  with  8,000  Swedes,  he 
defeated  a  force  of  the  Russians  of  ten  times  that  number,  before  Narva, 
and  captured  a  number  of  cannon  and  a  large  quantity  of  ammunition. 
He  then  marched  across  Livonia  and  Courland  into  Poland,  repeatedly 
defeated  the  united  armies  of  Saxony  and  Poland,  and  took  one  town 
after  another.     The  trembling  citizens  of  Warsaw  surren- 
dered him  the  keys  of  their  capital,  and  paid  the  military 
levies  imposed  upon  them ;  Cracow  fell  into  his  hands,  and  the  fertile 
plains  of  the  Vistula,  with  Thorn,  Elbing,  and  Dantzic,  were  soon  in  the 
power  of  the  Swedes.     Charles  now  demanded  of  the  Poles  that  they 
should  depose  their  king,  Frederick  Augustus,  and  undertake 
'a  new  election ;   and    despite    the    resistance  of  the  nobi- 
lity, the  Swedish  king,  supported  by  the  Polish  party  spirit,  compelled 
the  required  deposition,  and  obtained  the  election  of  Stanislaus  Leczinski, 
voiwode  of  Posen,  a  creature  of  his  own,  in   an  elective 
*       assembly  which  was  surrounded  by  Swedish  soldiers. 
§  442.  After  a  few  difficult  campaigns  in  the  southern  provinces  of 
Poland,  where  the  Swedish  king,  despite  the  boggy  soil  and  the  poverty 
of  the  country,  drove  back  the  superior  forces  of  the  enemy,  Charles  de- 
termined upon  seeking  his  opponent,  Frederick  Augustus,  in  his  own  ter- 
ritories.    Without  asking  permission  of  the  emperor,  he  marched  across 
Silesia  into  Lusatia,  and  was  soon  in  the  heart  of  Saxony,  which,  not- 
withstanding the  severe  military  discipline  of  Charles,  was  dreadfully 
desolated  by  the  hostile  force.    The  inhabitants  of  the  plains  fled  into  the 
towns,  the  royal  family  sought  refuge  in  the  neighboring  state.     Angus- 
September  24,  tus,  for  the  sake  of  saving  his  land,  gave  his  consent  to  the 
1706.  disgraceful  peace  of  Altranstadt,  by  which  he  engaged  to 


322  THE   MODERN    EPOCH. 

r-^nounce  the  crown  of  Poland  for  himself  and  his  posterity,  to  dissolve 
I'ls  alliance  with  the  Tzar,  and  to  give  up  the  Livonian,  Patkul,  to  the 
king  of  Sweden,  who  put  him  to  a  cruel  death  upon  the  wheel.  Never- 
theless, the  hostile  army  still  remained  for  a  whole  year  in  Saxony,  to 
the  great  detriment  of  the  country,  which  suffered  from  the  extravagance 
of  the  court  of  Dresden,  as  well  as  by  the  quartering  of  troops  and  mili- 
tary levies.  Whilst  the  Estates  consented  with  sighs  to  the  heavy  taxes, 
•and  the  impoverished  peasant  was  almost  starving,  the  Elector  gave  one 
nagnificent  court  banquet  after  the  other,  and  squandered  enormous 
sums  upon  his  country-seats.  What  did  not  the  entertainment  and  sup- 
port of  the  mistresses  and  illegitimate  children  of  the  gallant  prince 
cost! 

Charles  XII.  was  a  remarkable  contrast  to  this  luxurious  and  frivolous 
prince.  He  possessed  the  nature  of  a  perfect  soldier ;  his  temperance 
was  so  great  that  he  refrained  from  all  spirituous  liquors,  and  whilst  in 
the  field,  contented  himself  with  the  slender  rations  of  the  army ;  he 
wore  the  same  plain  dress  both  in  summer  and  winter — a  soldier's  long 
frock,  with  brass  buttons,  and  horseman's  large  boots  ;  during  a  march  or 
in  battle,  he  subjected  himself  to  the  greatest  toils,  privations,  and  dan- 
gers ;  he  avoided  the  company  of  women  ;  the  only  thing  that  possessed 
any  charms  for  him  was  the  military  life  and  its  dangers ;  the  noise  of 
battle,  the  whistling  of  balls,  and  the  neigh  of  the  war-horse  were  more 
congenial  to  him  than  operas,  court-banquets,  and  concerts. 

§  443.    Whilst  Charles  XII.  was  lingering  in  Poland  and  Saxony, 
Peter  the  Great  w^as  making  preparations  for  subjecting  the  possessions 
of  Sweden  on  the  Baltic,  and  adding  them  to  his  own  dominions.     He 
built  the  fortresses   of  Schlusselburg  and   Kronstadt,  had  the  swampy 
hollows  of  the  Neva  drained  by  serfs  after  unspeakable  exertions,  and 
laid  the   foundation  of  the  new  capital  city,  St.  Petersburg. 
Nobles,  merchants,  artisans  and  their  families,  from  Moscow 
and  other  cities,  were  compelled  to  settle  there,  and  foreigners  were 
encouraged  to  emigrate  thither.     Had  Charles  XIL,  when  he  at  length 
left  Saxony  to  turn  his  arms  against  the  last  and  greatest  of  his  foes, 
chosen  the  lands  of  the  Baltic  for  the  scene  of  his  military  operations, 
Peter's  new  plans  and  creations  might  easily  have  been  destroyed;  but 
fortunately  for  him,  Charles  decided  to  march  upon  Moscow,  and  to  pene- 
trate into  the  heart  of  the  Russian  dominions.     He  captured 

A    1")    1 7  0  R 

Grodno  and  Wilno,  crossed  the  Beresina  in  June,  and  pur- 
sued his  course  towards  Smolensk.  No  Russian  army  opposed  the  fool- 
hardy king,  who,  at  the  head  of  his  gallant  forces,  waded  through  streams 
and  marched  across  pathless  morasses.  But  now  came  the  turning  point 
in  the  life  of  Charles.  Instead  of  waiting  for  his  general,  Lowenhaupt, 
who  was  on  his  w^ay  to  join  him  with  fresh  troops,  and  with  clothing  and 
provisions  for  the   exhausted  army,  he  suffered  himself  to  be  persuaded 


SWEDEN  AND  RUSSIA.  323 

"by  the  old  Cossack  chief,  Mazeppa,  to  undertake  a  toilsome  march  in  the 
woodj  and  desert  Ukraine.  Lowenhaupt,  attacked  by  a  superior  force 
of  Russians,  despite  his  distinguished  military  talents,  was  obliged  to 
sacrifice  the  whole  of  his  artillery,  his  baggage,  and  his  provisions,  to 
enable  himself,  with  a  small  host,  to  reach  the  king,  who  was  restlessly 
hastening:  forward.     The  autumnal  rains  were  followed  by 

A    jj  1 708  —  9 

an  unusually  severe  winter,  in  the  course  of  which,  many 
hardy  warriors  perished  of  cold,  and  the  hands  and  feet  of  thousands 
became  frost-bitten.  At  length,  Charles  advanced  to  the  siege  of  the 
strong  city  of  Pultowa,  which,  however,  was  protracted  by  the  want  of 
artillery,  till  Peter  himself  approached  with  a  vast  army.     The  battle 

of  Pultowa,  which  terminated  in  the  total  defeat  of  the 
'  '  Swedish  army,  was  now  fought;  all  the  baggage  and  the 
rich  military  chest  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  the  surviving 
officers  and  soldiers  were  made  prisoners.  Charles  XII.,  the  once  proud 
conqueror  of  three  kings,  was  now  a  helpless  fugitive,  who  by  his  utmost 
exertions  barely  succeeded  in  saving  himself,  with  about  2,000  followers, 
in  a  foodless  and  shelterless  desert  in  the  dominions  of  Turkey.  Lowen- 
haupt collected  the  remainder  of  the  fugitives,  but  as  retreat  was  im- 
possible from  the  want  of  provisions  and  artillery,  he  was  obliged  to 
surrender  himself  with  1G,000  men.  Not  one  of  these  brave  warriors 
ever  revisited  his  home ;  they  were  dispersed  over  the  vast  empire,  and 
some  died  in  the  mines  of  Siberia,  others  as  beggars  on  the  highways. 
Thus  perished  this  heroic  band,  as  admirable  in  their  endurance  as  in 
their  triumphs. 

§  444.  Cliarles  XII.  was  honorably  received  and  generously  treated 

by  the  Turks.    In  his  camp  before  Bender,  he  lived  in  royal 

fashion  as  the  guest  of  the  sultan.  But  the  thought  of 
returning  as  a  vanquished  man,  without  an  army,  to  his  kingdom,  was 
unendurable  to  his  haughty  soul.  He  wished  to  persuade  the  Turks  to 
a  war  with  Russia,  and  then  to  march  at  their  head  through  the  terri- 
tories of  his  enemy.  Whilst  he  was  wasting  his  time  and  energies  at 
Bender  in  furtherance  of  this  project,  and  employing  every  means  to 
gain  over  tlie  Turks  to  his  plans,  his  three  opponents  renewed  their 
former  alliance ;  upon  which,  Frederick  Augustus  again  made  himself 
master  of  the  throne  of  Poland,  the  Tzar  Peter  extended  his  conquests  to 
the  Baltic,  and  the  king  of  Denmark  again  took  possession  of  Schleswic. 
Prussia  and  Hanover,  also,  soon  united  themselves,  and  seized  upon  the 
Swedish  possessions  in  Germany.  At  lengthy  the  plans  of  Charles 
seemed  about  to  succeed.     A  Turkish  army  marched  into  Moldavia,  and 

reduced  the  Tzar  to  so  critical  a  position  on  the  Pruth,  that 
A.  D.  1711.        ,  J,.,,  .  ,  ^,. 

he  and  his  whole  army  were  m  great  danger  or  becommg 

prisoners  of  war.     But  Peter's  wife,  Catherine,  who,  from  a  slave  of  the 

Russian   minister,    Menzikoff,  had  become  empress  of  all  the  Russias, 


324  THE  MODERN    EPOCH. 

found  means  to  corrupt  the  Turkish  army,  and  to  bring  about  the  con- 
clusion of  a  peace.  Charles  XII.  foamed  with  rage  at  finding  the  end 
he  thought  so  near  now  farther  removed  than  ever.  He  however  still 
adhered  to  his  purpose,  and  even  remained  at  Bender  after  the  Porte 
had  withdrawn  its  hospitality,  discontinued  the  supplies  of  money  it  had 
hitherto  furnished,  and  commanded  him  to  quit  the  Turkish  territory. 
He  allowed  the  Porte  to  supply  money  for  his  journey,  and  nevertheless 
remained.  At  length  the  janisaries  stormed  his  camp,  set  fire  to  the 
house  in  which  he  defended  himself  like  a  lion,  and  took  him  prisoner  as 
he  made  a  furious  sally.  But  he  still  remained  ten  months  longer  in 
captivity  in  Turkey,  and  wasted  his  strength  in  childish  obstinacy.  Was 
it  to  be  wondered  that  people  at  length  began  to  look  upon  him  as 
deranged  ?  It  was  not  until  news  was  brought  him  that  his  possessions 
in  Germany,  as  far  as  Stralsund,  were  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  that 
he  suddenly  quitted  Turkey,  after  a  residence  of  five  years,  and  arrived 
October  unexpectedly  before  the  gates  of  Stralsund,  after  a  journey 

1711.  of  fourteen  days,  performed  on  horseback  without  the  slight- 

est interruption. 

§  445.  Stralsund  was  defended,  by  dint  of  the  greatest  exertions,  for 
December,  upwards  of  a  year  by  the  brave  Swedes  ;  at  length,  the  city 
1715.  was  compelled  to   yield,  w^hereupon  Pomerania,  with  the 

island  of  Rugen,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Prussians.  But  still  the 
obstinate  king  would  not  listen  to  a  peace.  By  the  advice  of  the  intrigu- 
ing Baron  von  Gorz,  he  caused  paper  money  to  be  prepared  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  his  new  preparations  for  war,  and  without 
awaiting  the  result  of  the  negotiations  that  Gorz  had  entered 
into  with  the  Russian  emperor,  he  fell  upon  Norway  with  two  divisions 
of  his  army,  for  the  purpose  of  chastising  the  king  of  Denmark  for  his 
breach  of  the  peace.  It  was  here  that  Charles  met  with  his  death  before 
the  fortress  of  Fried  richshall,  which  he  was  besieging  in  the  midst  of 
winter.  As  he  was  leaning  at  night  upon  a  breastwork,  inspecting  the 
operations  in  the  trenches,  he  was  killed  by  a  bullet,  which  came,  appa- 
rently, from  the  hand  of  an  assassin.  The  Swedish  nobility  now  assumed 
December  11,  all  the  power  to  themselves,  excluded  the  rightful  heir  to 
1718.  the  throne  (Frederick  of  Holstein-Gottorp)  from  the  govern- 

ment, and  presented  it,  under  great  restrictions,  to  Charles's  younger 
sister,  Ulrica  Eleonora,  and  her  husband,  Frederick  of  Hesse-Cassel. 
From  this  time  forth,  Sweden  was  a  monarchy  in  nothing  but  name ;  the 
power  was  all  in  the  hands  of  a  senate  of  nobles.  The  barbarous  execu- 
tion of  the  count  Gorz,  and  the  hasty  conclusion  of  a  succes- 

A.  D.  1719. 

sion  of  treaties  of  peace,  by  which  Sweden,  in  return  for  an 
indemnification  in  money,  gave  up  all  her  foreign  posses- 
sions, with  the  exception  of  a  small  portion  of  Pomerania, 
was  the  commencement  of  the  government  of  a  selfish  aristocracy,  wha 
cared  nothing  for  the  honor  or  well-being  of  the  country. 


SWEDEN   AND   RUSSIA.  325 

§  446.  "Whilst  Sweden,  broken  and  exhausted,  was  thus  escaping  from 
the  contest,  Russia  w^as  rising  into  European  importance.  The  acquisi- 
tion of  the  Swedish  provinces  of  Ingria,  Esthonia,  and  Livonia,  to  which 
Courland  was  also  added  a  few  decades  later,  was  the  commencement  of 
R  new  epoch  for  Russia.  As  long  as  Moscow  had  remained  the  capital 
city,  the  views  of  the  Tzars  had  been  directed  towards  Asia,  to  the 
inhabitants  and  customs  of  which  the  Russians  were  more  assimilated 
than  to  those  of  Europe ;  but  since  Petersburg,  which  lay  nearer  to  the 
civilization  of  the  west,  had  become  the  scat  of  the  government,  and  risen 
into  importance  by  the  magnificence  of  its  plan  and  of  its  buildings, 
Russia  had  become  a  European  empire. 

The  restless  activity  of  the  great  emperor  produced  a  total  revolution. 
Trade  and  navigation  were  encouraged  by  the  formation  of  roads,  canals, 
and  harbors ;  internal  industry,  trades,  manufactories,  and  mining  met 
with  special  encouragement;  and  even  learning  and  a  higher  grade  of 
refinement  were  provided  for  by  the  foundation  of  an  academy  oi 
sciences.  The  government  and  police  were  also  remodelled  upon  the 
pattern  of  other  free  states,  so  that  the  power  of  the  emperor  was  in- 
creased and  that  of  the  nobles  (Boyards)  diminished.  One  of  the  inno- 
vations of  Peter  the  Great,  which  was  followed  by  the  most  important 
consequences,  w'as  the  abolition  of  the  dignity  of  Patriarch,  and  the 
creation  of  the  sacred  synod  as  the  chief  ecclesiastical  court,  to  which  the 
emperor  communicated  his  orders. 

§  447.  Whilst  Peter  was  thus  reforming  his  kingdom,  he  saw,  with 
grief,  that  his  only  son,  Alexis,  was  disinclined  to  the  alterations,  restrict- 
ed his  intercourse  entirely  to  the  friends  of  the  old  system,  and  cherished 
the  intention  of  again  removing  his  residence  to  Moscow.  It  was  in  vain 
that  the  emperor  attempted  to  bend  the  stubborn  and  defiant  spirit  of  his 
Bon,  and  to  make  him  a  friend  to  European  civilization ;  Alexis  retained 
his  opinions,  and  at  length  disappeared  from  the  kingdom.  Upon  this, 
Peter,  anxious  for  the  permanence  of  his  institutions,  ordered  his  son  to 
be  arrested,  brought  home  as  a  prisoner,  and  condemned  to 
death.  Whether  Alexis  was  put  to  death,  or  whether  he 
died  before  the  execution  of  the  sentence,  is  disputed.  An  ukase  declared 
the  appointment  of  a  successor  to  the  throne  to  be  dependent  upon  the 
Catherine  L  ^^'^^^  ^^  ^^®  reigning  emperor.  After  Peter's  death,  his  wife, 
A.  D.  Catherine  I.,  succeeded  him  in  the  government.     Under  her 

1725-1727.  and  her  successor,  Peter  II.,  Menzikoff,  who  had  risen  from 
Peter  H.,  the  lowest  condition  to  be  the  favorite  of  the  emperor  and  an 
A-  D-  all-powerful  minister,  exercised  the  greatest  influence  upon 

1727-1730.  ^jjg  government.  But  he  was  overthrown  at  the  moment 
Anna,  when  he  imagined  that  he  was  about  to  marry  his  daughter 

rr  ^'  ?  ft  ^^  ^^^  you"o  emperor,  and  ended  his  days  in  exile  in  Siberia. 
Anna,  the  successor  of  Peter  II.,  reposed  her  confidence  in 
28 


\  ^    V 


326  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

two  energetic  Germans,  Ostermann  and  Munnich,  of  whom  the  former  was 
at  the  head  of  the  cabinet,  the  latter  conducted  and  arranged  the  affairs 
of  the  army.  But  these,  as  well  as  Anna's  favorite,  Biron,  who  was  to 
have  managed  the  government  after  her  death,  were  banished  to  Siberia, 
ESzabeth  when  Elizabeth,  the  youngest  daughter  of  Peter  the  Great, 
A.  D.  was  raised  to  the  throne  by  a  revolution  in  the  palace.    Ivan, 

1741  - 1762.  a  child  one  year  old,  whom  Anna  had  named  her  successor, 
was  thrown  into  prison,  where  he  grew  up  like  a  brute  without  the  slight- 
est education.  Elizabeth  gave  herself  up  to  a  voluptuous  and  profligate 
life,  and  relinquished  the  government  to  her  favorites. 

§  448,  Under  Frederick  Augustus  IL,  the  love  of  magnificence,  the 
luxury  and  debauchery,  that  prevailed  in  Dresden,  penetrated  into  Po- 
land, and  destroyed    the  remaining  moral  power  of  the  nobles.     New 
vices  were  associated  to  the  old  ones,  and  proved  the  more  pernicious, 
inasmuch  as  the  Polish  nobility  possessed  merely  the  outward  polish  of 
European  civilization,  and  that  inward  barbarism  and  sensual  excitability 
were  united  with  refinement.     Frivolity,  arrogance,  and  religious  intole- 
rance were  now  more  prevalent  in  Poland  than  ever.     The  Jesuits  suc- 
ceeded in  depriving  the  Polish  Dissidents  of  their  civil  and 
religious  privileges  by  an  extraordinary  Diet,  and  when  the 
general  hatred  broke  forth  in  a  popular  insurrection  in  the  Protestant 
town  of  Thorn  against  the  Jesuitical  colleges,  the  burgomaster  w^as  put 
to  death  and  the  town  severely  punished.     After  the  death  of  Frederick 
Au^^ustus  II.  arose  the  Polish  war  of  succession.     Stanislaus 

A  D  1733 

Leczinsld  (who,  flying  from  Poland  after  the  battle  of  Pul- 
towa,  had  wandered  in  poverty  about  Alsacia,  till  he  was  delivered  from 
want  by  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  with  Louis  XY.)  again  made 
claims  to  the  crown,  and,  trusting  to  aid  from  France,  travelled  in  dis- 
guise to  Warsaw.  But  Russia  and  Austria  supported  the  claim  of 
Fredeick  Frederick  Augustus  III.  of  Saxony.  Stanislaus,  although 
Augustus,  acknowledged  by  the  majority  of  the  Polish  nation,  M^as 
A.  D.  obliged  to  yield  the  field  to  his  opponent  when  the  Russian 

"  army,  under  the  conduct  of  Munnich,  marched  into  Poland. 

He  fled  in  the  dress  of  a  peasant  to  Konigsburg,  and  from  thence  to 
France.     After  some  time,  however,  a  peace  was  concluded 
which  was  extremely  favorable  both  to  France  and  Stanis- 
laus.    "When  the  house  of  Medici  was  nearly  extinct  in 
A  D  1737 

Florence,  the  emperor  Charles  VI.  wished  his  son-in-law, 

Francis  Stephen,  to  exchange  his  hereditary  dukedom  of  Lorraine  for 
Tuscany,  so  that  the  former  might  devolve  upon  Stanislaus,  and,  after 
his  death,  upon  France.  Charles  YI.  made  this  sacrifice  to  secure  the 
accession  of  the  French  king  to  the  Pragmatic  Sanction.  Stanislaus 
Leczinski  lived  for  twenty-nine  years  after  this  in  Nancy,  a  bene- 
factor of  the  poor,  and  a  patron  of  the  arts  and  sciences.     But  Poland, 


RISE   OF  PRUSSIA.  327 

nnder  the  government  of  the  weak  and  indolent  Frederick  Augustus 
IJL,  was  approaching  every  day  nearer  to  its  dissolution. 

3.    RISE    OF    PRUSSIA. 

Frederick  ^  ^^^*  Frederick  William,  the  great  Elector  of  Branden- 

Williaa,  ^urg,  enlarged  his  territories  on  the  east  and  west  by  sue- 
A.  D.  cessful  wars,  and  secured  the  lofty  position  of  his  state  by 

1640-1688.  ^YiQ  formation  of  a  considerable  army;  he,  at  the  same  time, 
encouraged  the  internal  prosperity  and  civilization  of  his  dominions,  by 
giving  efficient  aid  to  industry  and  the  arts  of  peace,  and  by  favoring  im- 
migration from  civilized  foreign  countries,  especially  that  of  the  French 
Huguenots,  into  his  own  states.  After  this  energetic  and  sagacious 
Frederick  III  P""c<^j  ^*^*  splendor-loving  son  succeeded.  Elector  Frederick 
as  king.  HI.,  to  whom  the  outward  magnificence  with  which  Louis 

Frederick  L,  XIV.  had  surrounded  the  court  of  Versailles  appeared  the 
A.  D.  greatest  triumph  of  earthly  majesty.     lie  accordingly  attach- 

1688-1<13.  ^j  ^YiQ  highest  importance  to  a  splendid  court  and  magnifi- 
cent feasts.  He  looked  with  envy  upon  the  Electors  of  Hanover  and 
Saxony,  who  had  obtained  that,  which,  in  his  eyes,  was  the  most  inesti- 
mable of  possessions  —  a  royal  crown,  the  former  in  England,  tlie  latter 
in  Poland;  and  great  was  his  joy  when  the  emperor  Leopold  showed 
himself  disposed  to  confer  upon  him  the  title  of  king  of  Prussia,  in  return 
for  his  assurances  of  vigorous  support  in  the  war  of  tlie  Spa- 

A.  D.  1700.  .    ,  .  Ai-  1  •  •      1—     •       t  • 

nish  succession.  After  a  solemn  coronation  hi  Jvonigsburg,  in 
which  the  Elector  placed  the  crown  upon  his  own  head  and  upon  that  of 
his  wife,  and  after  a  succession  of  splendid  banquets,  the  new  king,  Fre- 
derick I.,  held  a  magnificent  entry  into  Berlin,  which  he  attempted  to 
render  a  suitable  residence  for  royalty,  by  public  buildings,  pleasure 
grounds,  and  monuments  of  art.  The  arts  and  sciences  were  encouraged. 
In  the  country  seat  of  Charlottenberg,  where  the  highly  accomplished 
queen  Sophia  Charlotte  held  her  gracious  rule,  there  was  always  an 
assemblage  of  distinguished  and  intellectual  people.  Societies  for  the 
cultivation  of  the  arts  and  sciences  were  established  in  Berlin,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  great  philosopher  Leibnitz  ;  a  flourishing  university  arose 
in  Halle,  distinguished  by  a  noble  freedom  of  spirit,  and  became  the 
scene  of  the  labors  of  such  men  as  Christopher  Thomasius,  the  powerful 
advocate  of  reason,  and  of  the  German  language  and  mode  of  thinking, 
the  pious  Hermann  Franke,  the  founder  of  the  orphan  asylum,  that 
"  trophy  of  trust  in  God  and  love  to  men,"  and  the  philosopher,  Christo- 
pher Wolf. 

§  450.  This  expenditure,  combined  with  the  support  of  a  considerable 
army  in  the  service  of  the  emperor,  pressed  hard  upon  the  impoverished 
land;  the  citizen  and  peasant  class  were  oppressed  with  heavy  taxes; 
the  new  splendor  of  the  royal  house  appeared  to  be  full  of  evil  for  the 


328  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 

countiy ;  fortunately,  the  extravagant  Frederick  I.  was  succeeded  bj  the 
Frederick  fi'ugal  Frederick  William  I.,  who  was  in  every  thing  the 
William  I.,  opposite  of  his  predecessor.  The  jewels  and  costly  furniture 
A-  !>•  that  had  been  collected  by  the  father  were  sold  by  the  son, 

who  paid  the  king's  debts  with  the  proceeds ;  every  thing  in 
the  shape  of  luxury  was  banished  from  the  court,  the  attendants  were 
reduced  to  those  that  were  absolutely  necessary,  and  every  superfluous 
expense  avoided.  The  king  and  his  court  lived  like  citizens,  the  meals 
consisted  of  household  fare,  and  the  queen  and  her  daughter  were  obliged 
to  occupy  themselves  in  domestic  duties.  The  clothing  and  furniture 
were  simple.  The  smoking-club,  in  which  Fredr^rick  William  and  his 
"good  friends "  practised  coarse  jests  at  the  expense  of  the  simple  or 
good-natured,  and  where  every  one  was  obliged  to  have  a  pipe  in  his 
mouth,  usurped  the  place  of  the  intellectual  circle  with  which  Frederick 
I.  and  his  wife  had  surrounded  themselves ;  the  opera-singers  and  actors 
were  discharged ;  French  heaux  espritSy  as  well  as  teachers  of  languages 
and  dancing,  were  banished;  poets,  artists,  and  men  of  learning  were 
deprived  of  their  pensions  in  part,  or  entirely ;  Wolf,  whose  philosophy 
was  offensive  to  the  orthodox  and  pious,  received  notice  to  quit  Halle 
within  twenty-four  hours,  "  under  penalty  of  the  rope."  But  offensive  as 
this  severity  and  coarseness  on  the  part  of  the  king  might  be,  as  well  as 
his  contempt  for  all  cultivation,  learning,  and  refinement,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed that  his  powerful  nature,  his  sound  judgment,  and  his  sparing 
housekeeping  gave  strength  and  firmness  to  the  young  state.  He  relieved 
the  peasants  for  the  purpose  of  raising  agriculture ;  he  encouraged  in- 
ternal industry,  and  forbade  the  importation  of  foreign  manufactures ; 
he  settled  the  Protestants,  who  had  been  driven  from  their  houses  by  the 
bishop  of  Salzburg,  in  his  own  dominions  ;  and  although  his  severity  was 
occasionally  exercised  at  the  expense  of  personal  freedom,  it  also  com- 
pelled judges  and  officials  to  an  efficient  performance  of  their  duties. 
The  king's  own  example  affords  a  proof  of  how  much  may  be  effected  by 
frugality  and  good  management ;  for  although  he  spent  enormous  sums 
upon  his  Potsdam  guards,  for  which  he  had  "  tall  fellows "  enlisted  or 
kidnapped  from  ail  the  countries  of  Europe,  and  although  he  called  many 
useful  institutions  into  existence,  he  left,  at  his  death,  a  sura  of  money 
amounting  to  8,000,000  thalers,  a  great  treasure  in  silver  plate,  a  regu- 
lated revenue,  and  a  large  and  admirably  organized  and  disciplined 
army. 

§  451.  His  great  son,  Frederick  II.  pursued  a  different  path;  whilst 
Born  January  lii*  father  was  engaged  in  his  wild  hunting  parties,  or  pursu- 
24, 1712.  ing  his  coarse  amusements  with  his  companions,  the  talented 

and  intellectual  prince  was  busied  with  the  writers  of  France,  and  with 
his  flute,  which  he  passionately  loved.  The  difference  of  their  disposi- 
tions rendered  them  strangers  to  each  other.     Frederick  was  offended 


FREDERICK   II.      MARIA   THERESA.  329 

by  his  father's  harshness,  and  the  latter  was  angry  with  his  son  for  pur- 
suing a  different  course,  and  would  willingly  have  forced  him  from  it  by 
Beverity.  This  coldness  and  aversion  increased  with  years ;  so  that 
Frederick,  when  his  father,  out  of  caprice,  refused  to  sanction  his  intended 
marriage  with  an  English  princess,  embraced  the  resolution  with  a  few 
young  friends  of  flying  to  England.  An  intercepted  letter 
*  of  Frederick's  to  his  confidant,  the  lieutenant  von  Katte, 
revealed  the  secret.  The  king  foamed  with  rage.  He  commanded  the 
crown  prince  to  be  confined  in  a  fortress,  and  Katte  to  be  executed  before 
the  windows ;  all  those  who  were  suspected  of  being  implicated  were 
severely  punished  by  the  irritated  monarch.  It  was  not  until  Frederick 
had  penitently  implored  his  father's  pardon,  that  he  was  released  from 
the  fortress,  and  had  his  sword  and  uniform  restored  to  him.  Shortly 
after  this,  followed  the  marriage  of  Frederick  with  a  daughter 
of  the  princely  house  of  Brunswick-Bevern.  But  his  spirit 
found  little  pleasure  in  the  narrow  bounds  of  domestic  life;  he  seldom 
visited  his  wife,  especially  after  his  father  had  relinquished  the  little 
town  of  Rheinsberg  to  him,  where,  from  this  time,  he  led  a  cheerful  life 
amidst  a  circle  of  intellectual,  accomplished,  and  free-thinking  friends, 
in  which  wit,  jest,  and  lively  conversation  alternated  with  grave  and 
diversified  studies.  He  read  the  works  of  the  ancients  in  French  trans- 
lations, and  derived  from  them  a  noble  ambition  of  emulating  the  heroes 
of  Greece  and  Rome  in  their  mighty  deeds  and  their  mental  cultivation ; 
he  admired  French  literature,  and  conceived  such  a  veneration  for  Vol- 
taire, that  he  addressed  the  most  flattering  letters  to  him,  and,  at  a  later 
period,  summoned  him  to  his  presence.  They  Avere  both,  however,  soon 
convinced  that  no  personal  intercourse  could  long  endure  between  men 
of  such  similarly  sarcastic  natures,  and  separated  from  each  other  in 
anger ;  but  they  still  kept  up  a  correspondence  in  writing.  Frederick 
displayed  his  free  way  of  thinking  by  receiving  a  number  of  French 
authors,  who  had  been  banished  from  France  on  account  of  the  hostihty 
of  their  writings  to  the  Church ;  and,  after  his  ascension  of  the  throne, 
proved  the  liberality  of  his  views  in  regard  to  religion,  by 
recalling  Wolf  to  Halle,  with  the  well-known  expression, 
**  that,  in  his  kingdom,  every  man  might  be  happy  in  his  own  way." 


4.   THE    TIMES    OF   FREDERICK   II.    AND    MARIA   THERESA. 
a.    THE    AUSTRIAN   WAR    OF    SUCCESSION    (a.    D.    1740 1748). 

§  452.  The  emperor  Charles  VI.,  a  good-natured  but  in  no  ways  dis- 
tinguished prince,  died  shortly  after  the  accession  of  Frederick  II., 
6eptemb3rl8  having,  however,  concluded  the  disgraceful  peace  of  Bel- 
1739.  grade  wich  the  Turks  previous  to  his  death.     As  he  had 

28* 


o30  THE    MODERN    EPOCH. 

no  male  heirs,  it  had  been  his  anxious  care  through  his  whole  reign,  to 
secure  the  succession  of  his  only  daughter,  Maria  Theresa,  wife  of 
Francis  Stephen  of  Lorraine,  to  the  hereditary  states  of  Austria.  With 
this  object,  he  purchased,  by  great  sacrifices,  the  acknowledgment  from 
all  the  courts  of  the  domestic  law  known  as  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  by 
virtue  of  which,  the  Austrian  hereditary  lands  remained  undivided,  and, 
in  the  event  of  the  male  line  becoming  extinct,  descended  upon  the 
female  branch.  Scarcely  had  the  emperor  closed  his  eyes,  before  Charles 
Albert,  Elector  of  Bavaria,  who  was  descended  from  the  eldest  daughter 
of  the  emperor  Ferdinand  I.,  made  claims  upon  the  Austrian  patrimo- 
nial states,  not  only  in  right  of  his  descent,  but  upon  some  pretended 
testamentary  intentions  of  the  emperor.  Charles  Albert,  who  was  a 
weak,  narrow-minded  man,  devoted  to  superstition  and  ostentation, 
would  not  have  been  in  a  position  to  make  his  claims  valid  by  the 
resources  of  his  exhausted  land,  had  not  the  French  court,  despite  its 
acknowledgment  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  supported  him  with  money 
and  troops,  in  the  hope  of  thereby  rendering  the  emperor  and  the  Ger- 
man nation  dependent  upon  France.  In  the  treaty  of  Nymphenberg, 
the  Bavarian  Elector  sold  himself  to  France,  as  his  predecessor,  Charles 
Emmanuel,  had  done  before,  for  gold  for  his  vanity,  and  troops  for 
the  acquisition  of  "the  throne.  Frederick  II.  of  Prussia,  also,  was  not 
willing  to  let  slip  the  favorable  opportunity  of  urging  the  established 
pretensions  of  his  family  to  the  inheritance  of  the  Silesian  principalities 
of  Jagendorf,  Leignitz,  Brieg,  and  Wohlau  ;  and  accordingly  supported 
the  Bavarian  Elector  in  his  claims  upon  Austria,  Hungary,  and  Bohemia, 
and  in  his  suit  for  the  imperial  crov»'n.  Saxony,  also,  would  not  relin- 
quish her  ^share  of  the  expected  booty  ;  the  indolent  and  stupid  Augus- 
tus III.,  who  left  his  government  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  extravagant 
and  unprincipled  count  Brijhl,  raised  claims  to  Moravia,  and  brought 
inexpressible  misery  upon  his  wretched  and  heavily  oppressed  country 
by  his  participation  in  the  w^ar. 
October  10,         §  453.  A  few  weeks  after  the  death  of  Charles  VL,  Fre- 

1740.  derick  II.  marched  with  his  admirable  army  into  Silesia. 
The  king  himself  accompanied  his  troops,  more  for  the  sake  of  learning 
the  art  of  war,  and  of  exciting  the  courage  of  the  soldiers  by  his  pre- 
sence, than  with  any  purpose  of  assuming  the  chief  command,  which  he 
^  ^  rather  relinquished  to  the  two  experienced  generals,  Schwe- 
1740-1742.  rin  and  Leopold  of  Dessau.  This  first  Silesian  war  soon 
April  10,  showed  that  a  fresh   spirit  had  come  over   the  Prussians. 

1741.  After  their  victory  in  the  battle  of  Molwitz,  they  took  pos- 
session of  the  greater  part  of  Upper  and  Lower  Silesia. 

The  French  army,  under  Belleisle,  shortly  after  marched  into  Ger- 
many, and  being  supported  by  Bavaria  and  Saxony,  made  themselves 
masters  of  the  territories  of   Upper  Austria  and  Bohemia.      Charles 


FREDERICK  II.      MARIA    THERESA.  33 1 

October  Albert  received  homage  as  archduke  in  Linz,  and  was  in- 

1741.  vested  with  the  royal  crown  of  Bohemia  at  Prague,  in  the 
midst  of  magnificent  coronation  banquets.  He  now  stood  at  the  summit 
Ch  rles  VII  ^^  ^^^  happiness.  The  election  of  emperor  had  terminated  in 
A.  D.  his  favor,  and  he  was  already  making  preparations  for  a 
1741-1745.      gpiendid  coronation  in  Frankfort. 

§  454.  In  this  distress,  Maria  Theresa  turned  towards  the  Hungarians. 
At  a  Diet  in  Presburg  (where,  according  to  a  widely-circulated  legend, 
she  is  said  to  have  appeared  with  her  young  son,  Joseph,  in  her  arms), 
she  excited  such  an  enthusiasm  among  the  magnates  by  the  description 
of  her  distresses,  and  by  gracious  promises,  that  they  rose  up  with  an 
unanimous  shout  of  "  Vivat  Maria  Theresa  Rex,"  and  called  their  war- 
like countrymen  to  arms.  The  Tyrolese,  also,  in  a  similar  manner, 
announced  their  ancient  truthfulness  to  Austria.  A  gallant  force  soon 
marched  into  the  field  from  the  lowlands  of  Hungary.  The  warlike 
tribes  of  the  Theiss  and  the  Marosch,  the  wild  bands  of  the  Croats, 
Slaves,  and  Pandours,  under  the  conduct  of  KhevenhuUer  and  Barenklau 
(Pereklo),  marched  into  Austria,  drove  back  the  Bavarian  and  French 
troops  with  little  difficulty,  and  pressed  forward,  plundering  and  ravag- 
ing, into  Bavaria.  At  the  very  moment  at  which  Charles  Albert,  by 
French  assistance,  and  in  the  midst  of  splendid  banquets,  was  invested 
January  24,     "^'i^^^  ^^^  much-covetcd  imperial  crown,  the  enemy  entered 

1742.  his  capital,  Munich,  occupied  Landshut,  and  foraged  the 
country  as  far  as  the  Lech  with  their  wild  horsemen.  Deprived  of  his 
hereditary  possessions,  the  new  emperor,  Charles  VII.,  was  soon  reduced 
to  such  extremities,  that  he  could  only  support  himself  by  the  assistance 
of  France. 

§  455.  At  the  same  time,  an  Austrian  army  marched  into  Bohemia  to 

drive  the  French  out  of  this  country  also  ;  and  Maria  Theresa,  to  deprive 

them  of  the  assistance  of  the  Prussians,  consented,  though  with  a  heavy 

heart,  to  the  peace  of  Breslau,  by  which  almost  the  whole  of 

July  28,  1742.    ^^       '  ,  _.^  o-,      •  -,         i         t^      i      •  i       t 

upper  and  Lower  bilesia  was  surrendered  to  Frederick.  In 
a  short  time,  the  greater  portion  of  Bohemia  was  again  in  the  hands  of 
the  Austrians;  the  capital,. where  Belleisle  lay  with  a  considerable  army, 
was  already  besieged.  At  this  juncture,  Belleisle,  by  his  daring  retreat 
from  Prague  to  Eger,  in  the  midst  of  winter,  showed  that  the  military 
spirit  of  the  French  was  not  yet  extinguished.  The  road  was  indeed 
strewed  with  dead  or  torpid  bodies,  and  even  those  who  escaped  bore  the 
seeds  of  death  within  them. 

In  the  following  spring,  Maria  Theresa  was  crowned  in 

Prague,  and  at  the  same  time  acquired  a  powerful  confede- 

^  rate  in  George  11.  of  Hanover  and  England.     After  the 

"  '        '  battle  of  Dettingen  (near  Aschaffenburg),  where  the  Enghsh 

and  Austrian  troops  bore  off  the  victory,  the  French  retreated  over  the 


332  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 

Rhine,  and  Saxony  embraced  the  cause  of  Austria,  and  received  subsi- 
dies from  England. 

§  456.  The  success  of  the  Austrians  rendered  Frederick  II.  anxious 
for  the  possession  of  Silesia,  and  he  therefore  commenced  a  second  Sile- 
A.  D.  sian  war  against  Maria  Theresa.     Whilst  he  was  hastily 

1744-1745.  advancing  upon  Bohemia,  as  a  confederate  of  the  emperor, 
with  a  strong  army  of  imperial  auxiliaries,  Charles  VII.  found  an  oppor- 
tunity of  regaining  his  hereditary  territory  of  Bavaria,  and  of  returning 
January  20,  to  his  capital,  Munich,  where,  however,  he  shortly  after  died. 
1745.  His  son,  Maximilian  Joseph,  renounced  all  claim  to  the  Aus- 

April.  trian  heritage  in  the  treaty  of  Fiissen,  and  at  the  election  of 

emperor,  gave  his  voice  for  the  husband  of  Maria  Theresa,  whereupon 
the  latter  was  crowned  in  Frankfort  as  Francis  I.     In  the  mean  while, 
Frederick  II.  had  lost  the  greater  part  of  Silesia  to  the  brave  Austrian 
field-marshal,  Traun ;  but  the  splendid  victory  of  Hohenfried- 

June  4.  ,  .  -I      -I    .  1  .        .  rnt  .1. 

berg  agani  restored  hira  the  superiority.  I  he  military  re- 
nown of  the  Prussian  monarch,  and  of  his  generals,  Ziethen,  Winterfeld, 
and  others,  had  spread  far  and  wide,  and  prince  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick 
gave  the  first  proof  of  his  talents  as  a  general  at  Sorr.  When  the  old 
Dessauer  conquered  the  Saxons  in  the  midst  of  winter,  in  the  bloody 
field  of  Kesselsdorf,  and  Frederick  marched  into  the  capital  of  Dresden, 
December  25,  which  had  been  deserted  by  Augustus  III.,  Maria  Theresa, 
*  in  the  peace  of  Dresden,  again  consented  to  the  cession  of 

IrancisL,  Siksia ;  and  Frederick,  in  return,  acknowledged  her  hus- 
1745-1765.      band  as  emperor. 

§  457.  The  war,  which  was  ended  in  Germany,  continued  for  some  time 
longer  in  the  Netherlands.  It  was  here  that  the  French,  under  the  con- 
duct of  the  talented  and  brave,  but  immoral  and  dissolute,  marshal  Saxe, 
A.  D.  a  natural  son  of  Frederick  Augustus  II.,  gained  a  succession 

1745-1747.  of  splendid  victories  in  the  battles  of  Fontenoy,  Raucoux, 
and  Laffeld,  by  which  the  Austrian  Netherlands  fell  almost  entirely  into 
October  their  power.     But  as  the  exhausted  states  were  all  longing 

18-20, 1748.  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  the  peace  of  Aix  was  at  length 
arranged,  by  which  the  Austrian  hereditary  territories  were  awarded  to 
Maria  Theresa,  with  the  exception  of  Silesi',  which  remained  with  Prus- 
sia, and  a  few  possessions  in  Italy,  which  sh  i  gave  up  to  Sardinia  and  to 
the  Spanish-Bourbon  prince,  Philip.  The  other  states  resumed  their 
former  relations,  and  France  gained  nothing  by  this  expensive  war  but 
military  renown. 

h.     THE    SEVEN   YEARS*    WAK    (a.  D.    1756  -  1763). 

§  458.  Maria  Theresa  could  not  forget  the  loss  of  Silesia.  She  there- 
fore took  advantage  of  the  eight  years  of  peace  that  followed  the  conclusion 
of  the  Austrian  war  of  succession,  to  form  alliances  that  produced  impor 


WAR.  333 

tant  consequences.  Russia's  dissolute  empress,  Elizabeth,  offended  by 
the  sarcasms  of  Frederick,  was  easily  induced  by  her  minister,  Bestu- 
cheff,  to  enter  into  a  confederation  with  Maria  Theresa ;  as  was  also 
Augustus  III.  of  Saxony,  by  count  Bruhl,  who  likewise  felt  himself 
injured  by  the  scorn  with  which  the  great  king  always  spoke  of  him.  But 
it  was  a  master-stroke  of  crafty  policy  that  Maria  Theresa,  by  her  shrewd 
and  dexterous  minister,  Kaunitz,  induced  the  court  of  Vereailles  to  re- 
nounce the  ancient  policy  of  France,  which  had  always  been  directed  to 
weakening  the  house  of  Hapsburg,  and  to  unite  itself  with  Austria 
against  Prussia.  For  many  years  past,  Louis  XV.  had  allowed  himself 
to  be  led  into  a  profligate  course  of  life  by  the  pleasure-seeking  and  dis- 
solute nobles.  In  the  society  of  his  licentious  fjivorites  and  shameless 
mistresses,  he  gave  himself  up  entirely  to  his  sensual  nature,  and  plunged 
from  one  pleasure  into  another.  In  the  excesses  of  the  table,  and  the 
joys  of  the  chase  and  the  bottle,  he  forgot  his  kingdom  and  the  welfare 
of  his  people.  Maria  Theresa  made  use  of  these  circumstances  for  her 
own  advantage.  The  proud  empress,  who  stood  upon  her  morality  and 
virtue,  descended  so  far  as  to  write  a  flattering  letter  to  Louis's  all-pow- 
erful mistress,  madame  Pompadour,  for  the  purpose  of  winning  her  over 
to  her  interest.  An  alliance  was  accordingly  entered  into,  by  means  of 
the  Pompadour  and  her  creatures,  by  France  and  Austria,  the  object  of 
which  was  to  deprive  the  king  of  Prussia  of  his  conquests,  and  to  re- 
Septembcr,  duce  him  again  to  the  condition  of  an  Elector  of  Branden- 
1751.  burg. 

§  459.  Frederick,  who  received  accurate  information  of  all  the  plots 
laid  aj^ainst  him  from  a  secretary  of  Bruhl's,  whom  he  had 
corrupted,  determmed  to  anticipate  his  enemies  by  an  unex- 
pected attack.  He  fell  suddenly  upon  Saxony,  took  possession  of  Leip- 
sic,  Wittenberg,  and  Dresden,  which  had  been  deserted  by  the  court,  and 
established  the  Prussian  form  of  government.  The  taxes  and  all  the 
public  rents  were  seized,  the  magazines  thrown  open  to  the  Prussian 
army,  and  the  arms  and  artillery  sent  to  Magdeburg.  For  the  purpose 
of  justifying  these  proceedings,  he  published  the  documents  which  he  had 
discovered  in  Dresden,  and  which  contained  the  plans  of  his  opponents. 
The  Saxon  troops,  who  had  taken  up  a  strong  position  at  Pirna,  on  the 
Elbe,  were  blockaded  by  the  Prussians,  and  compelled  by  hunger  to  sur- 
render. 14,000  gallant  warriors  were  made  prisoners.  Frederick  com- 
pelled them  to  enter  the  Prussian  service  ;  but  they  fled  in  troops  at  the 
first  opportunity  into  Poland,  where  the  Saxon  court  remained  during 
the  whole  war.  Frederick  lingered  in  Dresden,  and  exacted  heavy  con- 
tributions in  money  and  recruits  from  the  conquered  country,  for  which, 
war  was  declared  against  him  by  the  German  empire,  for  breach  of  the 
Land-peace  ;  and  the  aristocratic  government  of  Sweden,  which  only 
acted  according  to  the  instigations  of  France,  also  joined  the  enemies  of 


831  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

Prussia.   It  was  only  England  and  a  few  German  states  (Hanover,  Bruns* 

wick,  Hesse-Cassel,  Gotha)  that  adhered  to  the  cause  of  Frederick. 

§  460.  In  the  spring  of  the  following  year,  Frederick  marched  with 

,^^^        his  chief  force  towards  Bohemia,  whilst  his  allies  advanced 
A..  D.  1757. 

against  the  French,  who  were  between  the  Rhine  and  the 

Weser.     By  the  gallant  efforts  of  his  troops,  and  by  the  heroic  courage 

M£7  6  1757.     ^^^  heroic  death  of  Schwerin,  Frederick  won  the  splendid 

but  dearly  bought  victory  of  Prague.  But  no  later  than  the 
ane  18.  following  month,  the  defeat  at  Collin,  by  the  brave  Austrian 

field-marshal  Daun,  deprived  the  Prussian  king  of  all  his  advantages. 
Ilis  melancholy,  both  before  and  after  the  day  of  Collin,  gave  evidence  of 
the  weight  of  care  by  which  he  was  oppressed.  A  short  time  after,  the 
_  ,  French  also  gained  a  victory  over  Frederick's  allies  at  Hast- 

enbeck,  on  the  Weser,  and  prepared  to  take  up  their  wmter 

quarters  in  Saxony  along  with  the  German  imperial  army.     The  prince 

of  Soubise,  a  favorite  of  madame  Pompadour,  and  a  confidential  associate 

in  the  orgies  of  Louis  XV.,  was  already  on  the  Saale  with  a  large  army, 

when  Frederick  made  an  unexpected  attack,  and  in  the  battle 

November  5.       n  t^     ^      i  •       ^  \       tt     •  im      •  •   i 

or  Kosbach,  gamed  a  most  splendid  victory,      ihe  imperial 

army  fled  so  hastily  at  the  very  commencement  of  the  battle,  that  it  re- 
received  the  name  of  the  Runaway  Army  from  the  jests  of  the  witty ; 
the  French  soon  followed,  abandoning  their  baggage,  which  was  rich  in 
articles  of  luxury  and  fashion.  Seydlitz,  the  leader  of  the  cavalry,  had 
particularly  distinguished  himself  A  month  later,  the  Prus- 
sian king  also  won  a  famous  victory  from  Daun,  in  the  battle 
of  Leuthen,  and  again  occupied  Silesia.  But  in  the  mean  time,  the  mis- 
eries of  war  pressed  heavily  upon  poor  Germany ;  Hanover,  Brunswick, 
and  Hesse-Cassel,  in  particular,  were  harshly  treated  by  the  extravagant 
and  dissolute  duke  of  Richelieu,  by  exactions  and  military  levies. 

§  461.    Since  the  battle  of  Rosbach,  Frederick  had  been 
*       no  less  the  idol  of  the  people  in  England,  than  in  France 
and  Germany.     The  English  ministry,  in  M'hich  the   elder  Pitt  (Lord 
Chatham)   possessed  the  greatest  influence,  accordingly  determined  to 
support  the  king  of  Prussia  more  liberally  with  troops  and  money ;  and 
to  leave  the  appointment  of  generals  in  his  hands.     He  named  the  cir- 
cumspect Ferdinand  of  Bruns\yick  the  leader  of  the  allied  force,  who 
drove  back  the  French  over  the  Rhine  in  the  commencement 
of  the  spring,  and  secured  the  north  of  Germany  against 
their  predatory  inroads.     In  the  mean  while,  the  Russians,  under  Bestu- 
cheff,   had  penetrated  as  far  as  the  Oder ;  but  as  this  general  behaved 
in  a  very  ambiguous  manner  during  a  dangerous  illness  of  the  empress 
Elizabeth,  he  was  banished,  and  Fermor  appointed  in  his  stead.     The 
latter  occupied  East  Prussia,  compelled  Konigsburg  to  do  homage,  and 
advanced  with  his  wild  hordes,  ravaging  and  plundering,  into  Branden- 


THE   SEVE>f   years'    WAR.  835 

burg.     Hereupon,  Frederick  executed  a  masterly  march  upon  the  Oder, 

and,  in  the  bloody  battle  of  Zorndorf,  gained  a  victory  that 

*       was  certainly  dearly  purchased.    After  this,  Frederick  wished 

lo  march  into  Saxony  to  the  assistance  of  his  brother  Henry ;  but  being 

surprised  in  an  unfavorable  position  by  the  superior  force  of  Daun,  he 

lost  the  whole  of  his  artillery  and  many  brave  soldiers  in  the  attack  at 

Hochkirk.     He  nevertheless  effected  a  juncture  with  Henry 

October  14.      ,  ,  ,-,.,,  i 

by  a  dexterous  march,  and  agam  drove  the  enemy  out  ot 

Silesia  and  Saxony. 

§  4G2.  Frederick's  means  of  continuing  the  war  began  to 
dwindle.  Whilst  he  was  with  difTiculty  filling  up  the  gaps  in 
his  ranks  by  oppressive  levies  of  young  and  inexperienced  recruits,  and 
could  only  supply  his  want  of  money  and' necessaries  by  severe  war- 
taxes  and  imposts,  Maria  Theresa  was  constantly  receiving  fresh  supplies 
of  money  and  men  from  France  and  Russia. 

For  the  purpose  of  preventing  the  union  of  the  Russians  and  Austrians, 
Frederick  advanced  to  the  Oder,  but  was  so  completely  defeated  by  the 
August  12,  Austrians  under  their  skilful  general,  Laudon,  in  the  bloody 
1759.  engagement  of  Kunersdorf,  after  h^  had  already  victoriously 

repulsed  the  Russians,  that  he  began  to  despair  of  a  successful  termination 
of  the  war.  Dresden  and  the  greater  part  of  Saxony  was  lost  to  the 
Prussians.  But  the  want  of  union  between  the  Russians  and  Austrians 
prevented  the  proper  advantage  being  taken  of  the  victory.  In  the  mean 
time,  the  allies  of  Frederick,  under  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick,  had  been 
more  successfully  engaged  against  the  French.  It  is  true,  that  Broglio 
April  13,  had  obtained  the  advantage  in  the  battle  of  Bergen  at  Frank- 
1759.  fort-on-the-Main,  but  Ferdinand's  victory  at  Minden  drove 

back  the  French  over  the  Rhine,  and  saved  Westphalia  and  Hanover. 

§  463.  The  war  had  already  so  weakened  the  Prussian 
A.  D.  1760.  ,        ,     ,  .  ^  /  .. 

army,  that  the  kmg,  contrary  to  his  usual  custom,  was  com- 
pelled to  remain  on  the  defensive.  It  is  true  that  Frederick's  name,  and 
the  dexterity  of  his  recruiting  officers,  brought  troops  of  soldiers  from  all 
quarters  to  the  Prussian  standard ;  but  even  Frederick's  military  talents 
could  not  entirely  replace  the  loss  of  expert  officers  and  veteran  troops. 
To  defray  the  expenses  of  the  war,  he  was  obliged  to  have  recourse  to 
the  rnost  oppressive  taxes  and  to  a  debased  coinage.  Whilst  Frederick 
was  in  Saxony,  the  brave  Fouquet,  the  friend  of  the  king,  suffered  a  de- 
feat in  Silesia,  in  consequence  of  which  the  Austrians  took  possession  of 
the  whole  country.  Upon  this,  Frederick  relinquished  Saxony,  that  he 
might  again  conquer  Silesia.  He  gained  this  object  by  the  vic- 
tory over  Laudon  at  Liegnitz  on  the  Katzbach ;  but  he  was  unable 
to  prevent  the  Austrian  and  Russian  troops  from  breaking  into  Prussia, 
taking  possession  of  Berlin,  and  visiting  the  hereditary  lands  of  the  king 
with  plunder  and  desolation.    Daun  now  occupied  a  strong  position  on  an 


336  THE    MODERN    EPOCH. 

eminence  near  the  Elbe,  for  the  purpose  of  wintering  in  Saxony.     To 

prevent  this,  Frederick  hazarded  a  desperate  attack  upon  Daun's  camp, 

though  his  brave  soldiers  fell  in  crowds  before  the  artillery.     By  the 

dearly  boudit  victory  of  Torpjau,  which  was  gained  by  the 
November  3.  .    ^  ..  r^.     ,         ,,      -r,         •       i  •  •  -jo 

assistance  of  Ziethen,  the  Prussaan  kmg  agam  regamed  bax- 

ony,  and  could  make  his  winter  quarters  in  Leipsic  ;  but  14,000  of  his 
soldiers  required  no  shelter ;  Daun's  camp  had  been  their  burial  place. 

§464  (1761-1763.)  In  the  year  1761,  it  appeared  that  Frederick 
must  succumb  before  the  disasters  that  were  pouring  in  upon  him  on  all 
sides;  for  not  only  had  his  numerous  enemies  taken  possession  of  a  great 
part  of  his  lands,  but  England,  after  the  accession  of  George  III.,  had 
refused  all  farther  assistance.  Frederick  indeed  resisted  with  vigor  the 
enemies  that  were  pressing  upon  him ;  but  his  melancholy  and  despon- 
dency are  betrayed  in  his  letters  to  his  friends,  and  in  his  poetry.  It  ap- 
peared that  Silesia  must  fall  to  Austria,  and  Prussia  to  Kussia.  But  in 
the  very  extremity  of  Frederick's  distress,  the  empress  Elizabeth  died, 
January  5,       and  her  nephew,  who  was  a  great  venerator  of  the  Prussian 

1762.  king,  ascended  the  throne  of  Russia.  This  change  produced 
a  sudden  alteration  in  the  state  of  affairs.  Peter,  a  good-natured  but  in- 
considerate prince,  who  acted  over  hastily,  at  once  concluded  a  treaty  of 
peace  with  Frederick,  and  united  his  Russian  army  with  the  Prussian. 
This  connection,  however,  did  not  last  long.  Peter  made  enemies  of  his 
subjects  by  imprudent  innovations  in  the  Church  and  State,  and  by  re- 
modelling the  army  upon  the  Prussian  pattern.  A  conspiracy  was  formed 
against  him,  with  the  knowledge  of  his  wife,  whom  Peter  treated  harshly 
on  account  of  her  dissolute  behavior,  in  consequence  of  which,  Peter  III. 
was  barbarously  murdered  by  some  Russian  noblemen,  and  Catherine  II. 

made  herself  mistress  of  the  government  which  belonged  by 
^  ^   '        "    right  to  her  son,  Paul.     The  empress  recalled  her  army  from 
Prussia,  but  confirmed  the  peace  that  had  been  concluded  with   Freder- 
ick ;  and  the  Russian  general,  before  his  departure,  assisted  the  Prussian 
king  in  obtaining  -a  victory. 

§  465.  The  exhausted  states  were  now  all  anxious  for  the  conclusion 
of  the  war.  The  Germans,  whose  lands  had  been  ravaged,  whose  in 
dustry  had  become  stagnant,  whose  agriculture  had  been  ruined,  and 
whose  prosperity  had  been  destroyed,  demanded  peace  in  despair ;  this  in 
duced  the  greater  number  of  the  princes  to  withdraw  from  the  alliance 
against  Frederick ;  and,  as  the  finances  of  ^ustria  were  also  deranged, 
Maria  Theresa  no  longer  opposed  the  peace  that  was  universally  desired. 
February  21,    A  truce  afforded  an  opportunity  for  negotiations,  which,  in 

1763.  the  following  February,  led  to  the  peace  of  Hubertsburg.  In 
this,  the  possession  of  Silesia  was  secured  to  the  king  of  Prussia  for  ever. 
The  fluctuating  land  and  naval  war,  that  had  been  carried  on  between 
England  and  France  in  America,  was,  at  the  same  time,  terminated  by 


THE    GERMAN   EMPIRE.  337 

the  peace  of  Paris,  bj  which  England  got  possession  of  Canada.  From 
this  time,  Prussia  assumed  her  position  among  the  five  great  powers  of 
Europe. 

C.    THE  GERMAN  EMPIRE  AND  THE  AGE  OF  FREDERICK. 

§  46C.  The  German  empire  had  so  entirely  lost  all  respect  as  a  jo- 
litical  body,  that  it  was  not  represented  at  the  peace  negotiations  at 
Ilubertsburg,  and  the  sentence  of  outlawry  pronounced  against  Frede- 
rick II.  was  received  with  scorn  and  ridicule.  The  power  of  the  Empe- 
ror was  sunk  to  an  empty  shadow,  and  his  revenue  to  a  few  thousand 
florins.  Nearly  350  princes  and  commonwealths,  with  the  most  varied 
powers  and  the  most  unequal  extent  of  territory,  ruled  in  Germany  with 
all  the  rights  of  sovereignty,  and  left  nothing  to  their  common  chief  but 
the  confirmation  of  mutual  compacts,  promotions,  declarations  of  majority, 
and  the  determination  of  precedence.  During  war,  the  German  princes 
not  unfrequently  embraced  the  hostile  cause.  Bavaria  was  always  in 
alliance  with  France.  The  Diet,  which  had,  for  a  long  time,  been  held  in 
Regensburg,  and  which  consisted  of  representatives  of  the  princes  and  im- 
perial towns,  had  lost  all  respect,  since  it  was  too  much  occupied  with 
speeches  and  debates  to  come  to  any  decision,  or  if  it  came  to  any,  was 
unable  to  give  it  authority.  Obsolete  rights  were  contended  for  with  a 
little-minded  jealousy  ;  rank,  title,  and  the  right  of  suffrage,  were  watched 
over  with  the  greatest  care,  and  all  time  and  energy  devoted  to  doctrinal 
disputes  without  object ;  whilst  foreign  nations  made  Germany  the  thea- 
tre of  their  wars,  and  treated  the  imbecile  body  politic  with  insolence  and 
contempt.  The  state  of  tribunals  of  justice  was  not  less  melancholy. 
The  imperial  chamber  of  Wetzlar,  in  which  the  complaints  of  Estates  of 
the  empire  against  each  other  or  against  their  vassalS  were  examined, 
proceeded  with  such  tediousness  and  prolixity,  that  causes  were  often 
pending  for  years  before  judgment  was  pronounced,  the  suitors  either 
died  or  fell  into  poverty,  and  the  records  increased  to  an  immeasurable 
extent.  The  judges  were  chiefly  dependent  upon  the  fees  for  their  re- 
muneration, and  in  this  way  a  door  was  thrown  open  to  corruption.  An 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  emperor,  Joseph  IL,  to  improve  and  accelerate 
Joseph  II.,  the  progress  of  justice  in  the  imperial  chamber,  was  frustrated 
1765  - 1790.  by  the  selfishness  of  the  interested  parties.  As  regards  the 
lower  courts,  the  great  diversity  in  the  laws,  the  number  of  small  states, 
and  the  unlimited  power  of  the  judges  and  officials,  rendered  it  extremely 
difficult  for  the  humble  man  to  procure  justice.  The  weak  were  exposed 
without  defence  to  every  injustice  of  the  crafty  and  the  strong.  It  was 
the  golden  age  of  jurists  and  advocates. 

§  467.  Whilst  the  German  empire  was  sinking  lower  and  lower,  Prus- 
sia, under  her  sagacious  and  energetic  king,  rose  to  ever  increasing  power 
and  prosperity.     Frederick  attempted  to  heal  the  wounds   inflicted  by 

29 


S3S  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

the  seven  years'  war,  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  by  supporting  the  decayed 
land  proprietors  and  the  manufacturers  in  Silesia  and  the  March  with 
money,  by  remitting  their  taxes  for  a  few  years,  and  by  relieving  the  lot 
of  the  peasants.  He  encouraged  agriculture,  planting,  and  mining ; 
established  colonies  in  the  uncultivated  portions  of  his  dominions ;  and 
fostered  industry,  trade,  and  commerce  with  the  greatest  care.  By  these 
means,  the  country  became  prosperous,  and  he  was  enabled"  to  increase 
his  taxes  without  oppressing  the  people.  His  own  frugality,  the  simplicity 
of  his  court,  and  the  well-regulated  economy  of  the  state,  were  the  occa- 
sion that  the  public  treasury  was  every  year  better  replenished.  It  was 
not  until  a  later  period  that  he  adopted  severe  and  oppressive  measures. 
Among  these,  his  management  of  the  customs  and  excise  may  be  par- 
ticularly mentioned.  He  made  the  sale  of  coffee,  tobacco,  salt,  &;c.,  a 
royal  monopoly,  and  forbade  the  free  trade  in  these  articles.  For  the 
purpose  of  preventing  any  clandestine  traffic,  he  appointed  a  number  of 
French  excise  officers,  who,  by  their  insolence,  made  the  regulation,  which 
was  otherwise  so  oppressive  to  the  citizens  and  peasants,  utterly  detes- 
table. The  affairs  of  the  Church  and  of  education  gained  the  least  by 
the  attention  of  the  king.  In  a  small  place,  the  situation  of  public  in- 
structor was  frequently  a  retiring  post  for  a  discharged  petty  officer, 
Vv'hilst  the  higher  institutions  were  often  left  to  the  management  of 
Frenchmen.  The  free-thinking  king  took  little  interest  in  the  affairs  of 
Christianity  or  the  Church ;  but  we  must  admit  that  he  procured  the 
universal  admission  of  the  principle  of  Christian  toleration  in  his  domi- 
nions. Frederick  devoted  great  attention  to  the  affairs  of  justice.  The 
rack  and  the  horrible  and  degrading  punishments  of  the  middle  age  were 
abolished,  the  course  of  justice  simplified,  and  the  laws  improved.  The 
new  book  of  laws' that  was  introduced  under  his  successor,  Frederick 
William  II.,  as  the  Prussian  code,  was  prepared  under  Frederick.  More 
important,  however,  than  all  these  laws  and  arrangements  was  the  fact, 
that  Frederick  II.  inspected  every  thing  himself,  and  narrowly  inquired, 
during  his  journeys,  after  the  administration  of  justice  and  the  manage- 
ment of  affairs,  ejected  the  negligent  and  chastised  the  dishonest.  By 
his  untiring  activity  from  early  morning  till  late  at  night,  he  acquired  a 
comprehensive  knowledge  of  all  the  affairs  of  his  kingdom,  and  his  com- 
manding character,  which  scrupled  not  at  corporal  punishment,  terrified 
the  slothful  and  the  unjust.  One  peculiarity  of  the  great  king  has  often 
been  blamed  with  justice  —  his  love  for  what  was  foreign,  and  his  neg- 
lect, nay  contempt,  for  the  things  of  his  own  country.  It  was  not  only 
in  literature  that  Frederick  gave  the  preference  to  the  French,  so  that 
he  wrote  his  own  letters  and  works  in  their  language ;  the  whole  proceed- 
ings of  this  nation  were  admired,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  imitated  by  him. 
French  adventurers,  by  the  hundred,  found  honor  and  support  in  Prussia; 
and  as  this  admiration  of  foreigners  became  the  mode  in  other  courts,  all 


THE  AGE   OF  FREDERICK.  339 

quarters  of  Germany  swarmed  vrith  hare-brained  Frenchmen.  Parisian 
barbers,  dancing-masters,  and  boasters  were  often  preferred  to  the  most 
deserving  natives  in  the  appointment  to  the  higher  offices  of  the  court 
and  government. 

§  468.  Frederick,  in  his  old  age,  was  once  more  involved  in  a  wnr 
with  Austria.  At  the  close  of  the  year  1777,  the  Bavarian  line  of  the 
house  of  Wittelsbach  became  extinct  with  Maximilian  Joseph,  and  the 
electorship  devolved  to  the  next  heir,  Charles  Tlieodore  of  the  Palatinate. 
This  licentious,  profligate,  and  bigoted  prince,  who,  despite  his  many 
failings  and  vices,  is  still  affectionately  remembered  by  the  people  of  the 
Palatinate,  and  whose  love  of  art  is  borne  witness  to  by  many  remarkable 
erections  in  Mannheim,  Schwetzingen,  and  Heidelberg,  possessed  neither 
legitimate  offspring  nor  love  for  the  land  he  inherited.  He  consequently 
easily  allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  by  the  emperor  Joseph  II.  to  a 
treaty,  in  which  he  acknowledged  the  validity  of  Austria's  claims  to 
Lower  Bavaria,  the  upper  Palatinate,  and  the  territory  of  Mindelheim, 
and  declared  himself  ready  to  relinquish  these  lands  in  return  for  certain 
advantages  being  assured  to  his  natural  children.  Frederick  II.,  alarmed 
at  this  aggrandizement  of  Austria,  attempted  to  interfere  with  the  project 
by  inducing  the  future  heir,  duke  Charles  of  Zweibrucken,  to  protest 
against  the  contract  in  the  Diet ;  and  as  this  was  attended  by  no  results, 
he  ordered  an  army  to  march  into  Bohemia  to  prevent  any  change  in  the 
existing  state  of  things.  This  gave  occasion  to  the  Bavarian  war  of  suc- 
A.  D.  1778,  cession,  which  was  carried  on  more  with  the  pea  than  the 
1779.  sword,  inasmuch  as  both  parties  attempted  to  prove  them- 

selves in  the  right  by  learned  treatises-  But  as  all  the  states  were 
averse  to  a  general  war,  Russia  and  France  succeeded  in  persuading 
Maria  Thei*esa,  who  had  no  liking  for  the  zeal  for  innovation  displayed 
by  her  son,  to  the  peace  of  Teschen,  by  which  Bavaria  was  secured  to 
the  house  of  the  Palatinate,  Innviertel  with  Braunau  to  Austria,  and  the 
succession  of  the  Margravate  of  Anspach  and  Bayreuth  to  Prussia.  The 
emperor,  irritated  at  this,  made  a  second  attempt,  after  the  death  of 
Maria  Theresa,  to  possess  himself  of  Bavaria,  offering  in  exchange  the 
Austrian  Netherlands  (Belgium)  as  the  Burgundian  king- 
dom. Charles  Theodore  allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  to 
this  also.  But  Frederick  II.  now  attempted  to  frustrate  this  project,  and 
to  secure  the  succession  in  Bavaria  to  the  house  of  the  Palatinate,  by 
establishing  an  alliance  of  princes,  which  was  gradually  joined  by  most  of 
the  princes  of  Germany.  This  princely  confederation  increased  the 
power  and  consequence  of  the  king  of  Prussia,  in  the  same  proportion 
that  it  entirely  undermined  the  authority  of  the  emperor.  Each  prince 
Bought  for  independent  and  unlimited  power ;  each  formed  a  miniature 
court,  to  which,  in  magnificence  and  profusion,  in  morals  and  fashions,  in 
language,  literature,  and  art,  the  court  of  Versailles  served  as  a  pattern. 


340  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 


d.    THE    INTELLECTUAL    POPULAR    LIFE    IN    GERMANY. 

§  469.  Prejudicial  as  this  division  of  Germany  was  to  its  external 
power  and  greatness,  it  was  in  an  equal  degree  advantageous  to  the  de- 
velopment of  the  arts  and  sciences.  Many  princes  were  patrons  and 
encouragers  of  literature  and  cultivation  ;  they  sought  to  attract  men  of 
celebrity  to  their  capitals  and  universities,  and  encouraged  poets  and  men 
of  learning  to  undertake  great  works  by  rewards  and  distinctions.  Thus 
it  happened,  that  in  the  second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  Ger- 
many's political  and  military  consequence  was  entirely  lost,  literature, 
poetry,  science,  and  the  entire  spiritual  life,  received  a  mighty  impulse, 
and  created  a  degree  of  refinement  such  as  has  scarcely  been  equalled  in 
Klopstock  modern  history.  Poetry  especially  flourished.  Klopstock, 
A.  D.  by  his  great  epic  poem,  the  "  Messiah,"  and  by  his  odes  and 

1724-1803.  war-songs,  awakened  a  warmth  of  Christian  feeling,  and  a 
patriotic  spirit  of  liberty ;  he  formed  his  severe  and  solemn  diction  and 
Lessing  ^^^  rhj^mless  metre  upon  the  model  of  the  ancients.    Lessing, 

A.  D.  the  great  thinker  and  critic,  in  his  "  Hamburg-Dramaturgy," 

1729-1781.  g^,g^  exposed  the  weakness  of  French  dramatic  literature, 
and  by  his  own  pieces  for  the  stage  ("  Minna  von  Barnhelm,"  "  Emilia 
Galotti,"  "  Nathan  the  Wise,")  showed  the  way  by  which  it  was  possible 
to  attain  to  genuine  dramatic  poetry ;  he  at  the  same  time,  in  his  "  Lao- 
coon,"  opened  the  eyes  of  thinkers  to  the  essence  of  poetry  and  plastic 
Winckelmann  ^^^'  ^^^^  understanding  of  which  was  revealed  during  the 
A.  D.  same  period  by  Winckelmann,  in  a  different  way  ;  and  in  his 

17  7-  7  .  remarkable  controversial  writings  against  the  pastor  Goze  of 
Hamburg,  on  the  Wolfenbiittel  fragments,  he  displayed  a  vigor  of  lan- 
guage and  a  clearness  of  argument  which  are  astonishing.  Upon  his 
Herder  shoulders  stands  the  poetical  and  intellectual  Herder,  who 

A.  D.  went  back  to  the  original  sources  of  language  and  poetry,  and 

1744-1803.  revealed  with  fine  taste  the  beauties  of  the  Oriental  poetry 
of  nature  ("On  the  Spirit  of  Hebrew  Poetry,"  "Palm-leaves,"  (fee),  and 
displayed  the  deep  merit  of  the  artless  popular  songs  of  different  nations 
(in  the  "  Cid,"  'Voices  of  the  People  in  Songs"),  and  gave  a  mighty  im- 
impulse  to  further  inquiries  by  his  "  Ideas  towards  a  Philosophy  of  the 
Wieland  History  of  Man."    AVieland,  the  cheerful  philosopher  of  life, 

A.  D.  in  his  romances   ("  Agathon,"  "  The  Abderites,"  "  Aristip- 

1733-1813.  pus"),  which  are  for  the  most  part  based  upon  the  ancient 
Greek  manners,  with  a  modern  coloring,  addressed  the  sentiments  and 
mode  of  thinking  of  the  upper  classes,  which  were  formed  upon  the 
French  model,  and  preached  the  wise  enjoyment  of  life  in  loose  and  wag- 
gish language,  a  doctrine  well  suited  to  the  higher  ranks  of  society,  and 
introduced  German  literature  into  a  circle  that  had  hitherto  read  nothing 
but  French  works.     He,  at  the  same  time,  renewed  the  romantic  epic 


THE   INTELLECTUAL   POPULAR   LIFE   IN   GERMANY.  341 

poetry  of  the  middle  age  in  his  "  Oberon."  German  prose  received  a 
complete  revolution  from  these  three  men  :  Leasing  gave  it  strength, 
sharpness,  and  perspicuity ;  Herder,  elevation  and  richness  of  imagery  ; 
Wieland,  fluency  and  grace.  It  was  on  the  ground  prepared  by  these  men 
Goethe  *^^*'  ^roethe,  the  great  genius  of  the  century,  brought  forward 

A.  D.  his  creations,  in  which  the  spiritual  life  of  the  nation  and  the 

1/49-1832.  progress  of  his  own  culture  are  reflected.  At  the  genial  and 
energetic  age  of  seventeen,  when  the  youth  who  was  pressing  onwards 
with  violence,  despised  all  the  rules  of  art  and  usage,  set  no  value  on 
any  thing  but  the  productions  (even  when  formless)  of  genius,  praised 
the  depths  of  original  and  natural  poetry,  delighted  in  popular  ballads, 
and  gazed  in  wondering  admiration  upon  Ossian  and  Shakspeare,  "  The 
Sorrows  of  AVerther,"  a  romance  in  letters,  and  the  drama  of  "  Gotz  von 
Berlichingen,"  in  which  these  poets  served  as  models,  awakened  a 
storm  of  enthusiasm ;  when  Lessing  and  Winckelmann  had  revived  the 
interest  for  ancient  art  in  Germany,  the  classical  dramas,  "  Tasso  "  and 
"  Iphigenia,"  in  the  spirit  and  in  the  clear  and  harmonious  form  of  anti- 
quity, appeared  in  a  time  adapted  for  them  ;  and  the  impressions  and  feel- 
ings that  the  poet  had  received  during  his  travels  in  Italy  are  reflected  in 
the  unsurpassable  popular  scenes  of  the  tragedy  of  "  Egmont."  The  idyllic 
epic,  "  Hermann  and  Dorothea,"  touched  upon  the  mighty  period  of  the 
French  revolution  and  the  sorrows  of  the  emigrants;  the  romance  of '*  Wil- 
helm  Meister,*'  in  which  the  life  of  a  plaj'er  is  described,  and  the  novel  of 
"  Elective  Aflinities,"  belong  to  the  new  romantic  time,  which  found  plea- 
sure in  the  mysterious,  the  wonderful,  and  the  fabulous.  In  ''  Poetry  and 
Truth,"  Goethe  displays  the  progress  of  his  own  life  and  mental  develop- 
ment ;  and  in  the  magnificent  dramatic  poem  of  "  Faust,"  with  which 
we  find  him  engaged  through  his  whole  hfe,  he  has  left  to  posterity  a 
picture  of  the  most  inward  conditions  of  his  soul.  In  the  mean  while, 
the  political  world  had  experienced  violent  convulsions,  and  the  at- 
tention of  the  people  was  directed  towards  history  and  the  affairs  of 
Schiller  State.     At  this  juncture,  Schiller,  by  his  historical  dramas, 

A.  D.  that  presented  before  the  soul  of  the  nation  similar  tempest- 

1769-1303.  ^^jjg  periods  taken  from  foreign  and  domestic  history,  and  by 
his  enthusiasm  for  fi-eedom,  fatherland,  and  human  happiness,  struck  the 
chords  that  found  the  deepest  response  in  the  bosoms  of  the  people.  His 
first  three  tragedies, "  The  Robbers,"  "  Love  and  Intrigue,"  and  "  Fiesko," 
belong  to  the  stormy  period  of  youth  ;  with  the  drama  of  "  Don  Carlos  " 
begins  a  more  refined  period  ;  during  his  residence  in  Jena  as  professor 
of  history,  he  occupied  himself  with  the  "  Thirty  Years'  War,"  with  the 
"Revolt  of  the  Netherlands,"  and  with  the  trilogy  of  "  Wallenstein  ;"  and 
in  the  last  years  of  his  life,  in  Weimar,  which  were  rendered  gloomy  by 
sickness  and  anxieties  about  the  means  of  subsistence,  he  composed 
"  Maria  Stuart,"  the  "  Maid  of  Orleans,"  the  "  Bride  of  Messina,"  and  the 

29* 


342  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

magnificent  drama  of  "  "William  Tell."  Schiller  gained  the  friendship  of 
Goethe  by  the  purity  of  his  feelings  and  the  truthfulness  of  his  efforts, 
different  as  the  natures  of  the  two  men  were.  Their  united  activity 
marks  the  culminating  point  of  German  poetry. 

§  470.  Not  poetry  alone,  hut  the  science  of  religion,  philosophy,  his- 
tory, the  affairs  of  education,  in  a  word,  the  whole  spiritual  life,  expe- 
rienced a  mighty  revolution.  Protestant  theologians  searched  through 
the  Bible,  and  presented  systems  of  Christianity  in  accordance  with  the 
Lavater  direction  of  their  own  minds.    Some,  like  Lavater,  the  pastor 

A.  D.  of  Zurich,  sought  to  preserve  the  world  in  a  rigid  faith  by 

3741-1801.  ujeans  of  religious  writings,  and  to  establish  the  conviction 
that  man  is  brought  into  immediate  union  with  God  by  prayer ;  others, 
Nicolai  ^^^^  *^^  Berlin  bookseller  and  author,  Nicolai,  would  admit 

A.  D.  no  other  judge  in  spiritual  things  than  human  reason  and  the 

1783  - 1811.  pQ^ej.  of  reflection,  and  declared  that  every  thing  that  was 
opposed  to  this  was  superstition.  The  former  class  were  called  Super- 
naturalists,  the  latter  Rationalists.  A  third  paMj'j  which  included  Hamann, 
the  philosopher,  Fr.  H.  Jacobi,  and  the  poet  Fr.  Stolberg,  li^e  the  mys- 
tics of  the  middle  ages,  made  religion  a  matter  of  feeling.  Lavater  was 
also  the  inventor  of  the  dubious  science  of  physiognomy,  which  teaches 
how  to  discover  men's  characters  from  the  contour  of  the  head  and  fea- 
tures of  the  countenance,  but  which  was  exposed  to  some  severe  attacks 
from  the  clever  humorist  and  satirist,  Lichtenberg  of  Gottingen.  In  phi- 
Kant  A.  D.  losophy,  the  great  thinker,  Kant  of  Konigsburg,  erected  a 
1724  - 1804.  system  that  soon  penetrated  into  all  the  sciences,  and  excited 
and  swayed  the  learned  world  of  Germany.  Spittler,  by  his  perspicuity 
and  acuteness,  and  the  Swiss,  John  MQller,  by  his  learning  and  artistic 
descriptions,  established  a  new  epoch  in  historical  writing ;  and  in  the 
affairs  of  education,  Basedow,  by  the  model  seminary  of  Dessau  (Phi- 
lanthropium),  and  Campe  and  Salzmann,  by  their  writings  for  children, 
called  a  new  method  of  instruction  into  existence,  upon  which  the  Swiss, 
Pestalozzi,  founded  his  system  of  infant  education  and  of  popular  schools. 


YL  THE  PROGRESS  OF  THE  NEW  WORLD. 

l   contest  of  the  english  with  the  french  for  the  posses- 
sion of  north  america, 
[a.d.  1700-1763.] 
§  471.  The  French  regarded  with  some  uneasiness  and  alarm  the  en- 
largement and  prosperity  of  the   English  colonies  in   North  America. 
Their  own  settlements  in  Acadie  (Nova  Scotia),  along  the  shores  of  the 
Bay  of  Fundy,  and  in  Canada,  though  formed  before  Jamestown  was 
built  or  the  Pilgrims  had  landed  at  Plymouth,  seemed  to  have  no  element 


THE   FRENCH  AND   ENGLISH  IN   AMERICA.  343 

of  life  or  progress ;  they  were  military  or  missionary  posts,  rather  than 
agricultural  colonies  firmly  rooted  in  the  soil.  Among  the  French  were 
found  excellent  pioneers,  bold  explorers  of  the  wilderness,  and  devoted 
and  successful  missionaries.  Fond  of  rambling  and  adventure,  averse  to 
the  prolonged  labors  of  agriculture,  and  satisfied  with  moderate  gains  and 
much  amusement,  they  pushed  their  explorations  and  their  alliances  with 
the  Indians  far  beyond  the  English,  but  gained  no  permanent  possession 
of  the  country.  The  plastic  nature  of  the  Frenchman  fitted  him  to  be- 
come a  friend  and  ally  of  the  red  men  ;  he  did  not  do  much  towards  civil- 
izing the  savages,  but  was  in  some  danger  of  becoming  a  savage  himself. 
He  joined  them  in  the  chase  and  the  dance,  built  a  wigwam  in  their  vil- 
lage for  his  dusky  concubine,  and  trained  his  children  to  become  members 
of  the  tribe,  and  to  adopt  every  peculiarity  of  Indian  costume  and  man- 
ners. Still,  he  did  not  lose  his  nationality,  but  preserved  his  loyalty  and 
his  religious  faith,  and  rendered  cheerful  obedience  to  the  representative 
of  his  monarch,  the  governor  of  Canada.  The  Jesuits  and  Recollet  mis- 
sionaries braved  all  the  perils  of  the  wilderness  in  their  zeal  to  Christ- 
ianize the  natives  ;  they  made  converts  of  many,  —  that  is,  they  baptizeo 
them,  hung  crucifixes  about  their  necks,  and  taught  them  to  repeat  the 
simplest  formulas  of  prayer.  While  in  company  with  their  spiritua 
guides,  the  Indians  were  docile  and  devout ;  separated  from  them,  the^ 
soon  relapsed  into  all  the  excesses  of  barbarism.  The  French  mission- 
aries made  many  geographical  discoveries  ;  they  were  the  first  to  explore 
the  Great  Lakes,  the  first  white  men  who  beheld  the  great  Falls  of  the 
Niagara.  As  early  as  15G5,  Father  Allouez  reached  the  outlet  of  Lake 
Superior,  and,  three  years  afterward,  in  company  with  Marquette  and 
Dablon,  he  visited  the  tribes  on  the  southern  border  of  this  lake,  and  tra- 
versed the  country  between  it  and  the  foot  of  Lake  Michigan.  Trading 
and  missionary  posts  were  established  by  the  French  in  this  region,  and 
they  became  the  rallying  points  of  civilization  for  the  country  around  the 
upper  Lakes.  In  1673,  Marquette  and  Joliet  discovered  the  Missis- 
sippi, finding  their  way  to  it  by  the  Fox  and  the  "Wisconsin  rivers ;  they 
sailed  down  the  great  stream  to  Arkansas,  and  on  their  return,  passed  up 
the  Illinois,  and  thence  found  their  way  back  to  Green  Bay.  Nine  year^ 
afterwards,  Robert  de  la  Salle  accomplished  the  work  which  they  had 
A  1  la^i  ^^o"")  by  passing  down  the  river  to  its  entrance  into  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  taking  possession  of  the  country  on  its 
banks  and  at  its  mouth  in  the  name  of  his  king,  in  whose  honor  he  called 
it  Louisiana.  Louis  XIV.  granted  him  a  commission  to  found  a  colony 
there,  and  an  expedition  on  a  liberal  scale  was  fitted  out  from  France  for 
this  purpose.  The  vessels  arrived  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  but  were  not 
able  to  find  the  entrance  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  company  were  obliged 
to  land  on  the  coast  of  Texas,  where  they  formed  a  temporary  settlement. 
While  conducting  an  expedition  by  land  to  discover  the  great  river,  La 


344  THE    MODERiS'   EPOCH. 

Salle  was  murdered  by  one  of  his  companions,  and  his  associates  in 
Texas  were  attacked  and  massacred  by  the  Indians.  So  disastrous  was 
the  failure  of  this  expedition  that  the  French  did  not  renew,  for  some 
years,  the  attempt  to  colonize  Louisiana. 

§  472.  But  Louis  XIV.  was  anxious  to  complete  the  glories  of  his 
reign  by  creating  for  France  a  colonial  dominion  on  the  banks  of  the 
great  "  Father  of  Waters,"  which  should  rival  or  eclipse  the  flourishing 
colonies  of  England  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  that  had  been  planted  for  her, 
in  their  penury  and  homelessness,  by  the  hard  hands  and  stout  hearts  of 
her  political  and  religious  exiles.  After  the  peace  of  Ryswich,  therefore, 
a  brave  French  officer,  Iberville,  assisted  by  his  two  brothers,  Sauvolle  and 
Bienville,  was  sent  out  in  command  of  four  vessels,  and  a  band  of  about 
200  emigrants,  to  renew  the  attempt  made  by  La  Salle. 
Aided  by  Father  Anastasius,  who  had  been  one  of  La  Salle's 
companions,  he  succeeded  in  fmding  the  entrance  of  the  Mississippi 
from  the  Gulf.  But  the  low  and  marshy  banks  of  this  river  appearing 
an  unsuitable  position  for  a  settlement,  he  chose  rather  the  barren  and 
sandy  shore  of  Biloxi  bay,  at  some  distance  to  the  eastward  from  the 
river's  mouth,  and  there  disembarked  his  companions.  As  the  emigrants 
thought  not  at  all  of  agriculture,  but  only  of  mining  and  trade  with  the 
Indians,  they  readily  accepted  a  spot  where  no  green  thing  could  ever 
grow,  any  more  than  on  the  desert  of  Sahara.  Expecting  to  receive 
their  chief  supplies  from  France,  their  first  object  was  to  secure  easy 
communication  with  the  ships.  But  even  this  end  was  imperfectly  ob- 
tained, for  owing  to  the  shallowness  of  the  water,  vessels  could  not  come 
within  a  league's  distance  of  the  shore.  The  colony  was  afterwards 
transferred  to  an  island  over  against  the  bay,  where  also  the  soil  was  a 
fme  sand,  white  and  shining  as  snow.  About  the  same  time.  Mobile  was 
founded,  at  the  head  of  the  bay  of  that  name.  An  offer  of  four  hundred 
Huguenot  families,  already  inured  to  exile,  hardship,  and  toil,  to  join 
the  settlement,  was  rejected  by  the  bigotry  of  the  king  and  his  ministers; 
and  the  colony  was  left  to  consist  of  Canadian  hunters,  vagrant  specula- 
tors, intent  only  upon  trafficking  in  furs  and  hunting  for  the  precious 
metals,  and  indolent  office-holders  who  thought  of  nothing  but  their  sala- 
ries. We  are  not  surprised  to  learn,  therefore,  that,  in  1708,  the  colonists 
hardly  equalled  in  number  those  who  first  came  out  with  Iberville, 
though  a  fresh  band  of  emigrants  had  joined  them  almost  every  year. 
In  1723,  the  French  government  was  informed  that  the  inhabitants 
could  not  subsist  if  they  did  not  receive  a  supply  of  salt  provision.  A  few 
years  before,  an  eye-witness  says  the  fixmine  was  so  great  at  Biloxi,  that 
over  five  hundred  people  died  of  hunger.  The  lavish  supplies  furnished 
by  the  mother  country  alone  preserved  the  colony  from  extinction.  But 
the  government,  growing  weary  of  such  a  burden,  sold  the  settlement,  in 
1712,  to  a  v/ealthy  merchant,  who,  in  return  for  the  exclusive  right  of 


THE   FRENCH   AXD   ENGLISH   IN   AMERICA.  345 

trade  and  other  privileges,  undertook  to  defray  its  expenses ;  and  five 
years  afterwards,  this  merchant  transferred  his  right  to  the  famous  Mis- 
sissippi Company,  which  was  projected  and  managed  by  John  Law.  The 
money  lavished  upon  Louisiana  for  a  few  years  by  this  gigantic  corpora- 
tion, and  the  involuntary  or  hired  emigrants  who  were  sent  thither,  gave 
it  for  a  time  a  gleam  of  prosperity.  New  Orleans  was  founded,  and  a 
fort  and  settlement  be;'un  hidier  up  the  river,  where  Natchez 

A.  D.  1718.  ,  o  o  1  J 

now  stands. 

§  473.  On  the  possession  of  this  sickly  colony,  and  on  the  previous 
explorations  which  had  made  known  the  course  of  the  great  river  and 
the  country  around  the  great  Lakes,  the  French  founded  their  claim  to 
the  whole  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  But  the  English  always  maintained 
that  their  possession  of  the  seacoast  gave  them  a  valid  title  to  tlie  coun- 
try in  the  interior  for  an  indefinite  extent  to  the  west ;  and  in  conformity 
with  this  idea,  the  charters  of  several  of  the  Colonies  made  their  territory 
stretch  across  the  whole  breadth  of  the  continent,  from  sea  to  sea.  The 
Five  Nations,  a  powerful  Indian  confederacy,  the  steadfast  fi'iends  of 
the  English  and  enemies  of  the  French,  also  claimed  by  right  of  conquest 
the  whole  country  of  the  northwest,  lying  between  the  Allcgiianies,  the 
Great  Lakes,  and  the  Mississippi ;  and  England  sought  to  perfect  her 
title  by  annexing  to  it  this  pretension  of  the  savages.  So  long  as  the 
two  countries  were  at  peace  with  each  other,  this  controversy  led  only 
to  a  series  of  border  disputes,  encroachments,  and  intrigues  with  the  na- 
tive tribes,  neither  party  being  numerous  enough  to  colonize  the  territory 
which  both  coveted.  But  when  England  and  France  were  at  war,  their 
respective  Colonies  in  America  also  engaged  in  a  murderous  and  protrac- 
ted conflict,  which,  because  the  savages  were  enlisted  in  it,  was  fearfully  de- 
structive of  life  and  property.  The  details  of  this  warfare  in  the  wilder- 
ness are  shocking  to  humanity.  It  spared  no  sex,  profession,  or  age,  and 
through  the  mutual  exasperation  that  it  provoked,  both  parties  in  it  were 
guilty  of  excesses  which  shamed  their  pretensions  to  Christian  civilization. 

§  474.  The  first  struggle  took  place  during  the  war  which  began  with 
the  accession  of  William  of  Orange  to  the  English  throne,  and  ended 
•with  the  peace  of  Ryswick,  in  1697.  The  weight  of  it,  in  America,  fell 
chiefly  upon  New  England  and  New  York,  the  other  Colonies  being 
protected  by  their  distance  from  the  French  settlements,  and  the  mother 
country  having  too  much  employment  for  its  arms  in  Europe,  to  be  able 
to  send  much  aid  to  its  suffering  children  in  America.  At  .this  period, 
and  during  the  subsequent  wars,  the  people  of  New  England  had  their 
own  peculiar  grounds  of  quarrel  with  the  French,  who  were  their  rivals 
in  the  fisheries,  who  encroached  upon  their  boundaries,  endangered  their 
outlying  settlements,  and  stirred  up  the  savages  against  them,  and  whom, 
as  Roman  Catholics,  they  feared  and  hated  even  more  than  if  they  had 
been  pagans.     The  French  in  Acadie  and  Canada,  too  feeble  and  few  in 


346  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 

number  to  accomplisli  much  by  their  own  efforts,  placed  their  chief  de. 
pendcncc  upon  their  Indian  allies,  the  native  tribes  at  the  eastward 
being  uniformly  on  their  side.  They  thus  succeeded  in  desolating  the 
frontier,  while  Massachusetts  retaliated  by  fitting  out  regular  expeditions, 
and  striking  heavy  blows  against  the  chief  settlements  of  the  French. 
Dover,  in  New  Hampshire,  was  burned  by  the  Indians,  and  its  inhabi- 
tants were  killed  or  carried  off  as  prisoners ;  the  fort  at  Pem- 
aquid  was  taken,  and  though  an  attack  upon  Casco  was  re- 
pulsed, all  the  settlements  further  east  were  desolated.  The  next  year, 
Schenectady,  on  the  Mohawk  river,  was  attacked  at  midnight,  burned, 
and  most  of  the  people  were  massacred,  while  another  party  of  French 
and  Indians  destroyed  Salmon  Falls,  in  New  Hampshire,  and  a  third  re- 
duced Casco.  Massachusetts,  in  return,  sent  out  a  Httle  fleet,  conveying 
about  700  men,  under  Sir  William  Phips,  against  Acadie ;  he  easily  sub- 
dued Port  Royal,  and  by  ravaging  that  place  and  the  neighboring  settle- 
ments, obtained  plunder  enough  to  defray  all  the  expenses  of  the  ex- 
pedition. He  then  sailed  with  32  ships  and  2,000  men,  to  attack  Que- 
bec, while  a  little  army  of  Massachusetts  and  New  York  troops,  under 
Fitz  John  Winthrop,  marched  against  Montreal.  Both  were  unsuccess- 
ful, being  defeated  by  the  great  activity  and  vigilance  of  the  aged  Count 
Frontenac,  then  governor  of  Canada.  The  expenses  of  these  bootless 
expeditions  proved  a  heavy  burthen  to  Massachusetts,  obliging  the  Gene- 
ral Court  to  make  a  considerable  issue  of  paper  money.  The  war  then 
languished,  though  a  sickening  contest  was  kept  up  by  small  parties  on 
the  frontiers,  which  caused  great  misery,  and  ruined  many  flourishing 
settlements.  Peace  was  made  in  1697,  the  treaty  stipulating  that  each 
party  should  retain  the  possessions  it  had  before  the  war. 

§  475.  Four  years  afterwards,  hostilities  were  renewed  by  the  war  of 
the  Spanish  Succession,  which  ended  only  with  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht, 
in  1713.  The  Spaniards  had  a  few  small  settlements  in  Florida,  and 
as  they  were  now  the  allies  of  the  French,  some  of  the  disasters  of  the 
war  fell  upon  the  English  Colonies  at  the  south.  Governor  Moore,  of 
South  Carolina,  led  600  men  against  the  fort  and  settlement  at  St.  Au- 
gustine ;  but  before  the  fort  had  surrendered,  the  appearance 
of  two  Spanish  men-of-war  in  the  offing  induced  him  to  re- 
treat precipitately,  leaving  behind  his  vessels  and  stores.  Three  years 
afterwards,  he  conducted  fifty  white  volunteers  and  about  a  thousand 
friendly  Creek  Indians  against  St.  Marks,  Florida,  and  the  Spanish  mis- 
sionary villages  in  its  vicinity,  where  a  portion  of  the  Appalachian  tribe, 
half  civilized  and  converted  to  Christianity,  were  established.  The  fort 
could  not  be  taken,  but  Moore  desolated  the  Indian  villages,  robbed  and 
burned  the  churches,  and  gave  up  the  country  to  his  Creek  allies,  the 
Appalachians  removing  their  settlement  to  the  banks  of  the  Altamaha. 
In  retaliation,  a  French  frigate  and  four  Spanish  sloops  made  an  attack 


THE  FRENCH  AND  ENGLISH  IN  AMERICA.         347 

upon  Charleston ;  but  the  governor  of  South  Carolina  assembled  900 
men,  captured  the  French  vessel,  and  beat  off  the  assailants 
^'^'  '  with  great  loss.  At  the  north,  the  war  was  conducted,  as  be- 
fore, by  small  parties  of  Canadians  and  Indians,  who  made  daring  in- 
roads into  the  English  settlements,  plundered  and  burned  one  or  two 
towns,  massacred  half  of  the  inhabitants,  and  carried  off  the  others  into 
Canada,  before  a  force  could  be  collected  to  oppose  them ;  while  the  Colo- 
nies, with  a  little  help  from  England,  sent  out  formidable  expeditions 
against  Acadie,  Montreal,  and  Quebec,  which  were  generally  unsuccess- 
ful, though  they  sometimes  inflicted  great  suffering  upon  the  enemy,  espe- 
cially upon  the  Acadians.  Deerfield  and  Plaverhill  in  Massachusetts  were 
thus  sacked  and  burned  by  a  party  of  French  and  Indians  under  De 
Rouville,  and  the  alarm  spread  even  to  the  towns  in  the  near  vicinity  of 
Boston.  The  government  offered  a  considerable  reward  for  Indian  prison- 
ers or  for  scalps, — a  fearful  act,  which  shows  how  the  atrocities  committed 
during  the  war  had  broken  down  all  the  feelings  of  a  common  humanity. 
Indeed,  after  the  terrible  scenes  which  had  taken  place  at  Schenectady, 
Deerfield,  and  Haverhill,  the  colonists  had  come  to  regard  the  French 
and  Indians  as  wolves  that  should  be  hunted  down  without  pity.  Stimu- 
lated by  these  rewards,  a  class  of  forest  scouts  and  Indian  hunters  was 
gradually  formed  and  trained,  who  soon  rivalled  their  savage  foes  in  all 
the  arts  of  bush-fighting  and  in  disregarding  the  cry  for  mercy.  Massa- 
chusetts, assisted  by  Rhode  Island  and  New  Hampshire,  sent 
out  an  expedition  of  a  thousand  men,  under  Colonel  March, 
against  Acadie,  hoping  thus  to  check  the  destructive  war  on  the  eastern 
frontier.  March  did  not  succeed  in  capturing  Port  Royal,  but  he  rava- 
ged all  the  settlements  along  the  coast,  and  did  much  to  cripple  the  ene- 
my^s  strength  in  that  quarter.  Much  greater  preparations  were  mada 
two  years  afterwards,  by  a  combination  of  the  northern  Colonies,  for  an 
attack  on  Montreal  and  Quebec,  under  the  expectation  that  a  British 
fleet  and  army  would  be  sent  to  cooperate  with  them.  But  the  Bri- 
tish ministry  did  not  keep  their  promise,  and  after  waiting  a  long  time 
for  the  appearance  of  the  fleet,  the  forces  were  disbanded  without  at- 
tempting anything.  At  last,  in  1711,  the  Tory  ministry  of  Queen  Anne 
did  make  an  effort  against  Canada  for  the  relief  of  the  suffering  Ameri- 
cans. A  powerful  fleet  under  Sir  II.  Walker,  and  a  large  body  of  troops 
commanded  by  General  Hill,  brother  of  the  celebrated  Mrs.  Masham, 
arrived  at  Boston  when  nobody  was  expecting  them.  But  some  provi- 
sions and  Colonial  forces  were  hastily  got  together,  and  embarked  in  the 
fleet,  while  a  large  force  was  collected  at  Albany  to  proceed  against 
Montreal,  as  soon  as  they  should  hear  of  the  fall  of  Quebec.  But  the 
British  commanders  proved  to  be  wholly  incompetent  for  so  important  a 
trust.  Through  the  obstinacy  and  negligence  of  Walker,  eight  or  nine 
of  the  transports  were  wrecked  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  a  thousand  men 


348  THE    MODERN    EPOCn. 

were  drowned.  The  disheartened  admiral  immediately  turned  about  and 
made  sail  for  England,  and  the  troops  at  Albany  were  dismissed  before 
they  had  seen  the  enemy.  The  disgraceful  failure  of  this  enterprise  ex- 
cited much  grief  and  indignation  both  in  the  Colonies  and  in  the  English 
House  of  Commons,  where  the  whole  undertaking,  so  suddenly  begun 
and  lightly  abandoned,  was  denounced  as  a  flagrant  political  job.  The 
treaty  of  Utrecht  put  an  end  to  the  war,  and  afforded  a  little  guaranty 
for  the  future,  as  it  ceded  the  province  of  Acadie  or  Nova  Scotia  to  the 
English,  and  recognized  the  Five  Nations  as  subjects  of  England.  But 
it  was  long  before  the  northern  Colonies  recovered  from  the  disasters 
they  had  experienced  in  the  murderous  and  ill-managed  conflict. 

§  476.  Sir  Robert  Walpole's  ministry  maintained  peace  for  about  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  a  peace  broken  in  America  only  by  a  few  short  and 
comparatively  insignificant  contests  with  the  Indians.  ]3ut  this  minister 
was  driven  against  his  will  into  a  war  with  Spain  in  1739,  and  three 
years  afterwards,  France  also  became  a  party  in  the  contest.  Gen. 
Oglethorpe  was  appointed  military  commander  in  Georgia  and  the  Caro- 
^^,^        linas  ;  and  with  about  1,200  men,  and  a  body  of  Indians,  he 

A.  D.  1740.  o  * 

made  an  attack  upon  St.  Augustme,  but  was  unsuccessful. 
All  the  Colonies  were  then  required  to  furnish  their  quotas  for  a  force  of 
about  4,000  men,  to  aid  Admiral  Vernon  in  his  unfortunate  expedition 
against  Carthagena.  They  readily  complied,  furnishing  both  men  and 
money,  and  were  thus  deeply  concerned  by  the  failure  of  that  ill-starred 
enterprise.  Then  the  Spaniards,  in  their  turn,  became  the  assailants, 
and  sent  a  considerable  force  against  Georgia  and  Carolina,  which  was 
repelled  by  Oglethorpe  without  much  difficulty.  At  the  north,  the  chief 
incident  of  the  war  was  the  capture  of  the  strong  French  fortress  of 
Louisburg,  on  Cape  Breton,  by  an  army  fitted  out  in  great  part  from 
Massachusetts,  and  commanded  by  an  enterprising  militia 
officer,  Colonel  Pepperell.  This  place  had  been  so  heavily 
fortified  as  to  be  deemed  impregnable,  and  it  was  called  the  Dunkirk  or 
Gibraltar  of  America.  In  war,  it  was  a  source  of  great  annoyance  to 
the  New  England  Colonies,  as  it  gave  shelter  to  the  .privateers  which 
swarmed  upon  the  coast,  destroying  their  fisheries  and  breaking  up  their 
general  commerce.  Its  unexpected  capture,  after  a  siege  of  six  or  seven 
weeks,  by  a  force  seemingly  very  inadequate  to  make  an  impression  upon 
it,  was  about  the  only  gleam  of  good  fortune  that  illustrated  the  arms  of 
Great  Britain  during  this  inglorious  war.  Col.  Pepperell  received  a 
baronetcy  as  his  reward.  Again  a  project  was  formed  to  capture  Que- 
bec by  a  fleet  and  army  from  England,  to  be  joined  at  Louisburg  by 
troops  from  New  England,  while  an  army  furnished  by  the  other  Colo- 
nies should  proceed  against  Montreal ;  and  again,  after  a  large  Colonial 
force  had  been  collected,  and  great  expense  incurred,  the  English  fleet 
and  army  failed  to  appear,  and  the  enterprise  was  abandoned.     As  Mas 


THE  FRENCH   AXD   ENGLISH   IN   AMERICA.  349 

sacliusetts  guarded  her  frontiers  witli  as  much  energy  as  she  had  sho\\-n 
in  acting  against  Louisburg,  she  suffered  comparatively  little  from  the 
incursions  of  the  French  and  Indians.  The  war  was  ended  in  1748  by 
tlie  treaty  of  Aix  la  Chapelle,  which,  to  the  great  chagrin  of  the  New 
Englanders,  ceded  back  Louisburg  to  the  French. 

§  477.  The  decisive  struggle  between  France  and  England  for  the 
possession  of  the  country  on  the  Mississippi  and  the  Great  Lakes  began 
in  1753,  though  war  was  not  formally  declared  till  three  years  later. 
Louisiana  had  at  last  gained  wealth  and  strength,  and  the  French  mis- 
sionary and  trading  establishments  on  the  Lakes  had  been  converted  into 
military  posts,  formidable  not  so  much  from  the  strength  of  their  garri- 
sons, as  from  the  savage  allies  by  whom  they  were  surrounded,  or  who 
could  be  quickly  summoned  to  their  defence.  A  plan  was  formed  to 
connect  Canada  with  Louisiana  by  a  line  of  forts,  extending  from  Lake 
Erie  along  the  upper  waters  of  the  Ohio,  and  thence  by  the  course  of 
that  river  to  the  Mississippi ;  thus  hemming  in  the  British  settlements, 
which  occupied  a  narrow  strip  of  land  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  had 
nowhere  passed  the  Alleghanies.  This  project  soon  brought  the  French 
into  collision  with  the  Ohio  Company,  an  association  formed  in  London  and 
Virginia,  which  had  obtained  from  the  crown  a  grant  of  a  large  tract  of 
land  along  the  Ohio,  and  had  erected  trading  houses  there.  The  French 
warned  the  English  traders  off,  or  sent  them  prisoners  to  Canada ;  and 
complaint  was  therefore  made  to  the  Governor  of  Virginia,  who  sent  out 
George  Washington,  then  a  ^  young  officer  in  the  militia  service,  on  a 
message  to  the  French  commander,  requiring  him  to  withdraw  his  troops 
from  that  region.  An  unsatisfactory  answer  was  returned,  and  Col. 
Washington  was  again  despatched,  at  the  head  of  four  hundred  men,  to 

drive  otf  the  intruders.     He  captured  a  scouting  party  that 
A.  D.  1754.  .        ,  .       ,  *^         ^  M    1  V 

'vvas  sent  agamst  him,  but  was  soon  after  assailed  by  a  very 

superior  force  of  French  and  Indians,  and  after  a  brave  defence,  was 
obliged  to  capitulate  on  honorable  terms,  and  return  to  the  eastward. 
Preparations  for  war  were  now  made  by  both  parties,  though  the  con- 
test seemed  a  very  unequal  one.  The  population  of  the  English  colonies 
amounted  to  a  million  and  a  half,  while  the  French  scarcely  num- 
bered one  hundred  thousand.  But  the  latter  were  difficult  to  be  reached, 
as  their  forts  were  remote  points  in  the  wilderness,  surrounded  by  a  cloud 
of  Indian  allies  ;  and  from  these  forest  fastnesses,  they  menaced  the 
whole  English  frontier.  The  British  army  of  that  day  was  an  unwieldy 
and  cumbrous  machine,  overburdened  with  baggage  and  the  munitions 
of  war,  led  by  brave  but  pedantic  officers,  and  likely  to  be  thrown  into 
inextricable  confusion  and  distress  by  the  difficulties  of  hewing  a  path 
through  the  forests  and  over  the  mountains,  in  constant  danger  of  surprise 
by  a  hght-heeled  and  enterprising  foe. 

§  478.  General  Braddock  was  sent  from  England  with  two  regiments, 

ao 


350  THE  MODERN    EPOCH. 

to  be  joined  by  some  provincial  troops  from  Virginia,  and  then  to  march 
against  Fort  du  Quesne,  which  the  French  had  lately  built 
at  the  head  of  the  Ohio,  where  Pittsburgh  now  stands. 
He  crossed  the  mountains  in  June,  with  about  tAvo  thousand  men.  Colonel 
Washington  acting  as  his  aid-de-camp.  The  difficulty  of  making  a  road 
through  the  wilderness  induced  him,  at  Washington's  advice,  to  leave 
behind  his  heavy  baggage  under  a  rear  guard,  and  press  forward  rapidly 
with  a  band  of  1,200  men,  to  secure  the  post  before  French  succors 
could  arrive.  Neglecting  the  precautions  which  he  had  been  urged  to 
take  against  surprise,  when  near  his  journey's  end,  he  fell  into  an  ambus- 
cade formed  by  only  250  French,  with  a  large  party  of  Indians,  and  was 
totally  routed,  more  than  half  of  his  troops  being  killed  or  wounded. 
Braddock  himself  was  slain ;  and  the  panic  being  communicated  to  the 
rear  guard,  all  the  artillery  and  baggage  were  abandoned,  and  the  feeble 
remains  of  the  army  fled  in  great  disorder  across  the  mountains,  leaving 
the  border  settlements  defenceless.  The  other  expeditions  planned  by 
the  British  ministry  and  the  Colonies  for  this  year  had  but  little  success. 
Acadie,  or  Nova  Scotia,  indeed,  was  easily  reduced,  the  French  inhabit- 
ants of  this  province,  notwithstanding  its  cession  to  England  thirty  years 
before,  having  assisted  the  operations  of  the  enemy.  For  this  act,  and 
September,  ^0^  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  they  were  now  in- 
1755.  humanly  punished ;   seven  thousand  of  them  were  forcibly 

put  on  shipboard,  and  transported  to  the  English  colonies,  where  they 
were  scattered  round,  and  maintained  as  paupers.  Their  villages  were 
burned,  their  fields  devastated,  and  the  few  that  remained  were  driven 
for  shelter  to  the  woods  and  mountains.  An  army  under  Sir  William 
Johnson,  directed  against  Crown  Point,  was  encountered,  near  Lake 
George,  by  Baron  Dieskau,  who  had  recently  arrived  with  fresh  troops 
from  France.  An  English  party  that  had  been  sent  in  advance  fell  into 
an  ambuscade,  and  was  routed  with  great  loss.  But  when  the  French, 
flushed  with  this  success^  advanced  to  attack  Johnson's  main  body,  who  had 
now  thrown  up  a  slight  entrenchment,  they  were  very  w^armly  received, 
and,  after  an  obstinate  conflict,  were  driven  from  the  field,  and  totally  dis- 
persed, their  commander  being  wounded  and  taken  prisoner.  Satisfied 
with  this  victory.  Sir  William  Johnson  gave  up  the  movement  against 
Crown  Point ;  and  the  expedition  to  Niagara  also  proved  a  failure,  the 
troops  not  being  able  to  reach  that  place,  owing  to  the  lateness  of  the 
season. 

§  479.  A  meeting  of  delegates  from  seven  of  the   Colonies  had  been 
held  at  Albany,  to  secure  the  friendship  of  the  Indian  ^con- 
federacy of  the  Five  Nations,  and  to  take  other  measures  for 
the  common  safety.   A  plan  of  union  between  the  several  Colonies,  drawn 
up  by  Dr.  Frankhn,  was  proposed  at  this  convention,  and  accepted  by  the 
delegates.     Had  it  gone  into  operation,  it  would  have  given  greater  unity 


THE   FRENCH  AND    ENGLISH  IN  AMERICA.  3ol 

to  the  efforts  of  the  Colonists  in  war,  and  might  have  led  to  important 
consequences  by  cultivating  among  them,  at  this  early  day,  a  feeling  of 
nationality  and  a  sense  of  mutual  dependence.  But  the  project  fell  to 
the  ground,  being  disliked  in  England  because  it  gave  too  much  power  to 
the  people  in  the  Colonies,  and  in  America,  because  it  conceded  too  much 
to  the  crown. 

§  480.  The  year  175G  passed  away  without  any  thing  of  consequence 
being  attempted  by  the  English  in  America ;  while  th(j  French,  under 
the  able  guidance  of  the  Marquis  de  Montcalm,  now  their  commander- 
in-chief,  struck  one  vigorous  and  important  blow.  This  was  directed 
against  Oswego,  a  strong  English  post  on  the  southern  shore  of  Lake 
Ontario,  which  the  French  suddenly  invested  with  a  large  armament, 
and  compelled  it  to  surrender,  with  a  garrison  of  over  a  thousand  men, 
and  a  great  quantity  of  artillery  and  stores.  The  western  Indians,  sus- 
tained and  guided  by  the  French  at  Fort  Du  Quesne,  wasted  the  frontiers 
of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  with  a  pitiless  and  desolating  war,  and  their 
scalping  parties  came  within  thirty  miles  of  Philadelphia.  The  next  year 
was  marked  by  equal  inactivity  and  feebleness  on  the  part  of 
the  English,  and  by  another  successful  enterprise  of  the  French. 
Several  of  the  Colonies  showed  great  energy  in  raising  men  and  money ; 
but  their  efforts  were  paralyzed  by  the  want  of  concert  with  each-  other, 
by  the  necessity  of  waiting  for  orders  from  England,  and  by  the  pompous 
and  dilatory  proceedings  of  the  incompetent  generals  who  were  sent  over 
to  command  them.  On  the  other  hand,  Montcalm,  not  obliged  to  take 
council  with  any  one,  suddenly  collected  a  force  of  8,000  men,  crossed 
Lake  GeOrge,  and  laid  siege  to  Fort  William  Henry  at  its  southern  ex- 
tremity. The  garrison  was  2,000  strong,  and  General  AVebb  was  at 
Fort  Edward,  only  fourteen  miles  distant,  with  4,000  more.  But  not  a 
man  did  AVebb  send  to  the  relief  of  the  beleagured  fort ;  and  after  six 
days'  siege,  the  garrison  was  compelled  to  surrender,  on  condition  of  being 
allowed  to  retire  to  Fort  Edward  unmolested.  But  as  soon  as  they  were 
disarmed,  IMontcalm's  Indian  allies  fell  upon  them,  massacred  a  consider- 
able number,  and  drove  the  others  into  the  woods,  where  many  perished 
before  reaching  the  settlements.  The  capture  of  this  post  created  greai 
alarm  in  New  England  and  New  York.  Pepperell,  the  captor  of  Louis- 
burg,  was  called  out  from  his  retirement  and  made  Lieutenant-General 
of  Massachusetts,  where  20,000  men  were  collected  in  arms.  But  satis- 
lied  with  the  success  already  obtained,  Montcalm  retired  to  Canada  with- 
out attempting  any  thing  further. 

Thus  far,  the  war  had  been  very  disastrous  to  the  English.  After 
three  campaigns,  the  French  not  only  retained  possession  of  every  foot 
of  the  disputed  ground,  but  had  captured  Oswego,  driven  their  opponents 
from  Lake  George,  and,  through  their  savage  confederates,  had  carried 
the  brand  and  the  tomahawk  into  the  heart  of  the  Endish  settlements. 


352  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 

§  481.  To  remedy  this  train  of  disasters,  the  elder  Pitt  was  called  to 
the  head  of  the  English  ministry,  and  his  vigor  and  determination  soon 
gave  a  new  aspect  to  the  war.  Abercrombie,  who  was 
called  to  the  command  in  America,  found  himself  at  the 
head  of  50,000  men,  of  whom  about  ope  half  were  provincial  levies. 
All  the  Canadians  who  could  bear  arms  did  not  exceed  20,000,  and  these 
had  been  kept  so  constantly  in  service  that  agriculture  had  been  almost 
entirely  neglected,  and  the  horrors  of  a  famine  were  added  to  those  of 
war.  An  attack  was  first  made  on  Louisburg,  which  was  soon  com- 
pelled to  surrender  by  a  large  fleet  and  an  army  of  14,000  men,  under 
General  Amherst.  Forbes  marched  against  Fort  Du  Quesne  with  so 
considerable  a  force  that  the  garrison,  reduced  by  the  desertion  of  most 
of  their  Indian  allies  to  less  than  500  men,  did  not  venture  to  await  his 
approach,  but  set  fire  to  the  works,  and  retreated  down  the  river.  Aber- 
crombie, who  advanced  with  the  main  body  of  the  army  against  Ticon- 
deroga,  was  not  so  successful.  Montcalm  had  thrown  himself  into  that 
fortress  with  a  strong  garrison,  and  had  so  obstructed  the  approaches  to 
it  by  an  abatis  of  felled  trees,  that  the  place  was  really  impregnable  ex- 
cept by  the  regular  operations  of  a  siege.  The  English  rashly  attacked 
at  once,  and  in  front,  with  bulldog  courage ;  but  after  a  gallant  struggle, 
they  were  beaten  off  with  heavy  loss,  and  compelled  to  retreat  in  dis- 
order to  Fort  William  Henry.  But  Bradstreet,  at  the  head  of  a  pro- 
vincial force  from  New  England  and  New  York,  made  amends  for  this 
repulse  by  the  capture  of  Frontenac,  which  gave  the  English  the  com- 
mand of  Lake  Ontario,  and  shut  off  Montreal  and  Quebec  from  the 
French  posts  at  the  west.  The  Indian  tribes  along  the  Ohio  and  the 
upper  Lakes  now  sued  for  peace ;  and  a  treaty,  formed  with  them  at 
Easton,  once  more  gave  security  to  the  frontiers  of  Virginia  and  Penn- 
sylvania. 

§  482.  Stimulated  by  the  successes  of  this  year,  Pitt  resolved  to  make 
a  great  effort,  the  next  campaign,  for  the  conquest  of  Canada.  The 
Colonies,  their  former  expenditures  having  been  promptly  reimbursed  by 
the  English  government,  nobly  seconded  his  endeavor  by  bringing 
20,000  men  into  the  field,  and  raising  a  large  sum  in  money  for  their 
outfit.  The  command  of  the  main  expedition  against  Quebec  was  given 
to  Wolfe,  a  young  general  of  much  gallantry  and  promise, 
who  appeared  in  the  St.  Lawrence  in  June,  with  a  powerful 
fleet,  and  an  army  of  8,000  regular  troops.  Two  subsidiary  expeditions 
were  organized,  one,  under  Amherst,  to  proceed  by  way  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain  against  Montreal,  and  the  other,  under  Prideaux,  against  Fort 
Niagara.  The  want  of  vessels  impeded  Amherst's  operations ;  but 
Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point  fell  into  his  hands  without  a  struggle,  the 
danger  of  Quebec  having  caused  the  garrisons  to  be  withdrawn  ;  and  a 
detachment  from  his  army  attacked  and  burned  the  Indian  village  of  St. 


THE   FREXCH   AND   ENGLISH   IN   AMERICA.  353 

Francis,  whence  many  of  those  scalping  parties  had  issued  which  had 
desolated  the  frontiers  of  New  England.  Prideaux  was  killed  at  the 
giege  of  Niagara  by  the  bursting  of  a  gun  ;  but  his  successor,  Sir  TVilliam 
Johnson,  defeated  a  force  of  1,200  French  who  advanced  to  relieve  the 
place,  and  pressed  the  siege  with  so  much  vigor,  that  the  garrison  soon 
surrendered.  He  should  then  have  proceeded  down  the  Lake  and  the 
St.  Lawrence,  to  cooperate  in  the  attack  upon  Quebec ;  but  the  want  of 
vessels  frustrated  this  part  of  the  project  also,  and  Wolfe  was  thus  left 
to  his  original  resources.  His  force,  indeed,  outnumbered  that  of  the 
enemy,  and  was  better  disciplined ;  but  the  latter  had  the  advantage  of 
one  of  the  strongest  positions  in  the  world,  well  fortified,  and  were  com- 
manded by  a  general  who  had  merited  the  highest  honors  in  war.  As 
long  as  "Wolfe  attacked  the  French  intrenchments  below  the  city,  along 
the  banks  of  the  St.  Charles,  on  which  side  alone  he  was  expected, 
Montcalm  easily  frustrated  all  his  efforts.  But  the  British  general  con- 
ceived the  bold  plan  of  secretly  passing  up  the  river,  and  scaling  by  sur- 
prise the  Heights  of  Abraham,  as  the  lofty  plateau  is  called  on  a  pro- 
jecting point  of  which  lies  the  upper  town  of  Quebec.  The  project  was 
gallantly  executed,  though  the  lofty  bank  of  the  river  was  so  precipitous 
that  the  men  could  with  difficulty  pull  themselves  up  by  clinging  to  pro- 
jecting roots  and  stones.  Finding  that  the  English  had  thus  got  in  his 
rear,  where  his  defences  were  weak,  Montcalm  drew  out  all  his  troops 
before  the  city,  and  put  the  fate  of  Canada  upon  the  arbitrament  of  a 
single  battle.  The  issue  was  not  long  doubtful ;  the  undisciplined  and 
half  famished  levies  that  formed  the  greater  part  of  the  French  army, 
fled  hastily  after  a  few  vollies,  and  were  pursued  with  great  execution  to 
the  gates  of  the  city.  Montcalm  and  Wolfe  both  fell  on  the  field,  mor- 
Septcmber  18,  tally  wounded.  Quebec  surrendered  in  less  than  a  week, 
i''o9-  and  the  war  in  North  America  was  virtually  at  an  end, 

though  Montreal  was  not  taken  by  the  English  till  the  following  year.  A 
capitulation  was  then  signed  by  the  French  governor-general,  which  sur- 
rendered to  the  English  all  the  remaining  posts  in  western  Canada.   The 

peace  of  Paris  soon  followed,  by  which   France  ceded  to 
A.  D.  1762.        ,^      i      ,      „    T.T      1      »  .  ^    ,,,...      . 

England  all  North  America  east  of  the  Mississippi,  except 

the  island  and  city  of  New  Orleans,  which,  with  all  Louisiana  west  of 
the  great  river,  were  given  to  Spain.  England  also  received  Florida 
from  Spain,  in  exchange  for  the  Havana. 

§  483.  The  war  between  the  Europeans  was  at  an  end  ;  but  the  Eng- 
lish Colonies  had  still  to  sustain  a  desperate  struggle  of  the  Indians,  who 
could  not  be  easily  won  to  respect  the  authority  of  their  new  masters. 
The  Cherokees  had  previously  broken  out  into  a  war,  after 

A.  D.  1760.  . 

suffering  some  gross  wrong  from  the  Enghsh;  had  ravaged 
the  frontiers  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  and  defeated  a  considerable 
detachment  of  troops,  and  were  finally  driven  to  sue  for  peace  only  by 
30* 


354  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 

the  presence  of  an  overwhelming  force.     Hardly  had  the  English  taken 
possession  of  the  posts  at  the  west  and  around  the  Lakes,  when  Pontiac, 
an  Indian  chief  of  much  activity  and  address,  was  able  to  unite  all  the 
northwestern  tribes  in  a  conspiracy  against  them.    The  secret 
was  so  well  kept  that,  at  the  appointed  time,  the  savages  took 
by  surprise  all  the  posts  at  the  west,  except  Detroit  and  Fort  Pitt  (Du 
Quesne),  and  massacred  the  garrisons.     The  border  settlements  were 
swept  with  a  more  destructive  war  than  they  had  ever  before  experienced. 
Several  detachments  of  troops,  that  were  sent  out  to  relieve  the  two  belea- 
guered forts,  were  intercepted  and  cut  to  pieces.     At  last,  two  consider- 
able expeditions  were  fitted  out,  the  one  to  advance  through  Pennsylvania, 
and  the  other  to  proceed  along  the  Lakes ;  and  after  some  hard  fighting 
with  the  former  one,  the  Indians  submitted,  and  made  peace 

A.  D.  1764.  ,  ,       '  .       1      r.    -, 

upon  the  terms  that  were  required  oi  them. 
§  484.  The  protracted  contest  with  the  French  and  the  Indians  being 
brought  to  a  close  by  the  complete  triumph  of  the  English,  the  American 
Colonies  were  seemingly  in  the  full  tide  of  prosperity.  The  great  exer- 
tions they  had  made  during  the  last  war  had  taught  them  the  secret  of 
their  strength ;  that  war  had  cost  them,  it  was  computed,  about  30,000 
lives  and  over  sixteen  millions  of  dollars,  of  which  only  five  millions 
were  repaid  by  the  British  ministry.  Immigration  rapidly  increased,  and 
the  vast  forest  in  the  interior  began  to  be  explored  by  those  who  were  in 
search  of  a  new  home.  The  Delaware  and  Hudson  rivers  were  crossed 
by  a  thronging  multitude,  the  Alleghanies  were  surmounted,  and  white 
settlements  were  formed  upon  the  upper  tributaries  of  the  Ohio.  No 
longer  hemmed  in,  as  with  a  ring  of  iron,  by  the  French  and  the  savages, 
the  internal  principle  of  expansion,  which  has  been  at  work  ever  since, 
received  its  first  free  development,  and  carried  the  limits  of  civilization 
every  year  farther  west.  Trade  flourished  on  the  sea-coast ;  Boston  had 
long  been  distinguished  for  enterprising  traffic,  and  Newport,  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore  w^ere  rising  rapidly  in  commercial  impor- 
tance. Printing  presses  and  newspapers,  schools  and  colleges,  flourished, 
though  the  literature  of  the  Colonies  as  yet  existed  only  in  the  humble 
form  of  sermons.  Yet  the  metaphysical  writings  of  Jonathan  Edwards 
slowly  acquired  a  European  reputation,  and  the  fame  of  Dr.  Franklin 
was  carried,  by  his  brilliant  discoveries  in  electricity,  to  the  bounds  of 
the  civihzed  world. 

2.  THE    WAR    OF   AMERICAN   INDEPENDENCE,  AND    THE   ESTABLISHMENT 
OF    THE   AMERICAN    CONSTITUTION. 

§  485.  But  the  prosperity  of  America  was  now  to  receive  a  sudden 
check,  and  a  contest  to  begin  more  important  to  her,  and  more  momentous 
in  its  consequences,  than  any  which  the  world  had  ever  witnessed.  Eng- 
land was  oppressed  by  a  heavy  debt,  which  had  been  more  than  doubled 


THE  AMERICAN    EEVOLUTION.  355 

by  the  heavy  expenses  of  the  late  war,  and  the  people  were  overbur- 
dened with  taxes.  In  an  evil  hour,  it  occurred  to  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  that  this  pressure  might  be  lightened,  if  the  American  Colo- 
nies could  be  made  to  contribute  to  the  general  expenses  of  the  empire. 
The  war,  though  not  undertaken  for  their  relief  or  advantage,  but  to  gra- 
tify the  ambition  of  the  mother  country  by  enlarging  the  bounds  of  her 
colonial  dominion,  had  still,  by  its  successful  termination,  contributed 
largely  to  their  prosperity ;  and  it  was  plausibly  urged  that  they  ought 
to  bear  a  portion  of  the  weight  which  it  had  entailed  upon  the  nation. 
It  was  forgotten  that  they  had  expended  blood  and  treasure  during  the 
contest  at  least  as  freely,  in  proportion  to  their  means,  as  England ;  that 
if  the  war  had  benefitted  them  more,  it  had  also  cost  them  more  ;  and 
that  they  were  already  heavily  taxed  by  their  assemblies,  to  pay  the  inte- 
rest on  their  colonial  debts  and  defray  the  necessary  expenses  of  these 
provincial  governments.  Though  they  had  never  been  taxed  by  the 
authority  of  England,  they  bad  made  liberal  contributions  to  the  king's 
service  when  asked  to  do  so,  and  when  they,  were  invited  to  judge  of  the 
exigency  of  the  case,  and  to  determine  how  the  money  should  be  raised. 
They  did  not  refuse  to  give,  but  they  insisted  that  their  money  should 
not  be  given  without  their  consent, — that  they  should  not  be  taxed  with- 
out their  consent.  But  the  British  ministry  refused  to  listen  to  these 
considerations;  they  thought  only  of  the  paramount  authority  of  parlia- 
ment, and  of  the  means  of  lessening  their  own  unpopularity  by  alleviating 
the  taxes  at  home.  The  late  war  had  thrown  new  light  upon  the  magni- 
tude of  the  resources  of  the  Colonies  ;  and  to  the  argument  that  they  had 
never  been  taxed  before,  the  minister  had  no  better  answer  to  make  than 
the  insolent  plea  of  Dr.  Johnson,  that  "  the  ox  had  no  reason  to  complain 
of  the  aggravation  of  the  burdens  laid  upon  the  calf."  They  forgot  that 
the  horns  of  the  ox  had  grown ;  that  if  the  Americans  were  now  more 
able  to  pay  taxes,  they  were  also  more  able  to  defend  themselves  against 
unjust  impositions.  Yet  was  the  step  not  taken  without  some  hesitation. 
The  plan  had  been  proposed  before,  to  the  ministry  of  Sir  Robert  "Wal- 
pole  and  to  that  of  the  Pelharas.  But  those  sagacious  statesmen  had 
refused  to  hazard  so  dangerous  an  experiment.  Even  George  Gren- 
ville,  the  author  of  the  present  scheme  of  parliamentary  taxation,  would 
not  reduce  it  to  practice  till  he  had  tried  the  temper  of  the  people,  and 
ascertained  by  parliamentary  measures  how  much  they  were  able  and 
willing  to  bear. 

§  486.  The  Americans  had  always  admitted,  in  general  terms,  that 
parliament  had  a  right  to  regulate  their  trade;  but  practically,  and 
favored  by  their  insignificance  and  remoteness,  they  had  always  evaded, 
these  regulations,  and  had  enjoyed  almost  as  much  license  in  commerce 
as  in  the  management  of  their  domestic  affairs.  A  large  part  of  the  trade 
maintained  by  the  northern  Colonies  was  known  to  be  contraband,  and 


356  THE    MODERN    EPOCH. 

the  occasional  endeavors  of  the  government  to  enforce  the  Navigation 
Act  and  other  laws  of  commerce  had  no  other  effect  than  to  harass  and 
irritate  the  people.  A  vigorous  attempt  to  enforce  these  laws  to  the  let- 
ter was  to  be  the  prelude  to  direct  taxation.  Cruisers  were  stationed  on 
the  coast,  and  enjoined  to  be  vigilant ;  custom-house  officers  and  informers 
were  stimulated  by  the  offer  of  rewards;  and  Writs  of  Assistance  were 
granted,  which  empowered  an  officer  to  enter  any  shop  or  dwelling  house, 
and  search  for  contraband  goods.  So  gross  a  violation  of  the  principle  of 
English  law  that  every  man's  house  is  his  castle,  could  not  fail  to  make  a 
ferment ;  no  name  or  occasion  being  specified  in  the  writ,  the  officer  who 
held  it  could  select  any  dwelling  that  he  saw  fit,  and  thus,  perhaps,  gra- 
tify some  personal  grudge.  The  legality  of  these  writs  was  denied,  and 
on  as  good  ground,  apparently,  as  that  on  which  the  validity  of  "  gen- 
eral warrants  "  was  afterwards  questioned  in  England.  "When  the  cause 
Febniaiy,  which  was  to  determine  their  legality  came  on  for  trial  at 
1761.  Boston,  James  Otis,  a  lawyer  of  great  ability,  high  reputation, 

and  an  eager  and  impetuous  spirit,  resigned  his  lucrative  office  of  advo- 
cate-general for  the  crown,  which  would  have  obliged  him  to  argue  in 
favor  of  the  writs,  and  appeared  as  counsel  for  the  petitioners  in  opposi- 
tion to  them.  The  speech  which  he  then  delivered,  for  boldness  and  elo- 
quence in  asserting  and  defending  the  rights  of  the  Colonies,  was  a 
memorable  one,  and  produced  a  marked  effect  on  public  opinion  in  Mas- 
sachusetts. John  Adams,  who  was  present  at  its  delivery,  says, "  Every 
man  of  an  immense  crowded  audience  appeared  to  me  to  go  away,  as  I 
did,  ready  to  take  arms  against  Writs  of  Assistance.  Then  and  there  was 
the  first  scene  of  the  first  act  of  opposition  to  the  arbitrary  claims  of  Great 
Britain.  Then  and  there  the  child  Independence  was  born.  In  fifteen 
years,  that  is,  in  1776,  he  grew  up  to  manhood,  and  declared  himself 
free."  The  court  postponed  judgment  on  the  case,  and  never  delivered 
it;  but  these  writs  were  never  afterwards  used  in  the  Colony. 

§  487.  After  this  scene,  and  many  others  of  similar  tendency,  had  cre- 
ated much  alarm  and  awakened  a  spirit  of  determined  resistance  in 
February  6,  America,  Mr.  Grenville  introduced  into  parliament  his  bill 
A.  D.  1765.  for  imposing  a  stamp  tax  on  the  American  Colonies,  and  it 
became  a  law  with  little  opposition.  Stamped  papers,  upon  which  a  con- 
siderable impost  was  to  be  paid,  were  required  for  all  judicial  proceed- 
ings, clearances  at  the  custom-house,  bills  of  lading,  and  even  the  diplo- 
mas granted  by  seminaries  of  learning.  The  law  was  not  to  take  effect 
for  about  seven  or  eight  months  after  its  passage.  The  news  that  the 
bill  had  become  a  law  arrived  in  Boston  early  in  April ;  and  the  effect 
was  as  if  a  cannon  had  been  fired  so  near  the  ears  of  the  people  that 
they  were  all  stunned  by  the  explosion.  They  seemed  stupified  at 
first;  there  was  nO  popular  outbreak,  no  meeting  for  the  passage  of  vio- 
lent resolutions.     But  it  was  the  lull  which  precedes,  and  not  that  which 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  357 

follows  the  tempest.  The  General  Court  assembled  in  May,  and  they 
immediately  resolved  that  the  other  Colonies  should  be  invited  to  unite 
with  them  in  sending  delegates  to  a  Congress,  to  be  held  in  New  York 
in  October,  to  consult  together  on  the  present  state  of  affairs  and  the 
recent  acts  of  parliament.  This  was  a  significant  intimation  that  the 
Colonies  were  at  last  aware  of  the  strength  and  firmness  which  they 
might  acquire  by  concert  and  union.  As  this  Stamp  Act  Congress,  as  it 
was  called,  was  not  to  meet  till  the  month  before  the  time  appointed 
for  the  law  to  go  into  operation,  the  people  meanwhile  took  the  affair 
into  their  own  hands.  Newspapers,  pamphlets,  sermons,  and  associa 
tions  served  to  kindle  and  to  manifest  their  indi«rnant  feelinojs.  An 
agreement  not  to  import  any  more  goods  from  England  till  the  obnox- 
ious act  should  be  repealed  was  very  generally  signed  in  the  com- 
mercial towns  ;  and  combinations  were  also  formed  to  encourage  Amer- 
ican manufactures,  to  wear  American  cloth,  and  to  increase  the  supply  of 
wool  by  ceasing  to  eat  lamb  or  mutton.  Such  a  ferment  of  opinion  could 
not  long  prevail  without  leading  to  acts  of  violence  ;  though  the  patriot 
leaders  deplored  this  result,  and  exerted  themselves  to  prevent  it,  fore- 
eeeing  its  injurious  effect  upon  the  cause.  Mr.  Oliver,  who  had  accepted 
the  post  of  distributor  of  stamps  in  Boston,  was  hung  in  effigy,  a  building 
designed  for  his  office  was  demolished,  his  house  was  assaulted,  and  he 
was  so  much  frightened  that  he  consented  to  appear  before  the  people 
and  publicly  resign  his  commission.  A  few  days  afterwards,  the  mob 
entered  the  houses  of  two  officers  of  the  customs,  and  damaged  the  fur- 
niture, and  then  proceeded  to  the  residence  of  Lieut.  Governor  Hutchin- 
son, which  they  completely  gutted,  and  burned  his  furniture  in  the  street 
A  town  meeting  was  held  the  next  day,  at  which  the  citizens  expressed 
their  detestation  of  these  outrages,  and  offered  aid  to  the  magistrates  in 
their  endeavors  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  them.  In  the  other  Colonies, 
also,  the  stamp  distributors  resigned  their  offices,  enough  of  popular  vio- 
lence being  shown  to  intimidate  them.  The  Virginia  Assembly,  as  soon 
as  the  news  of  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  arrived,  passed  a  series  of 
resolutions,  under  the  influence  of  Patrick  Henry,  one  of  which  declared 
that  "  the  sole  right  and  power  to  lay  taxes  was  vested  in  the  General 
Assembly,"  and  could  not  be  transferred  to  any  other  persons  whatever. 
But  this  resolution  passed  by  a  majority  of  only  one  vote,  and  the  next 
day,  it  was  reconsidered  and  expunged  from  the  journals.     Delegates 

^  ^  ,  ^  from  nine  of  the  Colonies  assembled  at  the  Confj;ress  in  New 
October  7.        „    .  .  °  . 

xork,  and  assurances  were  received  from  two  other  Colonies 

that  they  would  acquiesce  in  the  result.  The  proceedings  of  this  Con- 
gress were  singularly  moderate,  considering  the  excited  temper  of 
the  people.  They  only  published  a  declaration  of  the  Rights  and 
Grievances  of  the  Colonies,  and  addressed  a  petition  to  the  king,  and  me- 
morials to  the  two  houses  of  parliament;  and  the  tone  of  these  documents, 


y^ 


358  THE    MODERN    EPOCH. 

though  firm,  was  mild,  argumentative,  and  respectful.  They  claimed 
all  the  privileges  of  British  subjects,  and  especially  that  of  not  being  taxed 
without  their  own  consent.  When  these  papers  were  signed,  the  Con- 
gress was  dissolved,  after  a  session  of  little  more  than  a  fortnight.  The 
chief  advantage  derived  from  it  was,  that  it  made  the  patriot  leaders 
from  the  different  Colonies  acquainted  with  each  other,  and  enabled  them 
to  give  assurances  of  mutual  support.  November  came,  but  the  stamps 
were  nowhere  used,  and  the  business  even  of  the  courts  of  justice,  after  a 
short  suspension,  was  resumed.  The  act  was  practically  nullified,  with 
the  assent,  either  free  or  enforced,  of  the  judges  and  the  governors. 

§  488.  The  cause  of  the  Colonies,  which  they  pleaded  with  much  ear- 
nestness and  ability,  soon  found  sympathy  in  the  whole  of  Europe ;  and 
in  England  itself,  it  was  embraced  by  a  powerful  party,  which  opposed 
the  measures  of  government  both  in  speech  and  writing.  At  the  head 
of  this  opposition  stood  the  great  statesman  and  orator,  the  elder  William 
Pitt,  afterwards  Earl  of  Chatham ;  and  he  was  actively  supported  by 
Conway,  Col.  Barre,  and  Lord  Camden,  afterwards  Lord  Chancellor, 
and,  next  to  Lord  Mansfield,  the  highest  legal  authority  in  the  realm. 
This  powerful  opposition  produced  a  change  of  ministry  in  July,  1765, 
and,  after  a  vehement  debate,  after  Dr.  Franklin  had  undergone  a  memo- 
rable examination  before  the  House  of  Commons,  in  which  he  declared 
that  the  Act  could  never  be  enforced,  the  Stamp  Act  was  repealed.  But 
a  bill  was  passed  at  the  same  time,  declaratory  of  the  power 
and  right  of  parliament  to  bind  America  in  all  cases  what- 
soever. In  the  Colonies,  the  news  of  the  repeal  was  received  with  great 
rejoicing,  the  accompanying  act  being  justly  regarded  as  a  mere  contri- 
vance to  save  the  honor  of  government.  Lord  Camden,  indeed,  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  had  strenuously  opposed  the  declaratory  bill  as  "  ab- 
solutely illegal."  "  Taxation  and  representation,"  he  declared,  "  are 
inseparably  united ;  God  hath  joined  them,  and  no  British  parliament 
can  put  them  asunder."  Indemnity  was  demanded  from  the  Colonies  for 
those  officers  of  the  crown  who  had  suffered  from  the  late  riots ;  and 
both  New  York  and  Massachusetts  granted  them  full  compensation. 

§  489.  But  the  joy  of  the  Americans  was  of  short  duration,  for  in 
little  more  than  a  year,  another  act  was  passed  by  parliament,  imposing 
duties  on  all  tea,  paper,  glass,  paints,  and  lead,  that  should  be  imported 
into  the  Colonies.  This  was  an  avowed  attempt  to  raise  a  revenue, 
though,  in  form,  the  bill  was  like  other  acts  for  regulating  trade ;  and  it 
was  hoped  that,  on  this  account,  it  would  escape  censure.  But  the  prin- 
ciple first  advanced  by  James  Otis  was  now  generally  adopted  by  the 
Colonists,  that  revenue  bills  under  the  form  of  regulations  of  trade  vio- 
lated their  rights  quite  as  much  as  direct  taxation.  Thus  the  flame  of 
opposition  was  kindled  anew,  and  raged  as  hotly  as  ever.  Non-importa- 
tion was  an  obvious  and  legal  means  of  escaping  these  taxes ;  and  ex 


THE   AMERICAN   REVOLUTIOX.  *  359 

tensive  combinations  were  therefore  formed  to  refrain  from  the  use,  not 
only  of  the  taxed  articles,  but.  as  far  as  possible,  of  all  other  British  com- 
modities. Able  leaders  and  defenders  of  the  popular  cause  were  not 
wanting.  Besides  James  Otis,  there  were  the  two  Adamses  (Samuel 
and  John,)  and  John  Hancock  in  Massachusetts,  John  Dickenson  in 
Pennsylvania,  (the  author  of  the  celebrated  "  Farmer's  Letters,"  an  able 
plea  for  Colonial  rights,)  Patrick  Henry  and  R.  H.  Lee  in  Virginia,  and 
Gadsden  and  Rutledge  in  South  Carolina,  besides  Dr.  Franklin,  whose 
reputation  and  abilities  were  of  great  weight  in  London,  where  he  resi- 
ded for  many  years  as  agent  of  several  of  the  Colonies.  The  profits  of 
British  merchants  were  soon  so  much  diminished  by  the  non-importation 
agreements,  that  they  petitioned  for  a  repeal  of  the  law ;  and  in  deference 
to  their  wishes,  not  to  the  rights  of  America,  the  duties  were  taken  off 
from  all  the  articles  except  tea,  the  impost  on  that  being  avowedly  re- 
tained for  the  sole  purpose  of  asserting  the  authority  of  parliament  to 
pass  such  a  law.  This  duty  was  very  small,  only  three  pence  on  the 
pound  ;  and  as  a  drawback  was  now  allowed,  of  a  shilling  on  the  pound, 
originally  paid  on  the  importation  of  the  article  into  Great  Britain,  the 
Colonists  might  actually  receive  their  tea  at  a  lower  price  than  they  had 
formerly  paid.  But  the  principle  was  at  stake ;  the  Americans  saw  very 
well,  that  if  they  submitted  to  this  law,  all  imported  conmiodities  would 
soon  be  subjected  to  heavy  duties.  No  tea  was  imported;  and  other  sub- 
jects of  controversy  also  coming  up,  a  furious  contest,  fn  speech  and  print, 
raged  both  in  England  and  America.  But  public  sentiment  in  the  former 
country  was  generally  turned  against  the  Colonies ;  high  notions  of  govern- 
ment and  unfounded  opinions  in  political  economy,  the  pride  of  national 
dominion  and  a  disposition  to  stretch  the  authority  of  parliament  to  the 
utmost,  all  served  to  nourish  the  fatal  error.  As  Dr.  Franklin  observed, 
"every  man  in  England  seems  to  consider  himself  as  a  piece  of  a  sove- 
reign over  America ;  seems  to  jostle  himself  into  the  throne  with  the  king, 
and  talks  of  ^  our  subjects  in  the  Colonies.'  "  George  IIL  al?o,  with  the  high 
notions  of  prerogative  that  had  been  instilled  into  him  before  he  came 
to  the  throne,  and  with  the  dogged  obstinacy  of  a  dull  intellect,  adhered 
to  the  delusion  long  after  the  nation,  the  parliament,  and  even  the  minis- 
try, had  been  cured  of  it,  and  wished  to  retract. 

§  490.  The  war  of  pamphlets,  newspapers,  and  speeches,  the  sharp 
controversies  between  colonial  assemblies  and  royal  governors,  and  occa- 
sional outbreaks  of  popular  violence  continued  for  four  or  five  years,  till 
the  Americans  were  well  nigh  weaned  from  their  old  affection  for  the 
land  of  their  forefathers,  and  had  ceased  to  glory  in  the  British  name. 
Boston  was  the  head  quarters  of  opposition  to  the  policy  of  the  English 
ministers,  and  several  regiments  of  British  troops  were  accordingly  sent 
thither  to  dragoon  the  inhabitants  into  submission.  But  this  measure 
served  only  to  increase  the  irritation,  and  to  make  the  breach  irreparable. 


360  ^  THE   MODERN    EPOCH. 

An  affray  soon  took  place  between  tlie  mob  and  the  soldiers,  in  which 

•r  ,  WW  the  latter  fired,  and  killed  three  of  their  unarmed  assailants, 
March  5, 1770. ,      . .,        ,  ,  -,.         ^  -,  t  t         • 

besides  dangerously  woundmg  hve  others.     It  was  late  in 

the  evening ;  the  alarm  bells  rang,  the  citizens  rushed  into  the  streets, 
and  an  open  battle  between  the  people  and  the  troops  was  with  difficulty 
prevented.  The  next  day,  the  irritation  of  the  people  was  so  strongly 
manifested  in  a  town  meeting,  that  the  governor  and  the  military  com- 
mander consented  to  remove  the  troops  to  an  island  in  the  harbor,  and 
quiet  was  restored.  The  soldiers  who  had  jSred,  with  their  officer,  were 
brought  to  trial  for  murder ;  but  Adams  and  Quincy,  two  of  the  most 
distinguished  advocates  of  popular  rights,  nobly  consented  to  act  as 
their  legal  defenders,  and  made  out  so  clear  a  case  for  them,  that  they 
had  acted  under  strong  provocation,  that  the  jury  acquitted  them  of  mur- 
der, and  only  two  were  convicted  of  manslaughter  and  slightly  punished. 
Yet  the  story  of  "  the  Boston  Massacre,"  as  it  was  called,  served  long  to 
inflame  the  passions  of  the  multitude  against  their  British  oppressors. 

§  491.  As  yet,  no  revenue  had  been  received  from  the  dnty  on  tea, 
because  the  Americans  would  not  import  any  of  that  commodity,  the 
little  which  they  consumed  being  obtained  by  smuggling.  But  the  con- 
test was  brought  to  a  crisis,  in  1773,  by  the  East  India  Company,  which, 
instigated  by  the  English  ministry,  sent  several  cargoes  of  tea  to  the 
Colonies,  supposing  with  good  reason  that  it  would  be  purchased  if  it  could 
only  be  landed  and  offered  for  sale.  But  the  patriots  were  on  the  alert, 
and  immediately  formed  combinations  to  prevent  the  landing  of  the  tea, 
and  to  force  the  consignees  to  send  it  back.  In  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia, popular  vengeance  was  denounced  against  any  persons  who 
should  receive  the  article,  and  even  against  the  pilots  if  they  should  guide 
the  ships  into  the  harbor ;  and  the  vessels  were  thus  obliged  to  return  to 
England,  without  even  effecting  an  entry  at  the  custom-house.  At 
Charleston,  the  tea  was  landed  and  stored  in  damp  cellars,  where  it  was 
quickly  spoiled.  At  Boston,  Governor  Hutchinson  and  Admiral  Montague 
succeeded  in  preventing  the  vessels  from  leaving  the  harbor,  in  spite  of  the 
menaces  of  the  inhabitants ;  whereupon,  about  fifty  persons  disguised  them- 
selves as  Mohawk  Indians,  boarded  the  ships  at  the  wharf,  and,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  a  great  crowd  of  people,  drew  up  the  cliests  of  tea  from  the  holds, 
and  emptied  their  contents  into  the  water.  When  the  news  of  this  act 
arrived  in  England,  the  indignant  ministry  resolved  to  punish  the  contuma- 
cious Bostonians,  and  for  this  purpose,  introduced  three  bills  into  parha- 

ment,  one  of  which  shut  up  the  port  of  Boston,  and  removed 
March,  1774.       ,        '  ,  o   ,  ,  •         n        ,  .    i  xi 

the  custom-house  to  Salem  ;  another  virtually  abrogated  the 

charter  of  Massachusetts,  by  giving  to  the  crown  or  to  the  governor  the 

appointment  of  the  Council  and  of  all  officers,  and  even  the  selection  of 

juries,  and  by  prohibiting  town  meetings  from  being  held  without  the 

governor's  consent ;  and  a  third  provided  that  persons  accused  of  mur- 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  36l 

der  might  be  sent  to  England  for  trial.  These  bills  were  strenuously 
opposed  by  Fox,  Burke,  Barre,  and  Dunning,  but  were  carried  by  ma- 
jorities of  more  than  four  to  one.  Another  law  'provided  for  the  quar- 
tering of  troops  in  America.  Four  more  regiments  were  sent  to  Boston, 
so  that  the  town  was  now  strongly  garrisoned  ;  and  Gen.  Gage  being  ap- 
pointed governor,  in  place  of  Hutchinson,  the  people  of  the  province 
were  virtually  placed  under  military  law.  The  Quebec  Act  passed  at 
the  same  session,  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  Canada  from  taking  part 
with  the  other  Colonies,  extended  the  boundaries  of  that  province  to  the 
Ohio  and  the  Mississippi,  established  the  old  French  law  in  all  judicial 
proceedings,  and  secured  to  the  Catholic  Church  there  the  enjoyment 
of  all  its  lands  and  revenues.  A  short  time  before,  as  if  the  feelings 
of  the  people  of  Massachusetts  had  not  been  sufficiently  irritated, 
their  agent  in  London,  Dr.  Franklin,  was  made  the  object  of  an  in- 
decent and  scurrilous  invective  before  the  Privy  Council  by  the  Soli- 
citor General,  Wedderburn,  the  avowed  intention  being  to  insult  him  and 
his  constituents.  He  was  charged  with  having  transmitted  to  Massachu- 
setts certain  letters,  written  by  some  officers  of  the  crown  in  that  province, 
on  public  subjects,  to  their  friends  in  office  in  England,  which  letters  had 
been  given  to  Franklin  by  some  person  who  had  obtained  them  by  strata- 
gem or  unfair  means.  But  before  making  this  charge,  the  ministers 
themselves  had  repeatedly  intercepted  the  letters  of  Franklin  and  other 
Colonial  agents,  and  read  them. 

§  492.  Tlie  passage  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill  was  the  virtual  commence- 
ment of  the  American  Revolution,  though  a  collision  with  arms  did  not 
take  place  till  another  year  had  elapsed.  The  agreements  to  import  no 
more  British  goods,  and  to  abstain  from  the  consumption  of  them,  were 
renewed  with  greater  solemnity  and  strictness  than  before.  Another 
general  Congress  was  called  by  Massachusetts,  to  meet  at  Philadelphia 
in  September ;  and  committees  of  correspondence  were  instituted,  to 
render  the  action  of  the  diffigrent  Colonies  harmonious,  and  to  keep 
them  advised  of  each  other's  proceedings.  Closing  the  harbor  had  de- 
prived the  people  of  Boston  of  their  usual  means  of  livelihood;  but 
Salem  and  Marblehead  generously  tendered  them  the  use  of  their  wharves, 
and  subscriptions  for  the  more  indigent  were  obtained  all  ovtr  the  coun- 
try. The  Congress  met  at  the  appointed  time  and  place,  and  twelve 
Colonies  were  represented  in  it,  only  Georgia  sending  no  delegates. 
Among  the  members  were  the  two  Adamses  from  Massachusetts,  and 
Washington  and  Patrick  Henry  from  Virginia.  Memorials  and  ad- 
dresses were  sent  fcMh,  as  by  the  former  assembly ;  and  the  tone  of  these 
papers  was  naturally  firmer  and  more  decisive  than  on  the  former  occa- 
sion, though  it  was  still  moderate.  A  dignified  and  eloquent  Address  to 
the  People  of  Great  Britain,  written  by  Mr.  Jay,  was  much  admired. 
The  Declaration  of  Colonial  Rights  was  precise  and  comprehensive,  and 
31 


362  THE  MODERN   EPOCH. 

it  included  a  protest  against  the  employment  of  a  standing  army  in  tLe 
Colonies  without  their  consent.  Professions  were  made  of  perfect  loyalty 
to  the  king,  and  of  great  solicitude  for  the  restoration  of  former  harmony 
with  Great  Britain ;  and,  from  a  majority  of  the  delegates,  these  profes- 
sions were  undoubtedly  sincere.  After  a  session  of  eight  weeks,  the  dele- 
gates separated,  having  first  recommended  that  another  Congress  should 
meet  in  the  ensuing  May,  if  the  difficulties  with  England  were  not  previ- 
ously adjusted. 

§  493.  In  Massachusetts,  hostilities  seemed  to  be  on  the  point  of  break- 
ing out.  Governor  Gage  prorogued  the  General  Court  before  it  had 
come  together ;  but  the  members  met  at  Salem,  in  spite  of  the  proroga- 
tion, organized  themselves  into  a  provincial  congress,  chose  John  Han- 
cock for  their  president,  and  proceeded  to  business.  In  an  address  to 
the  governor,  they  protested  against  the  presence  of  British  troops  and 
the  erection  of  the  fortifications  in  Boston.  They  appointed  a  committee 
of  safety,  to  take  measures  for  the  defence  of  the  province,  and  anothe^ 
committee  to  obtain  provisions  and  military  stores.  They  forbade  tlie 
paj-ment  of  any  more  money  to  the  late  treasurer,  and  ordered  all  tax;GS 
to  be  collected  by  an  officer  whom  they  had  appointed.^  Three  generals 
were  commissioned  by  them,  to  take  the  command  of  the  militia,  who 
were  organized  and  disciplined  with  much  diligence.  Gage  issued  coun- 
ter.orders  and  proclamations,  but  no  one  out  of  the  range  of  his  soldiers* 
muskets  listened  to  them.  His  power  was  limited  to  Boston,  which  he 
held  by  a  considerable  military  force,  and  had  carefully  fortified ;  but  the 
people  throughout  Massachusetts  rendered  strict  and  cheerful  obedience 
to  the  provincial  congress.  Later  in  the  year,  12,000  "minute  men" 
were  enrolled,  being  volunteers  from  the  militia,  who  pledged  themselves 
to  be  ready  for  service  at  a  minute's  notice.  Minute  men  were  also  en- 
rolled in  the  other  New  England  colonies,  where,  also,  measures  were 
taken  to  procure  artillery  and  military  stores. 

§  494.  A  striking  peculiarity  of  the  early  part  of  the  contest  was  the 
hearty  and  spontaneous  cooperation  of  the  larger  and  smaller  towna 
throughout  New  England.  The  movement  did  not  begin  in  a  conspiracy 
first  organized  in  the  metropolis,  and  gradually  diffused,  by  the  action  of 
a  secret  society,  throughout  the  land.  In  fact,  there  was  no  secrecy,  no 
conspiracy,  in  the  case.  The  opposition  to  the  offensive  acts  of  parlia- 
ment was  open  and  avowed  from  the  first ;  it  was  manifested  with  as  much 
spirit  in  little  villages  —  in  such  places  as  Hingham,  Bedford,  Concord, 
and  Danvers  —  as  in  Boston.  The  common  people,  the  farmers  and 
mechanics,  of  these  little  communities  acted  in  concert  with  the  only 
authorities  whom  they  were  wont  to  recognize,  —  with  their  own  select- 
men. They  held  town  meetings,  in  which  they  concerted  measures  of 
defence,  and  passed  resolutions  declaratory  of  their  opinions  and  their 
rights,  and  expressing  sympathy  with  the  people  of  Boston.     Having 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  363 

made  their  rude  military  preparations,  they  waited  patiently,  with  armg 
in  their  hands,  for  the  first  act  of  aggression  on  the  part  of  the  British. 
From  the  commencement  of  the  difficulties,  their  attitude  was  strictly  a 
defensive  one ;  they  waited  till  the  first  blow  should  be  struck  by  their 
opponents.  They  were  not  entirely  unanimous ;  in  most  of  the  towns, 
there  were  individuals  known  to  favor  the  cause  of  the  crown.  But  these 
persons  were  watched  with  great  vigilance,  and  whenever  their  move- 
ments became  suspicious,  they  were  seized  and  placed  in  custody.  There 
were  some  popular  outbreaks  ;  but  the  mob  did  not  seize  obnoxious  per- 
sons, and  hang  them  up  to  a  lamp  post,  or  to  the  next  tree,  and  then 
make  targets  of  their  bodies.  In  a  few  instances,  the  houses  of  known 
Tories  were  roughly  visited,  and  their  furniture  was  injured  or  destroyed ; 
but  the  greatest  \nolence  ever  done  to  their  persons  was  to  tar  and  fea- 
iher  them.  And  even  these  outrages  were  discountenanced  or  sharply 
reproved  by  the  most  influential  patriots.  The  machinery  of  popular 
agitation  on  a  large  scale  had  not  then  been  invented.  The  people  con- 
sequently manifested  but  little  enthusiasm ;  but  they  adhered  to  their 
purpose  with  a  cool'^nd  dogged  determination,  and  an  unflinching  forti- 
tude, which  bore  them  ^triumphantly  through  the  long  struggle.  Other 
wars,  before  and  since,  Imve  been  waged  for  the  people,  and  in  the  name 
of  the  people ;  but  the  American  revolution  was  the  first  war  actually 
waged  hy  the  people,  that  is  recorded  in  history.  Because  town  and  coun- 
try acted  heartily  together,  neither  absolutely  taking  the  lead,  and  nei- 
ther being  wholly  dependent  on  the  other,  the  occupation  of  Boston  by 
the  British  was  no  greater  detrilnent  to  the  patriot  cause  than  if  the 
troops  had  been  stationed  aaywhere  else  in  the  province.  The  object 
was  to  get  rid  of  them  altogether;  and  in  their  measures  for  obtaining 
this  end,  the  people  were  as  careful  to  keep  law  and  justice  on  their  side 
as  to  provide  for  defence  against  unprovoked  aggression.  The  Port  Bill 
went  into  operation  in  June,  1774,  and  the  battle  of  Lexington  was  not 
fought  till  the  following  April.  During  the  intervening  months,  the  atti- 
tude of  the  whole  people  was  calm  and  watchful ;  they  did  not  collect 
together  in  large  bodies,  they  made  no  menacing  demonstrations,  but 
waited  patiently  till  their  opponents  should  commit  the  first  overt  act  of 
hostility. 

§  496.  It  was  the  firing  of  the  king's  troops  on  Lexington  common 

A  M  -,«  ,».Nr  which  rancr  the  alarm  bell  of  the  revolution,  and  the  hitherto 
April  19, 1775.  .  °     .  ^  ,  ,  .  ^  rr,,  . 

seemingly  quiescent  Colony  burst  at  once  into  a  flame.    This 

event  took  place  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning;  and  before  noon,  the  hills 

and  roads  were  alive  with  "minute  men,"  hurrying  from  all  quarters 

to  the  scene  of  conflict.      General  Gage  had  sent  out  Colonel  Smith, 

the  night  before,  with  800  men,  to  destroy  some  military  stores  which 

the  patriots  had  collected  at  Concord.   On  arriving  at  Lexington,  Colonel 

Smith  found  a  company  of  "  minute  men"  collected  on  the  common,  who 


364  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 

were  ordered  to  disperse,  and  almost  at  the  same  moment,  were  fired  upon 
by  the  British,  who  killed  or  wounded  eighteen  of  them.  A  few  shots 
were  fired  in  return,  and  the  king's  troops  then  passed  on  to  Concord, 
where  they  destroyed  a  few  stores,  were  attacked  by  the  provincials,  and 
commenced  their  retreat  to  Boston  about  noon.  But  the  minute  men 
were  now  rapidly  coming  up  from  the  neighboring  towns,  and  each  com- 
pany, as  it  arrived,  without  waiting  for  orders,  or  stopping  to  concert 
action  with  those  already  on  the  field,  took  the  best  position  it  could  find 
for  annoying  the  enemy,  and  opened  its  fire.  The  woods  and  stone  walls 
on  each  side  of  the  road  were  lined  with  sharp  shooters,  who  availed 
themselves  of  every  advantage  of  the  ground  as  skilfully  as  if  they  had 
been  directed  by  an  able  general.  When  the  British,  on  their  retreat, 
had  reached  Lexington,  they  were  met  by  a  reinforcement  of  1,200  men, 
without  which  they  would  probably  have  been  cut  off.  But  as  soon  as 
they  resumed  their  march,  they  were  again  attacked,  and  the  affair  con- 
tinued as  it  had  begun,  each  company  of  the  rustic  soldiery  finding  its 
own  station  and  fighting  on  its  own  hook.  The  action  ended  only  when 
the  harassed  king's  troops  reached  Charlestown,  where  they  found  safety 
under  the  guns  of  their  shipping.  They  lost  about  270  in  killed,  wounded, 
and  missing,  while  the  American  loss  was  but  93. 

§  496.  The  manner  in  which  this  battle  was  fought  was  a  type  of  the 
whole  contest  in  New  England,  from  the  time  when  the  tea  was  destroyed 
till  Boston  was  evacuated.  It  is  the  most  striking,  perhaps  the  only  com- 
plete, instance  which  all  history  affords,  of  the  whole  population  of  a  coun- 
tr}^,  self-moved  and  self-governed,  acting  together  with  great  unanimity  and 
vigor,  yet  acting  patiently,  prudently,  and  with  even  a  punctilious  regard 
for  the  laws,  while  their  excitment  was  intense,  and  while  they  were 
bravely  defying  a  powerful  empire,  and  setting  at  nought  an  authority, 
which,  when  exercised  within  the  bounds  of  justice,  they  and  their  fathers 
had  always  implicitly,  and  even  lovingly,  recognized.  The  first  action 
of  the  Massachusetts  Provincial  Congress,  after  the  battle  of  Lexington, 
was  characteristic  of  the  men  and  the  times.  They  appointed  a  commit- 
tee to  take  the  depositions  of  those  who  were  present,  in  order  to  prove 
that  the  British  Jired  first.  If  they  had  been  conducting  a  lawsuit  about 
the  title  to  a  farm,  they  could  not  have  been  more  anxious  to  collect  testi- 
mony, and  show  that  "  the  law  "  was  on  their  side.  Most  of  the  resolu- 
tions which  they  passed  at  this  period  were  accompanied  by  formidable 
preambles,  in  which  the  justice  and  legality  of  the  measure  proposed  were 
demonstrated  at  length,  though  often  with  more  earnestness  than  logic. 
The  time  for  action  had  now  arrived,  and  it  soon  appeared  that  the  spirit 
which  the  people  had  shown  at  Lexington  was  no  transient  feeling. 
Within  a  few  days,  an  army  of  about  16,000  men  had  come  together,  and 
the  siege  of  Boston  was  begun.  This,  again,  was  a  spontaneous  and  un- 
concerted  movement ;  they  assembled  before  preparations  were  made  for 


THE   AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  365 

them,  before  a  commander-in-chief  had  been  appointed,  or  any  plan  oi 
action  formed.  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  retained  the  control  of 
their  own  troops,  and  the  care  of  providing  them  with  arms  and  suste- 
nance, merely  instructing  them  to  cooperate  with  the  Massachusetts  army. 
But  for  the  excellent  spirit  of  the  men,  the  army  would  have  been  mere- 
ly an  armed  mob.  But  the  ranks  were  filled  with  steady  farmers  and 
mechanics,  who  were  brought  thither  by  their  attachment  to  the  cause, 
and  who  needed  little  discipline  to  keep  them  in  order. 

§  497.  Ammunition  and  artillery  were  yet  wanting,  though  great  ex- 
ertions had  been  made  to  obtain  military  stores.  But  this  want  was  par- 
tially supplied  by  an  enterprise  of  the  "  Green  Mountain  Boys,"  as  the 
inhabitants  of  the  country  which  is  now  the  State  of  Vermont  were  then 
called.  It  was  known  that  the  fortresses  of  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point 
had  but  slender  garrisons  and  were  imperfectly  guarded.  Ethan  Allen 
and  Seth  Warner,  who  commanded  some  armed  volunteers  in  that  region, 
undertook  upon  their  own  responsibility  to  take  these  forts  by 
'  *  surprise,  and  they  succeeded.  Two  hundred  pieces  of  artil- 
lery and  a  considerable  supply  of  powder  were  thus  obtained  for  the 
camp  near  Boston.  The  British  army  at  that  place  had  been  reinforced, 
and  now  amounted  to  10,000  men,  under  Generals  Howe,  Clinton,  and 
Burgoyne.  To  straiten  their  quarters.  Col.  Prescott  was  sent,  with  about 
a  thousand  men  from  the  American  army,  to  throw  up  an  entrenchment 
on  Bunker's  Hill  in  Charlestown.  A  small  redoubt  was  constructed 
there  in  the  night  time,  on  which,  as  soon  as  it  was  discovered 
in  the  morning,  the  English  ships  in  the  harbor  opened  their 
fire.  This  produced  but  little  effect ;  and  the  reinforcements  sent  to 
Prescott  during  the  forenoon  enabled  him  to  throw  up  an  imperfect  breast- 
work, and  other  slight  fortifications  outside  of  the  redoubt.  Generals 
Putnam,  Poraeroy,  and  Warren  joined  him  at  this  time,  but  did  not  take 
the  command  out  of  his  hands.  Three  thousand  men  were  sent  over  at 
noon  from  Boston,  led  by  Howe  and  Pigot,  to  take  the  hill  by  assault. 
They  advanced  bravely,  but  the  fire  of  the  Americans  was  so  close  and 
well-sustained,  that  the  British  wavered,  and  fell  back  in  great  disorder. 
Gage  then  ordered  the  village  of  Charlestown,  which  was  near  the  foot  of 
the  hill,  to  be  set  on  fire,  and  while  the  flames  were  raging,  the  troops  again 
moved  forward.  Again,  as  they  approached  the  redoubt,  the  murderous 
fire  of  the  Americans,  many  of  whom  were  practised  marksmen,  burst 
forth,  and  again  the  assailants  were  driven  back  to  the  landing  place. 
They  formed  and  advanced  a  third  time,  and  as  the  ammunition  of  th« 
Americans  was  now  nearly  spent,  they  succeeded  in  getting  possession  of 
the  hill.  But  their  opponents  retired  in  a  body,  and  were  not  pursued, 
though  they  suffered  much  from  the  fire  of  the  shipping  in  their  retreat 
The  victory  of  Howe  might  well  be  considered  a  defeat,  for  he  lost  ovei 
a  thousand  men  in  killed  and  wounded,  while  the  American  loss  was  nol 
31* 


366  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

half  as  great.  But  Gen.  Warren  was  among  the  shiin.  The  battle  was 
as  characteristic  as  that  of  Lexington  ;  a  Colonel  commanded,  and  three 
Generals  either  served  under  him,  or  acted  independently  in  directing 
the  troops.  The  result  was  very  encouraging  to  the  Americans,  as  it 
proved  that  their  raw  levies  were  capable  of  waging  a  desperate  conflict 
with  regular  troops. 

§  498.  Congress  had  again  assembled  at  Philadelphia,  at  the  appointed 
time,  and  it  began  to  exercise  all  the  functions  of  a  govern- 
ment, though  there  was  no  formal  union  of  the  Colonies,  and 
the  cheerful  acquiescence  of  the  people  was  the  only  basis  of  its  authority. 
But  the  delegates  were  not  yet  prepared  for  a  total  rupture  with  England  ; 
they  voted  to  send  another  petition  to  the  king,  and  an  address  to  the  people 
of  Great  Britain,'  in  which  they  declared  that  they  did  not  intend  to  throw 
off  their  allegiance,  and  professed  an  anxious  desire  for  peace.  At  the 
same  time,  they  resolved  to  put  the  country  in  a  state  of  defence,  and  to 
complete  the  organization  of  an  army.  George  Washington,  a  delegate 
from  Virginia,  was  chosen  commander-in-chief,  the  members  from  New  Eng- 
land heartily  concurring  in  his  nomination,  from  their  wish  to  secure  the  co- 
operation of  the  southern  Colonies.  Ward,  Lee,  Schuyler,  and  Putnam  were 
commissioned  as  major-generals,  and  ten  brigadiers  were  appointed,  among 
whom  were  Gates,  Greene,  Montgomery,  and  Sullivan.  Most  of  these 
officers  had  seen  service  in  the  French  and  Indian  Avars.  Bills  of  credit, 
or  paper  money,  were  issued  to  the  amount  of  three  millions  of  dollars  ; 
a  post-office  department  was  organized,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
secure,  if  possible,  the  neutrality  of  the  Indians.  Massachusetts  asked 
the  advice  of  Congress,  in  reference  to  its  form  of  government ;  and  it 
was  advised  to  establish  a  provisional  government,  that  should  conform  as 
nearly  as  possible  to  the  charter.  The  governors  of  most  of  the  Colonies 
had  now  either  abandoned  their  posts,  or  were  cooperating  with  the  ene- 
mies of  the  country ;  and  the  direction  of  affairs  had  generally  fallen  into 
the  hands  either  of  the  most  numerous  representative  body  under  the  old 
organization,  or  of  such  an  assembly  created  for  the  occasion.  It  may  be 
observed  here,  by  anticipation,  that  new  constitutions  of  government  were 
established  by  all  the  Colonies,  except  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island, 
during  the  progress  of  the  war.  New  Hampshire  formed  such  a  consti- 
tution in  1775 ;  New  Jersey,  South  Carolina,  Virginia,  Pennsylvania, 
Delaware,  Maryland,  and  North  Carolina,  in  1776,  —  the  first  three  be- 
fore the  Declaration  of  Independence ;  Georgia  and  New  York,  in  1777  ; 
Massachusetts,  in  1780.  The  forms  of  government  thus  established  were 
not  arbitrary  and  novel.  They  supplied  omissions,  it  is  true  ;  but  they 
made  no  unnecessary  innovations.  They  were  the  old  forms  of  pohty, 
adopted  by  the  first  settlers,  or  created  for  them  by  charter,  with  such 
modifications  only  as  were  rendered  necessary  by  the  transition  from  a 
Btate  of  partial,  to  one  of  total,  independence.     Connecticut  and  Rhode 


THE   AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  367 

Island  did  not  find  it  necessary  to  make  any  change ;  their  charters  were 
BO  liberal  that  the  people,  in  fact,  had  always  chosen  all  their  own  officers, 
and  enacted  all  their  own  laws;  and  under  these  charters,  the  government 
continued  to  be  administered  for  nearly  half  a  century  after  the  Revo- 
lution. 

§  499.  Washington  assumed  the  command  of  the  army  before  Boston 
about  a  fortnight  after  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  immediately  en- 
deavored to  improve  its  organization  and  discipline,  and  to  obtain  supplies 
of  arms  and  military  stores.  The  troops  at  first  consisted  entirely  of 
volunteers,  and  so  many  of  these  left  and  went  home  after  a  short  stay, 
that  it  was  feared  the  camp  would  be  deserted.  An  attempt  was  now 
made  to  enlist  soldiers  for  definite  periods,  to  form  them  into  regiments,  and 
accustom  tliem  to  disciphne  and  the  use  of  their  arms.  The  most  pressing 
want  was  that  of  powder,  of  which  there  was  not  enough  to  furnish  nine 
rounds  to  a  man,  and  the  whole  supply  in  the  country  was  so  inadequate 
that  active  operations  could  not  be  undertaken  for  some  months.  At- 
tempts were  made  to  establish  manufactories  of  saltpetre  and  to  import 
powder  and  lead  from  the  West  Indies ;  and  a  small  supply  of  military 
stores  was  obtained  from  captured  vessels.  The  patience  and  firmness  of 
the  commander-in-chief  were  severely  taxed  by  the  many  discouraging 
circumstances  of  his  position,  at  the  head  of  a  motley  collection  of  troops, 
with  insufficient  means  of  paying  them  and  of  providing  many  necessa- 
ries of  war.  Reserved  and  dignified  in  his  demeanor,  inflexible  in  pur- 
pose, circumspect  and  yet  enterprising  in  his  plans,  industrious  and  me- 
thodical in  business,  he  united  the  highest  qualifications  for  the  elevated 
post  which  he  was  called  to  fill.  His  equanimity  was  seldom  ruffled, 
and  no  failures  or  disasters  could  dishearten  him  or  paralyze  his  energies. 
A  keen  judge  of  character  and  qualifications,  he  was  generally  fortunate 
in  selecting  his  agents  and  giving  his  confidence.  Under  his  direction, 
and  in  spite  of  the  most  adverse  circumstances,  the  raw  levies  were  gra- 
dually converted  into  disciplined  and  effective  troops,  and  the  eflTorts  of  an 
enemy  greatly  superior  in  means  and  equipment  were  successfully  foiled. 
§  500.  Congress  had  projected  an  expedition  against  Canada,  iii  the 
hope  of  obtaining  the  sympathy  and  aid  of  the  French  inhabitants  of  that 
province,  or  perhaps  of  inducing  them  to  unite  with  the  other  Colonies  in 
resistance  to  the'  British  ministry.  Schuyler  and  Montgomery,  at  the 
head  of  a  small  body  of  troops,  advanced  by  way  of  Lake 
°  '  '  Champlain  against  Montreal,  whilst  Arnold,  with  about  a 
thousand  men,  was  detached  from  the  camp  before  Boston,  to  ascend  the 
Kennebec  river,  and  then  make  his  way  through  the  wilderness  to  the 
banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence  opposite  Quebec.  Schuyler  being  prevented 
by  illness  from  advancing  farther  than  St.  John's  on  the  Sorel,  the  com- 
mand devolved  on  Montoromery,  who,  after  a  few  weeks* 
Novembers.       .  -,  o      -r  .     ,  ,     ,  ,  ■■  .        ,, 

siege,  captured  St.  John  s,  and  then  advanced  agamst  Mon- 


368  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 

treal,  wliicli  was  surrendered  to  him  without  resistance.    Arnold's  troops, 

after  suiFering  great  hardships  from  exposure  and  want  of  food  while 

passing  through  a  wild  and  uninhabited  region,  reached  the  southern 

^        ^     ^      bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  where  they  were  joined  by  Mont- 
December  1.  ,  .  .  .  "^  ,  rr-, 

gomery,  who  came  down  the  river  to  meet  them.  Their 
united  forces  hardly  exceeded  a  thousand  men,  while  Carleton,  the  Bri- 
tish commander,  by  landing  the  sailors  and  organizing  the  citizens  into 
military  companies,  had  garrisoned  Quebec  with  1,200.  The  artillery  of 
the  Americans  not  being  sufficient  to  make  any  impression  on  the  works, 
they  resolved  to  attempt  to  carry  the  place  by  assault.     Under  cover  of 

^        ,     „.    a  snow-storm,  the  men  advanced  to  the  attack  with  erreat  gal- 
December  31.  ,  -,.>-,,.  .         ,     ,  ,       , 

lantry,  and  forced  their  way  into  the  lower  town  ;  but  Mont- 
gomery was  killed,  Arnold's  leg  was  broken  by  a  musket  ball,  and  after 
some  desperate  fighting,  the  party  in  the  streets  found  themselves  sur- 
rounded and  were  obliged  to  surrender.  Arnold,  with  about  600  men, 
retreated  a  few  miles  up  the  river,  and  there  kept  up  the  blockade  of 
Quebec  through  the  winter.  Eeinforcements  were  sent  to  him  ;  but  after 
the  spring  opened,  a  large  body  of  British  troops  arrived  at  Quebec,  and 
the  Americans  were  forced  to  retire,  first  to  Montreal,  and  afterwards  to 
St.  John's. 

§  501.  Howe's  army  in  Boston,  having  learned  caution  from  the  battle 
of  Bunker  Hill,  made  no  attempt  at  offensive  operations  during  the 
autumn  and  winter ;  and  the  want  of  cannon  and  powder  in  the  Ameri- 
can camp  prevented  Washington  from  attacking  them.  But  through  the 
great  exertions  of  Colonel  Knox,  over  fifty  pieces  of  artillery  were 
dragged  on  sleds,  over  the  frozen  lake  and  the  snow,  from  Crown  Point 
and  Ticonderoga ;  and  active  measures  were  then  adopted  to  drive  the 
British  out  of  the  place.    On  the  evening  of  the  4th  of  March, 

A.  D.  1776.  -  .  n     ■,  i.T  T,-l  T 

the  attention  of  the  enemy  being  drawn  by  a  brisk  cannonade 
to  the  opposite  quarter,  a  large  body  of  troops  secretly  took  possession 
of  Dorchester  heights,  and  erected  a  line  of  fortifications  there  which 
commanded  the  harbor  and  the  town.  The  English  general  made  imme- 
diate preparation  to  attack  these  works ;  but  a  furious  storm  of  wind  and 
rain,  that  prevailed  for  two  days,  prevented  the  troops  from  crossing  in 
boats  to  Dorchester,  and  when  this  had  ceased;  the  intrenchments  seemed 
too  strong  to  be  forced.  General  Howe  consequently  resolved  to  evacu- 
ate the  town ;  and  on  the  17th,  the  fleet  sailed,  carrying  off  the  whole 
army,  and  about  one  thousand  inhabitants  of  the  place  and  its  vicinity 
who  adhered  to  the  king's  cause.  The  recovery  of  Boston  caused  great 
rejoicing  throughout  the  country ;  the  thanks  of  Congress  were  voted  to 
the  general  and  his  army,  and  a  gold  medal  was  ordered  to  be  struck  in 
commemoration  of  the  event.  After  a  delay  of  a  few  days,  Washington 
marched  with  the  main  body  of  the  army  to  New  York.  The  Loyalists, 
or  Tories,  as  the  favorers  of  the  British  cause  were  called,  were  nume- 


THE   AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  369 

reus  in  that  place  and  its  neigliborhood,  and  for  this  reason,  among  others, 
it  was  supposed  that  Howe  would  carry  his  army  thither.  In  reality,  the 
British  troops  sailed  for  Halifax,  where  they  remained  inactive  till  the 
end  of  June,  and  then,  after  receiving  large  reinforcements,  proceeded 
to  New  York. 

§  502.  A  year  had  now  elapsed  since  the  battle  of  Lexington ;  it  had 
been  passed  in  active  hostilities,  the  exasperation  of  both  parties  had  in- 
creased, and  there  seemed  to  be  no  longer  any  hope  of  a  reconciliation 
with  England.  Lord  North's  ministry,  supported  by  the  obstinacy  of  the 
king  and  by  a  large  majority  in  both  houses  of  Parliament,  evinced  no 
disposition  to  change  its  policy ;  on  the  contrary,  treaties  had  been  formed 
with  several  of  the  minor  powers  of  Germany,  in  virtue  of  which  about 
17,000  Hessians,  Waldeckers,  and  Hanoverians  were  collected  by  crafty 
recruiting  officers,  and  hired  out  to  England  for  the  purpose  of  putting 
down  the  rebellion  in  America.  Of  course,  the  news  that  these  merce- 
naries were  to  be  employed  greatly  increased  the  irritation  of  the  Colo- 
nies. Thomas  Paine,  a  very  coarse  but  vigorous  writer,  published  his 
famous  pamphlet,  called  "  Common  Sense,"  to  prove  that  a  final  separa- 
tion from  England  was  inevitable  and  ought  not  to  be  delayed.  "Written 
in  an  eminently  popular  style,  it  had  an  immense  circulation,  and  was  of 
great  service  in  preparing  the  minds  of  the  people  for  independence.  A 
proposition  to  dissolve  all  connection  with  Great  Britain  was  first  intro- 
duced in  Congress  by  Richard  Henry  Lee,  of  Virginia,  and  was  warmly 
supported  by  John  Adams  and  other  members  from  New  England.  But 
it  was  not  carried  without  difficulty;  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Mary- 
land, and  South  Carolina  hesitated.  Indeed,  the  legislatures  of  the  two 
former  Colonies  had  expressly  instructed  their  representatives  in  Congress 
to  vote  against  it.  But  the  tide  of  popular  opinion  now  set  strongly 
towards  independence,  and  the  waverers  were  carried  along  with  it,  in 
spite  of  their  effi^rts.  Tlie  recusant  Colonies  recalled  their  instructions, 
and  on  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  written 
by  Tliomas  Jefferson,  and  revised  by  a  committee,  of  which  John  Adams 
and  Dr.  Franklin  were  members,  was  solemnly  adopted  in  Congress  by  a 
vote  of  the  whole  .Thirteen  States.  This  memorable  Declaration  asserts 
in  grave  and  dignified  language  the  right  of  the  people  to  institute,  alter, 
or  abolish  any  form  of  government ;  to  justify  the  exercise  of  this  right 
at  the  present  time,  it  enumerates  at  length  the  wrongs  which  had  been 
inflicted  on  the  Colonies  by  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  and  concludes  that 
he  is  no  longer  worthy  to  be  the  ruler  of  a  free  people  ;  and  it  ends  "with 
the  formal  assertion,  that  "  these  United  Colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought 
to  be,  free  and  independent  States,  and  that  they  are  absolved  from  all 
allegiance  to  the  British  crown:"  —  in  support  of  which  declaration,  the 
signers  of  the  instrument  mutually  pledge  to  each  other  tlieir  lives,  theif 
fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honor. 


1570  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

§  503.  The  progress  of  the  contest  had  been  watched  with  great  atten- 
tion on  the  Continent  of  Europe,  where  the  efforts  of  the  Americana 
were  naturally  regarded  with  favor  and  sympathy,  partly  out  of  jealousy 
of  England,  but  still  more  from  the  enthusiasm  which  a  gallant  contest 
for  freedom  always  awakens  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  Among  the 
French  particularly,  this  feeling  was  very  strong,  as  the  success  of  the 
patriots  would  humiliate  and  weaken  the  haughty  rival  that  had  recently 
triumphed  over  France,  and  deprived  her  of  nearly  all  her  colonial  domi- 
nion. Congress  had  previously  appointed  a  "  Committee  of  Secret  Cor- 
respondence," to  keep  up  intercourse  with  the  friends  of  the  cause  in 
various  parts  of  Europe ;  and  now  that  the  United  States  had  become  an 
independent  power,  it  seemed  proper  to  extend  this  intercourse,  and  to 
establish  diplomatic  relations  with  other  governments.  Three  commis- 
sioners, of  whom  Dr.  Franklin  M'as  one,  were  sent  to  Paris,  and  Arthur 
Lee  was  deputed  by  them  to  visit  Prussia  and  Spain.  These  agents 
were  not  formally  received  at  court,  for  no  European  power  was  yet  pre- 
pared for  war  with  England.  But  the  French  ministers  treated  them 
with  much  courtesy,  and  agreed  to  furnish  the  Americans  with  secret 
supplies  of  money,  arms,  and  military  stores,  to  a  considerable  amount. 
Many  shipments  were  consequently  made,  and  the  aid  thus  received  was 
very  seasonable.  The  appearance  of  Dr.  Franklin,  with  his  high  repu- 
tation as  a  philosopher,  his  plain  garb,  and  agreeable  manners,  as  an 
envoy  from  the  combatants  for  freedom  in  the  New  World,  created  a 
great  sensation  among  the  excitable  people  of  Paris.  Honors  and  atten- 
tions of  all  kinds  were  lavished  upon  him.  "  Men  imagined,"  says  La- 
cretelle,  "  that  they  saw  in  him  a  sage  of  antiquity,  come  back  to  give 
austere  lessons  and  generous  examples  to  the  moderns.  They  personified 
in  him  the  republic  of  which  he  was  the  representative  and  the  legislator." 
The  young  and  wealthy  Marquis  of  Lafayette,  inspired  with  a  noble 
enthusiasm,  crossed  the  ocean  to  hazard  life  and  property  in  the  cause  of 
American  freedom.  Some  Germans,  also,  among  whom  Kalb  and  Steu- 
ben, were  best  known,  and  the  gallant  Pole,  Kosciuzko,  with  a  number 
of  volunteers  from  other  nations,  went  to  the  aid  of  the  Americans. 

§  504.  The  campaign  of  1776  was  very  disastrous  to  the  American 
arms,  and  but  for  the  surpassing  fortitude  and  magnanimity  of  their  great 
military  leader,  it  would  have  been  ruinous  to  the  cause.  Washington's 
army  was  very  weak  when  it  arrived  in  New  York  ;  several  regiments  had 
been  left  behind  to  garrison  Boston,  and  others  were  detached  to  strengthen 
the  northern  army,  then  lying  near  Montreal.  Unfortunately,  also,  the 
men  had  been  enlisted  for  very  short  periods,  owing  to  the  uncertainty 
how  long  the  war  would  continue ;  and  now,  when  their  services  were 
.nost  wanted,  and  they  had  been  trained  and  disciplined,  whole  regiments 
had  to  be  disbanded  and  sent  home,  and  their  places  were  taken  by  raw 
recruits.     Frequent  drafts  were  made  from  the  militia,  to  meet  pressing 


TEE   AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  371 

emergencies ;  but  these  raw  troops  could  not  be  depended  upon  for  effi- 
cient service.  The  Continental  troops  under  "Washington  at  New  York 
did  not  number  more  than  8,000,  while  the  British  army,  which  Howe 
led  thither  in  June,  including  the  German  mercenaries,  amounted  to 
24,000.  Among  them  were  the  troops  lately  employed  against  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina,  where  they  had  attempted  to  land,  but  the  fleet 
had  been  driven  off  by  the  heavy  fire  from  the  forts.  The  fortifications  at 
New  York  did  not  prove  so  formidable,  as  the  British  vessels  passed 
them  without  damage,  and  entered  the  Hudson  river.  Howe  landed  most 
of  his  troops  on  Long  Island,  where  the  Tories  were  very  numerous,  and 
marched  to  attack  the  Americans,  who  were  in  an  entrenched  camp  at 
the  western  end  of  the  island,  opposite  New  York.  A  battle  followed,  in 
which  the  British  army  succeeded  in  gaining  the  rear  of  the  Americans 
by  an  unguarded  road,  and  totally  defeated  them,  taking  over  a  thousand 
prisoners.  The  remainder  of  the  army  secretly  retreated,  on  the  second 
night  after  the  battle,  from  Long  Island  to  New  York.  Leaving  a  gar- 
rison in  the  town,  Washington  placed  the  body  of  the  troops  on  Ilaerlem 
heights,  a  strong  position  at  the  northward.  But  the  garrison  was  soon 
obliged  with  loss  to  quit  New  York,  as  the  place  was  not  tenable  except 
by  a  large  force,  and  even  the  troops  on  tlie  heights  behaved  so  ill  that  a 
fartlier  retreat  became  necessary.  Discouragement  was  now  very  gene- 
ral ;  the  militia  deserted  by  companies,  and  the  Continentals,  as  the  regu- 
lar troops  were  called,  began  to  follow  their  example.  Washington 
adopted  the  only  system  of  warfare  which  was  practicable  under  these 
gloomy  circumstances  ;  he  resolved  to  risk  no  general  engagement,  to 
encamp  only  in  strong  positions,  to  weary  out  the  enemy  by  frequent 

^^     ,  marches,  and  not  to  meet  them  except  in  skirmishes.   A  par- 

October  28.        .  .         . '  -       ,  „^,  .       ^,  V  .  ,  ,     .  . 

tial  action  was  tought  at  W  hite  Flams  without  any  decisive 

result,  and  most  of  the  Americans  were  then  withdrawn  to  the  western 
shore  of  the  Hudson,  as  an  invasion  of  New  Jersey  was  threatened.  A 
large  garrison  was  left  in  Fort  Washington,  on  New  York  island,  about 
ten  miles  above  the  city ;  but  the  British  attacked  it  before  the  fortifica- 
tions were  completed,  and  the  commander  was  obliged  to  capitulate,  giv- 
ing up  the  place  and  stores,  and  over  2,000  prisoners.  The  enemy  then 
crossed  the  Hudson  in  force,  and  Washington  was  obliged  to  abandon 
Fort  Lee,  on  the  Jersey  shore,  with  a  great  quantity  of  baggage  and 
artillery.  He  then  retreated  rapidly  southward  through  New  Jersey  as 
far  as  Trenton,  where,  for  safety,  the  army  crossed  the  Delaware  into 
Pennsylvania,  At  this  gloomy  period  for  the  American  cause,  Sir  Wil- 
liam Howe  issued  a  pi-oclamation,  offering  pardon  to  all  who  would  return 
to  their  allegiance  within  sixty  days,  and  commanding  all  persons  who 
had  taken  up  arras,  and  all  congresses  and  associations  to  desist  from 
their  treasonable  proceedings  and  give  up  their  usurped  authority.  Many 
mdividuals,  among  whom  were  two  former  members  of  Congress,  were 


6/2  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

weak  enough  to  accept  the  proposal.  As  the  British  army  approached 
Philadelphia,  Congress  adjourned  to  Baltimore,  having  first  granted  to 
the  commander-in-chief  almost  dictatorial  power. 

§  505.  Washington  perceived  that  some  bold  stroke  was  necessary  to 
revive  the  spirits  of  his  countrymen.  Some  reinforcements  had  joined 
him,  and  the  English  army  had  gone  into  winter-quarters,  being  stationed 
in  detachments  at  several  places  in  New  Jersey.  On  Christmas  night,  at 
the  head  of  2,500  men,  he  recrossed  the  Delaware  with  great  difficulty, 
as  the  river  was  full  of  floating  ice^  surprised  a  body  of  Hessians  in  Tren- 
ton, took  900  prisoners  and  then  returned  to  his  former  position  with 
only  a  trifling  loss.  A  week  afterwards,  he  reoccupied  Trenton  with  a  lar- 
ger force ;  but  Lord  Cornwallis  came  up  to  meet  him  with  a  large  portion 
of  the  British  army,  and  it  appeared  too  hazardous  either  to  stand  an  en- 
gagement, or  retreat  when  the  enemy  were  so  near.  "Washington  devised 
a  manoeuvre  which  was  completely  successful.  Leaving  the  watch  fires 
burning  in  the  deserted  camp,  the  troops  were  led  by  a  circuitous  route 
into  the  rear  of  the  British,  and  then  conducted  to  Princeton,  where  they 
fell  unexpectedly  upon  three  regiments  that  were  stationed  there,  drove 
them  out  of  the  town  with  great  loss,  and  took  300  prisoners.  Cornwal- 
lis heard  the  firing  in  his  rear,  and  divining  the  cause,  hurried  off  in  pur- 
suit ;  but  before  he  could  overtake  the  Americans,  they  were  encamped 
on  unassailable  ground  at  Morristown.  These  exploits  taught  Sir  William 
Howe  to  respect  an  opponent  whom  he  had  begun  to  contemn ;  and  he 
therefore  withdrew  his  troops  from  the  greater  part  of  New  Jersey,  and 
concentrated  them  round  New  York.  Washington  stationed  his  army 
at  Morristown,  Princeton,  and  in  the  Highlands  on  the  Hudson ;  and 
the  next  six  months  were  spent  in  organizing  it  anew,  and  reducing  it  to 
discipline.  The  British  had  taken  possession  of  the  southern  part  of 
Rhode  Island,  and  had  surprised  and  captured  Gen. ,  Lee.  On  the  other 
hand,  privateers  and  national  cruisers  had  been  fitted  out  in  the  ports 
of  Massachusetts,  and  had  captured  many  valuable  British  ships,  which 
were  carried  to  the  West  Indies  and  the  harbors  of  continental  Europe, 
and  sold. 

§  506.  The  next  year  was  the  turning  point,  or  critical  period,  of  the 
war.  It  was  checkered  by  good  and  evil  fortune.  It  was 
a  period  of  much  financial  difficulty  and  great  suffering  both 
by  the  army  and  the  people ;  but  towards  its  close,  the  unexpected  and 
great  success  of  the  American  arms  at  the  north  really  decided  the  fate 
of  the  contest,  and  showed  that  the  attempt  of  Great  Britain  to  reduce 
the  Colonies  by  force  to  their  former  allegiance  was  a  hopeless  undertak- 
ing. About  the  end  of  May,  the  American  army,  now  much  strength- 
ened by  recruits,  left  its  winter  quarters,  and  took  a  strong  position  at 
Middletown,  Howe  manoeuvred  for  some  time,  in  the  hope  of  inducing 
or  compelling  it  to  figlit  a  battle  on  equal  ground.     But  finding  that 


THE  AMERICAN  REYOLUTIOX.  373 

Washington  was  too  cautious  to  run  this  hazard,  he  suddenly  embarked 
his  army  on  board  tlie  fleet,  and  carried  it  round  to  the  head  of  Chesa- 
peake Bay,  where  he  landed  and  began  his  march  for  Philadelphia.  He 
was  obliged  to  take  this  route,  as  the  American  fortifications  on  the  Dela- 
wai"e  made  it  too  hazardous  for  the  fleet  to  ascend  that  river.  Anxious 
to  save  the  city  which  was  the  seat  of  Congress  and  was  regarded  in  some 
measure  as  the  capital  of  the  country,  Washington  marched  hurriedly  south- 
ward to  intercept  him.  After  passing  through  Philadelphia,  he  first  at- 
tempted to  check  the  progress  of  the  enemy  at  Brandywine,  where  a  creek, 
everywhere  fordable,  guarded  the  front  of  the  American  position.  The  Bri- 
tish passed  this  stream  in  two  divisions,  at  considerable  distance 
^  *  from  each  other ;  and  "Washington's  army  being  thus  attacked 

in  front  and  on  the  flank,  some  regiments  broke  and  fled,  and  the  rest  were 
forced  to  retreat  in  some  disorder.  The  Americans  again  offered  battle  five 
days  afterwards,  but  a  violent  storm  interrupted  the  engagement  almost 
as  soon  as  it  began.  The  hope  of  saving  Philadelphia  was  then  aban- 
doned ;  Congress  adjourned  to  Lancaster,  the  magazines  and  public 
stores  were  removed,  and  Howe  entered  the  city  on  the  25th,  leaving 
the  bulk  of  his  army  ten  miles  off*,  at  Germantown.  It  was  a  barren 
conquest ;  experience  was  now  teaching  the  British  that  they  could  hold 
no  more  ground  in  America  than  what  they  actually  occupied  with  their 
troops  ;  and  these  were  not  to  be  too  much  scattered,  or  they  were  liable 
to  be  cut  off*  in  detail.  To  raise  the  sinking  spirits  of  his  men,  Washing- 
ton planned  a  surprise  of  the  British  army  in  Germantown.     The  enter- 

^     ,  prise  seemed  successful  at  first ;  but  the  troops  erot  scpara- 

October  4.  ,   /.  ,       ,         .      ,       i     ,  /.    ,  .        ,        . 

ted  Irom  each  other,  m  the  darkness  ot  the  morning,  by  the 

inequalities  of  the  ground,  a  panic  seized  upon  some,  and  the  whole  were 
then  driven  to  make  a  disorderly  retreat.  Ilightly  deeming  that  Wash- 
ington could  not  soon  make  another  attack  after  this  repulse,  Howe  re- 
solved to  attack  the  forts  on  the  Delaware,  in  order  to  establish  com- 
munication with  his  fleet,  which  had  not  yet  been  able  to  pass  up  the 
river.  Count  Donop,  with  1,200  Hessians,  assaulted  the  post  at  Red 
Bank,  on  the  Jersey  shore,  but  fell  in  the  attempt,  and  his 
men  were  driven  off*  with  great  slaughter  ;  and  of  the  ships 
which  assailed  Fort  Miflen,  on  an  island  in  the  Delaware,  a  sixty-four 
was  blown  up,  a  frigate  was  burned,  and  the  others  were  much  injured 
and  compelled  to  retire.  The  enemy  then  erected  land-batteries,  which 
kept  up  so  heavy  a  fire  that  the  fortifications  were  ruined,  and  the  gar- 
rison was  withdrawn.  Red  Bank  was  also  evacuated,  and  the  Dela- 
ware was  thus  opened  to  the  British  fleet. 

§  507.  But  the  most  important  military  operations  of  this  year  took 
place  at  the  north.  Gen.  Burgoyne  received  the  command  in  Canada, 
with  a  finely  appointed  army  of  10,000  men,  and  was  instructed  to  force 
his  way  down  Lake  Champlain,  and  then  cross  to  Albany,  and  descend 

32 


374  THE  MODERN  EPOCH. 

the  Hudson,  to  join  the  British  forces  in  New  York.  This  plan,  if  exe- 
cuted,  would  have  cut  off  New  England  from  the  other  Colonies,  and 
have  rendered  the  subjugation  of  the  Americans  extremely  probable. 
And  there  was  great  danger  for  a  time  that  it  would  be  executed. 
Burgoyne  summoned  the  Indians  to  his  standard,  and  easily  drove 
the   feeble   and   disorganized  army   of  St.   Clair  before  him,   captured 

Ticonderoga  and  Skenesborough,  and  prepared  to  force  his  way 

through  the  wilderness,  from  the  head  of  the  lake  to  the  Hud- 
son. St.  Clair  had  brought  a  poor  remnant  of  his  army  to  join  Schuyler 
at  Fort  Edward,  on  the  Hudson ;  but  their  united  forces  did  not  number 
5,000,  most  of  them  were  militia,  and  both  ammunition  and  provisions 
were  wanting.  The  news  of  the  loss  of  Ticonderoga  and  the  rapid  pro- 
gress of  Burgoyne  created  great  consternation  ;  the  militia  of  New  Eng- 
land came  forward  readily,  and  in  considerable  numbers,  to  strengthen 
the  northern  army,  which  also  received  some  detachments  from  the  posts 
in  the  Highlands.  Schuyler  was  superseded  by  Gen.  Gates,  and  under 
liim  were  placed  Arnold,  Morgan,  Lincoln,  and  others,  who  were  among 
the  best  officers  in  the  army.  Burgoyne  had  succeeded  in  reaching  the 
Hudson  after  immense  labor  and  fatigue,  but  he  found  that  difficulties  were 
now  beginning  to  thicken  around  him.  He  had  sent  out  a  strong  detach- 
ment of  regular  troops,  Tories,  and  Indians,  to  his  right,  to  turn  the  alarm 
to  the  western  frontier  of  New  York,  and  lay  siege  to  Fort  Schuyler 
at  the  head  of  the  Mohawk.  Arnold  was  sent  against  him,  and  the  fear 
of  his  approach  caused  so  many  of  the  Indians  to  desert,  that  St.  Leger 

was  compelled  to  raise  the  siege  and  retire  so  precipitately 

^'     *  that  most  of  his  stores  and  baggage  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 

Americans.     Another  and  stronger  detachment  was   sent  out  to  the  left, 

under  Col.  Baum,  to  try  the  temper  of  the  people  and  to  obtain  horses 

and  provisions  ;  this  was  encountered,  at  Bennington,  by  some 
"^*     '  New  Hampshire  militia  and  Green  Mountain  Boys,  under 

Col.  Stark,  and  totally  defeated,  most  of  the  German  soldiers  being  taken 
prisoners.  Col.  Breyman,  who  had  been  sent  with  500  men  to  aid  Baum, 
came  up  two  hours  after  the  battle  was  fought,  was  himself  attacked  by 
the  victorious  party,  and  obliged  to  make  the  best  retreat  he  could,  with 
the  loss  of  all  his  baggage  and  artillery.  Thus  both  of  Burgoyne's  wings 
were  clipped,  and  he  found  himself  at  Saratoga,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Hudson,  in  the  heart  of  a  difficult  country,  short  of  provisions,  and  with 
an  enemy  constantly  increasing  in  numbers  on  all  sides  of  him.     He  iirst 

tried  an  attack  upon  Gates'  camp,  upon  Behmus's  Heights, 
Sept.  19.  .^  ^.^  ^^^^^  _  ^^^  ^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^^g  ^  drawn  battle,  in  which  he 

lost  500  men,  and  gained  not  a  single  advantage.  A  party  of  Lincoln's 
mihtia  had  got  into  his  rear,  surprised  the  posts  around  Lake  George,  and 
besieged  Ticonderoga,  so  that  his  communications  were  cut  off.  But  he 
was  encouraged  to  hold  out,  as  a  letter  reached  him  from  Clinton  in  New 


THE   AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  375 

York,  saying  that  the  latter  was  about  to  make  an  expedition  up  the  Ilud- 
Bon,  which  would  operate  as  a  diversion,  and  might  reach  Albany,  so  as 
to  place  Gates  between  two  fires.  The  promise  was  kept,  the  passes  of 
the  Highlands  were  forced,  and  the  British  had  proceeded  as  far  north  as 
Esopus,  when  they  learned  that  they  were  too  late,  and  found  it  prudent 
to  return.  Burgoyne  offered  battle  again  on  the  7th  of  October,  and  his 
troops  were  defeated  and  driven  back  into  his  camp,  his  entrenchments 
in  one  quarter  were  forced,  and  a  part  of  his  artillery  and  ammu- 
nition were  captured.  His  position  was  thus  rendered  untenable,  and 
he  secretly  drew  back  in  the  night  to  a  rising  ground  in  the  rear.  Thence 
he  retreated,  two  days  afterwards,  to  Saratoga,  and  found  that  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  country  and  the  position  of  the  American  parties  were  sucli 
that  he  could  go  no  further.  He  held  out  a  week  longer ;  and  then,  his 
provisions  being  exhausted  and  his  camp  surrounded  and  hard 
pressed,  he  was  obliged  to  capitulate.  He  had  already  lost 
about  4,000  men,  and  5,642  others  were  now  surrendered  as  prisoners  of 
war,  all  his  arms,  baggage,  and  camp  equipage  also  passing  into  the  hands 
of  the  victors.  The  garrison  of  Ticonderoga,  when  they  heard  of  this  cala- 
mity, hastily  retreated  into  Canada,  and  the  Americans  again  took  posses- 
sion of  this  renowned  fortress. 

§  508.  Two  days  after  the  news  arrived  at  Paris  of  the  capture  of 
Burgoyne  and  the  battle  of  Germantown,  the  French  ministry  intimated 
to  Dr.  Franklin  that  they  were  willing  to  consider  the  project  of  a  treaty 
of  alliance  with  the  American  States.  Two  treaties  were  accordingly 
framed,  in  one  of  which  France  acknowledged  the  independ- 
'  *  ence  of  the  States,  and  formed  relations  of  amity  and  com- 
merce with  them  ;  in  the  other,  which  was  to  go  into  effect  if  Great 
Britain  should  make  war  upon  France,  the  two  contracting  parties  bound 
themselves  to  aid  each  other  as  good  friends  and  allies,  to  maintain  the 
sovereignty  and  independence  of  the  American  States,  and  not  to  make 
a  truce  or  peace  except  by  mutual  consent.  About  the  same  time,  the 
British  ministry  caused  two  laws  to  be  enacted,  declaring  that  no  tax 
should  hereafter  be  imposed  by  parliament  on  the  Colonies,  and  appoint- 
ing commissioners  to  treat  with  them  on  almost  any  terms  short  of  absolute 
independence.  The  concession  was  ample,  but  it  came  too  late ;  Congress 
refused  even  to  hold  a  conference  with  the  commissioners  before  tho 
British  armies  were  Avithdrawn  and  the  independence  of  the  country  ac- 
knowledged. England  therefore  declared  war  against  France,  and  pre- 
pared to  keep  up  in  America  some  years  longer  a  useless,  expensive,  and 
murderous  conflict,  in  which  she  had  hardly  a  hope  of  ultimate  success. 
The  Colonists  were  indeed  compelled  to  pay  a  heavy  price  for  their  free- 
dom. The  public  finances  were  in  a  deplorable  state  ;  recruits  could  not 
be  obtained  except  by  enormous  bounties,  and  the  troops  were  but  half 
fed  and  half  clothed ;  and  the  people  generally  were  suffering  from  the 


376  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

interruption  of  trade  and  agriculture,  and  the  scarcity  of  breadstuffs. 
There  was  hardly  a  family  in  the  land  to  which  the  war  had  not  already 
brought  privation  and  bereavement.  And  yet  the  spirit  of  ihe  people 
continued  high;  they  expected  much  from  the  French  alliance,  and,  ex- 
cept among  the  Tories,  hardly  a  wish  was  breathed  for  peace  on  any 
terms  short  of  independence.  For  the  army,  which  had  passed  the  winter 
in  miserable  huts  at  Valley  Forge,  suffering  from  cold  and  disease,  and  to 
some  extent  also  from  hunger  and  nakedness,  Washington  set  apart  a  day 
for  rejoicing  when  the  news  of  the  treaty  with  France  were  received. 
Losses  and  hardships  were  then  forgotten  in  the  general  exultation ; 
"every  heart  was  filled  with  gratitude. to  the  French  king,  and  every 
mouth  spoke  his  praise." 

§  509.  The  quarters  of  the  British  army  were  now  found  to  be  too 
much  extended ;  and  it  was  resolved  to  evacuate  Philadelphia  and  retreat 
to  New  York.  The  American  army,  w^hich  had  been  reinforced  in  the 
spring,  and  somewhat  trained  and  disciplined  through  the  great  efforts  of 
Baron  Steuben,  a  brave  and  skilful  Prussian  officer,  hung  upon  their  rear 
and  gave  them  much  trouble.  A  battle  between  them  was  fought  at 
Monmouth,  with  indecisive  results,  thounrh  the  British  loss 
considerably  exceeded  that  of  the  Americans.  Many  of  the 
German  soldiers,  also,  took  the  opportunity  to  desert.  Count  D'P!Lstaing 
soon  arrived  with  a  powerful  fleet,  having  4,000  French  soldiers  on  board, 
and  a  scheme  for  a  combined  attack  on  New  York  having  failed  because 
the  pilots  would  not  conduct  the  heavier  ships  over  the  bar,  an  expedition 
against  Newport  was  agreed  upon,  that  place  being  held  by  Gen.  Pigot, 
at  the  head  of  6,000  men.  The  fleet  blockaded  the  harbor,  and  forced 
the  English  to  sink  some  of  their  frigates;  but  the  Conti- 
nental troops  and  New  England  militia  did  not  arrive  soon 
enough  to  cooperate  with  the  ships,  which  w^ere  compelled  to  put  to  sea 
by  Lord  Howe's  fleet,  and  were  also  crippled  by  a  storm.  The  under- 
taking was  abandoned,  and  Gen.  Sullivan  had  much  difficulty  in  bringing 
off  the  American  troops,  as  the  British  had  received  a  large  reinforcement. 
These  were  the  only  military  operations  on  a  large  scale  during  the  year; 
though  as  the  w^ar  was  now  prosecuted  both  by  the  British  and  the  Tories 
in  a  less  hopeful  and  more  revengeful  spirit,  several  predatory  expeditions 
were  sent  out  that  did  much  w^anton  injury,  and  in  some  skirmishes  no 
quarter  was  given,  and  acts  of  sickening  barbarity  were  committed. 
Wyoming,  a  flourishing  settlement  in  Pennsylvania,  was  desolated  by  an 
incursion  of  Indians  and  Tories,  the  male  inhabitants  were  massacred, 
the  houses  burned,  and  the  cattle  killed  or  driven  off.  Some  towns  on 
the  coast  of  Massachusetts  were  burned,  and  a  heavy  contribution  was 
levied  on  a  defenceless  island.  In  New  York,  Baylor's  troop  of  dragoons 
were  surprised,  and  the  men  bayonetted,  under  Gen.  Gray's  orders  to 
give  no  quarter  ;  and  the  same  fate  befell  the  infantry  of  Pulaski's  legion. 


THE  AMERICAN   REVOLUTION".  377 

There  was  some  excuse  for  the  Tories  in  tliese  proceedings ;  their  pro- 
perty had  been  very  generally  confiscated,  they  often  had  rough  personal 
treatment,  and  on  slight  pretexts,  some  of  them  had  been  hanged. 

§  510.  During  the  next  two  years,  the  war  was   chiefly  carried  on  by 
the  British  in  the  southern  States,  where  the  population  was  more  scat- 
tered and  divided  in  opinion,  and  the  country  offered  fewer  means  of  de- 
fence.    At  the  close  of  1778,  Savannah  was  taken  by  an  expedition  from 
New  York,  and  another  body  of  royal  troops  coming  up  from  Florida, 
nearly  completed  the  conquest  of  Georgia.     Gen.  Lincoln  was  sent  to  take 
the  command  in  this  department,  and  by  great  exertions  he 
protected  Charleston  and  South  Carolina  from  the  enemy  till 
September,  when  D'Estaing,  with  a  French  fleet  and  6,000  men,  arrived 
on  the  coast,  and  the  two  armies  in  concert  laid  seige  to  Savannah.    But 
as  the  French  could  remain  but  a  short  time,  the  attack  was  made  prema- 
turely, and  the  besiegers  were  beaten  off  with  great  loss,  the 
gallant  Count  Pulaski  being  among  the  slain.     Gen.  Mat- 
thews was  sent  from  New  York,  with  2,500  men,  on  a  plundering  expe- 
dition to  Virginia.      He  took  possession  of  Portsmouth  and 
Norfolk,  burned  some  ships  of  war  and  many  private  vessels, 
and  brought  off  a  large  quantity  of  tobacco,  after  destroying  private  pro- 
perty to  the  amount  of  two  millions  of  dollars.     At  the  north.  Congress 
took  measures  to  punish  the  Indians  for  the  atrocities  they  had  committed 
at  Wyoming,  and  other  places.     Gen.   Sullivan  led  an  expedition  of 
4,000  men  into  the  heart  of  their  country,   in  the   western  part  of  the 

State  of  New  York,  destroyed  their  villaj^es,  cut  down  their 
September.      ^     .  _  '  •',     ,  .  ,  ,  .         ,  , 

truit  trees,  and  so  devastated  the   region,  tljat  the  miserable 

savages  could  attempt  nothing  more  till  the  close  of  the  war.  Some 
British  troops  under  Gen.  Tryon  paid  a  marauding  visit  to  the  Connecti- 
cut shore,  plundered  and  burned  several  towns,  and  destroy- 
ed a  large  amount  of  property.  About  the  only  legitimate 
military  exploits  of  the  year,  at  the  north,  were  the  capture  by  the  Bri- 
tish of  Stony  Point  and  Verplanck's  Point  on  the  Hudson,  thus  rendering 
the  communication  between  New  England  and  the  Middle  States  more 
circuitous  and  diflicult,  and  the  recapture  of  Stony  Point  in  a  very  gallant 
manner  by  the  Americans  under  Gen.  Wayne. 

§  511.  Spain  had  now  joined  the  alliance  against  England,  though 
J  -WKQ  with  no  very  definite  purpose,  except  the  hope  that,  while  the 
attention  of  the  British  ministry  was  occupied  by  so  many 
enemies,  she  might  regain  possession  of  Gibraltar.  For  a  short  time, 
the  united  French  and  Spanish  fleet  swept  the  British  seas ;  but  it  was  soon 
compelled  to  go  into  harbor.  The  next  year,  1780,  added  another  Euro- 
pean power  to  the  list  of  England's  enemies,  and  brought  ■  her  assumed 
empire  of  the  seas  into  great  danger.  To  check  the  maritime  superior- 
ity of  the  British,  who,  during  the  war,  had  greatly  disturbed  the  neutral 
32* 


878  THE   MODERN    EPOCH. 

trade  at  sea,  and  molested  the  ships  of  every  country  by  an  oppressive 
search  for  contraband  goods,  Catherine  11.  of  Russia  concluded  an  alli- 
ance with  the  several  neutral  powers,  which  should  maintain  the  princi- 
ple of  "  free  ships,  free  goods,"  and  thus  secure  the  trade  of  the  neutral 
states  on  the  coasts  and  in  the  harbors  of  either  of  the  belligerent  powers. 
The  confederacy  also  declared  that  no  blockade  of  any  port  should  be 
deemed  effectual,  so  as  to  exclude  neutral  vessels  from  entering  it,  if  there 
were  not  an  adequate  naval  force  present  to  maintain  the  blockade  and  ren- 
der it  very  dangerous  for  any  ship  to  attempt  to  enter.  This  neutral  alli- 
ance was  constituted  successively  by  Russia,  Denmark,  Sweden,  Prussia, 
Austria,  Naples,  and  Portugal.  But  Holland,  whose  adherence  was  very 
important  from  her  situation  and  maritime  strength,  hesitated  so  long  that 
England  got  information  of  the  project,  and  declared  war  against  the 
Dutch  before  they  could  give  in  their  adhesion  at  St.  Petersburg.  Hol- 
land thus  disappeared  from  the  list  of  the  neutral  powers,  and  the  alli- 
ance was  deprived  of  her  aid  towards  accomplishing  their  great  purpose. 
§  512.  A  powerful  British  armament,  under  Clinton  and  Arbuthnot, 
appeared  before  Charleston  in  February,  1780,  and  laid  siege  to  it,  with 
a  view^  to  the  ultimate  conquest  of  the  whole  State.  Gen.  Lincoln's  means 
of  defence  were  very  inadequate,  and  though  he  made  every  effort,  he 
was  compelled,  after  a  resistance  of  42  days,  to  surrender  the  city  and 
give  up  his  whole  army  as  prisoners  of  war.  The  enemy  then  easily 
overran  South  Carolina ;  and  many  of  the  inhabitants,  to  avoid  the  extre- 
mities of  war,  took  "  protections  "  from  them,  and  thereby  avowed  them- 
selves to  be  British  subjects.  Lord  Cornwallis  was  then  left  to  command 
at  the  South,  while  Clinton  returned  to  New  York.  Congress  appointed 
Gen.  Gates  to  oppose  the  former,  and  by  great  exertions  an  army  of 
4,000  men  was  collected  for  this  purpose,  mostly  militia,  who  Vv^ere  ill 
fed  and  ill  armed,  and  not  at  all  disciplined.  With  the  rash  confidence 
inspired  by  his   success   against  Burgoyne,  Gates  advanced  hastily  and 

with  little   precaution,  was   attacked  under  unfavorable  cir- 
August  16.  ,        ^  11.  /-(I  1    1  • 

cumstances  by  Cornwallis,  near  Camden,  and  his  army  so 

completely  routed  that  not  a  fourth  part  of  them  could  be  again  brought 
together.  The  southern  States  were  thus  rendered  almost  entirely  de- 
fenceless, though  the  British  for  the  present  were  not  able  to  invade  North 
Carolina  from  the  want  of  supplies.  Sumter  and  Marion,  also,  noted 
partizan  officers,  gave  them  great  annoyance  by  collecting  bands  of  irre- 
gular troops,  and  waging  a  kind  of  guerilla  warfare  against  their  outposts^ 
and  detachments.  One  motley  collection  of  such  troops,  chiefly  mounted 
backwoodsmen  with  their  rifles,  under  Shelby  and  Sevier,  intercepted 
Ferguson,  an  active  Loyalist,  at  the  head  of  about  1,000 
Tories,  at  King's  Mountain,  and  totally  defeated  him,  taking 
most  of  his  men  prisoners,  and  hanging  some  of  them  as  traitors.  At  the 
end  of  the  year,  Gen.  Greene  was  sent  to  take  Gates's  place,  and  a  small 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  379 

regular  army  was  collected  for  him,  which  he  led  with  consummate  ahili* 
ty.  At  the  north,  a  French  fleet  and  army,  the  latter  under  Rochambeau, 
arrived  at  Newport,  but  were  blockaded  there  by  a  superior  British  fleet, 
60  that  they  accomplished  nothing.  Another  remarkable  incident  of  the 
year  was  the  treason  of  Gen.  Arnold,  a  very  bmve  officer,  but  dissolute, 
wayward,  and  extravagant,  who  sold  himself  to  the  British  for  £10,000 
and  a  general's  commission,  covenanting  to  give  into  their  power,  also, 
West  Point  and  the  other  American  fortresses  in  the  Highlands.  The 
conspiracy  was  detected  just  before  the  time  fixed  for  its  exe- 
ep  m  er.  ^.^j^j^j^^  Arnold  succeeded  in  making  his  escape ;  but  Major 
Andre,  a  gallant  English  officer  whom  Clinton  had  sent  to  negotiate  with 
him,  was  seized  when  in  disguise  within  the  American  lines,  and  was 
tried  and  executed  as  a  spy.  The  want  of  pay,  and  the  impossibility  of 
complying  with  the  just  demands  of  the  soldiers,  caused  some  Pennsylva- 
nia regiments,  who  were  encamped  near  Morristown,  to  break  out  into  open 
revolt.  They  were  invited  to  join  the  British,  as  Arnold  had  done  ;  but 
they  refused,  and  after  the  matter  had  been  compromised  by  Congress, 
Bome  of  their  grievances  being  redressed,  they  gave  up  the  emissaries  of 
the  enemy,  who  were  hanged  as  spies.  Some  New  Jersey  troops  quickly 
followed  this  example  of  insubordination ;  but  their  revolt  was  crushed 
with  a  strong  hand,  and  a  few  of  the  ringleaders  were  executed. 

§  513.  The  comparative  ease  with  which  Georgia  and  South  Carolina 
had  been  subdued  caused  great  effiarts  to  be  made,  in  1781,  for  the  con- 
quest of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia.  In  January  of  this  year,  the 
traitor  Arnold  was  sent  with  1,G00  men,  chiefly  Tories,  to  plunder  and 
devastate  the  country  on  the  Chesapeake  and  the  James  river,  in  order 
to  cripple  the  resources  of  the  State  ;  and  after  he  had  accomplished  this 
service,  he  was  joined  by  Gen.  Phillips,  with  2,000  troops  from  New 
York.  But  these  marauding  expeditions  did  not  help  the  British  cause 
much  ;  they  caused  great  misery,  but  they  incensed  the  people  so  much 
that  they  lost  all  thoughts  of  acquiescence  and  submission,  and  made  des- 
peiate  efforts  to  repulse  the  destroyers.  The  plan  was,  that  Cornwallis 
should  march  north,  to  join  Phillips  and  Arnold,  their  united  forces  being 
deemed  sufficient  to  crush  all  opposition  at  the  South.  But  Cornwallis 
had  now  an  able  and  determined  opponent  in  Greene,  who  gave  him 
enough  to  do  in  the  Carolinas.  Half  of  Greene's  force,  under  Morgan, 
who  had  been  sent  to  put  down  the  Tories  in  the  west,  encountered  the 
British  light  troops  under  Tarleton,  at  the  Cowpens,  and  gave  them  a 
signal  defeat,  killing  or  taking  prisoners  over  600  of  them.  Cornwallis 
instantly  started  off"  in  great  haste,  to  overtake  and  punish  Morgan  before 
he  could  rejoin  his  commander.  But  the  activity  of  the  Americans  baffled 
him.     Still  the  British  general  pushed  on  ;  and  Greene's  whole  force  be- 

xjt     ui'         ^"S  much  inferior,  he  was  obliged  to  make  a  rapid  retreat  into 
March  lo.  .    .  '  ="  ^ 

Virgmia.    Me  soon  returned,  however,  with  some  reinforce* 


April  2c 


380  THE  MODERN   EPOCH. 

ments,  and  offered  battle  at  Guilford  Court  House,  where  Cornwallis  in- 
deed  defeated  him,  but  the  victory  was  equivalent  to  a  defeat.  The  Bri- 
tish loss  was  greater  than  the  American,  and  Cornwallis  was  obliged  to 
retire  to  Wilmington,  near  the  sea.  Greene  pursued  him  for  a  while,  and 
then  took  the  bold  step  of  marching  directly  into  South  Carolina,  which 
had  been  left  in  charge  of  Lord  Kawdon  with  a  small  force.  Finding  it 
impossible  to  overtake  him,  Cornwallis  imitated  his  bold  policy  by  march- 
ing north,  to  join  the  king's  troops  in  Virginia.  Greene  and  liawdon  came 
in  conflict  with  each  other  at  Ilobkirk's  Hill,  and  the  former 
was  again  defeated,  though  his  loss  was  no  greater  than  the 
enemy's,  and  the  advantages  of  the  encounter  were  all  on  his  side.  Lee 
and  Marion,  with  other  partizan  officers,  encouraged  by  his  presence, 
roused  the  inhabitants  to  arms,  nearly  all  the  British  posts  in  the  upper 
country  were  captured  or  abandoned,  and  the  larger  part  of  South  Caro- 
lina was  restored  to  the  Americans.  Their  irritated  opponents  shot  as 
deserters  all  whom  they  captured  in  arms  that  had  once  accepted  British 
protection ;  among  these  victims  was  Colonel  Hayne,  an  eminent  citizen 
of  Charleston,  whose  fate  caused  much  sorrow  and  indignation.  The 
conflict  on  both  sides  had  all  the  aggravated  features  of  a  civil  war. 

§  514.  The  arrival  of  a  powerful  fleet  under  Count  De  Grasse  having 
given  the  French  a  temporary  superiority  at  sea,  the  French  forces  at 
Newport  were  released,  and  an  attack  upon  the  British  in  New  York  was 
projected  for  the  combined  army  of  Washington  and  Rochambeau.  But  this 
came  to  be  thought  an  enterprise  beyond  their  strength,  and  it  was  resolved 
in  preference  to  strike  a  blow  at  Cornwallis  at  Virginia.  That  enter- 
prising general,  after  vainly  endeavoring  to  overtake  and  crush  the  small 
American  force  commanded  by  Lafayette,  had  retired  to  Yorktown,  a 
peninsula  at  the  mouth  of  York  river,  where  he  had  strongly  intrenched 
himself  at  the  head  of  8,000  men.     Here  he  was  blockaded   by  De 

^    ^     ,  Grasse's  fleet,  and,  a  fortnight  afterwards,  was  invested  by 

September.  ,  •      i    x-.         i  » 

the  combmed  i^rench  and  American  army,  16,000  strong. 

About  the  same  time,  also,  the  ever  active  Greene  had  fought  another 
battle  with  the  British  in  South  Carolina,  at  Eutaw  Springs,  the  imme- 
diate result  of  which  was  indecisive,  the  loss  on  each  side  being  about  700  ; 
but  the  general  consequence  was,  that  the  British  were  thenceforward 
cooped  up  in  Charleston  and  the  small  district  between  the  Cooper  and 
Asliley  rivers.  CornwalHs  was  vigorously  pressed,  his  intrenchments  be- 
ing ruined  and  his  guns  dismounted  by  the  fire  of  heavy  breaching  bat- 
teries. He  tried  a  sally  without  improving  his  situation  ;  and  then,  all 
hope  of  aid  from  New  York  having  failed,  he  was  obliged  to  capitulate 
and  surrender  his  whole  army,  still  about  7,000  strong,  as  prisoners  of 
war.  This  grand  stroke  was  virtually  the  end  of  the  armed  contest  in 
America  ;  having  sacrificed  two  large  armies,  and  protracted  the  struggle 
for  six  years,  the  British  could  no  longer  hope  to  retain  a  foothold  in  the 
United  States,  far  less  to  bring  them  back  to  their  former  allegiance. 


THE  AMERICAN   REVOLUTIOX.  38i 

§  515.  Sucb  now  came  to  be  the  general  opinion  even  in  England,  where, 
indeed,  for  the  last  three  years,  the  war  had  been  very  unpopular.  It  had 
added  over  one  hundred  millions  sterling  to  the  national  debt ;  it  had  sullied 
the  military  reputation  of  the  kingdom,  which  had  never  stood  higher  than 
in  1760,  and  never  lower  than  after  the  capture  of  Cornwallis ;  it  had 
brought  France,  Spain,  and  Holland  into  a  league  of  hostilities  against  her, 
and  had  combined  the  other,  professedly  neutral,  powers  in  an  alliance 
hardly  less  injurious  to  her  interests  and  her  fame.  Even  the  signal  vic- 
tory obtained  by  the  English  admiral.  Lord  Rodney,  over  De 
'  '  Grasse's  fleet  in  the  West  Indies,  and  the  equally  signal 
defeat  of  the  Spaniards  in  their  last  and  desperate  attempt  to  take  Gi- 
bralter,  failed  to  restore  English  self-complacency,  or  to  re- 
*  concile  the  nation  to  that  ministry,  (Lord  North's,)  which  had 
brought  them  into  so  humiliating  a  position.  These  successes  were  but 
casual  gleams  of  good  fortune  that  came  to  lighten  the  close  of  a  long 
perio(^l  of  disaster  and  shame.  The  phalanx  of  Lord  North's  parliament- 
ary supporters  was  broken,  his  ministry  was  driven  from  office,  the  king's 
obstinacy  was  overcome,  and  the  Whigs,  under  the  guidance  of  Lord 
Rockingham,  were  established  in  power,  with  the  express  understanding 
that  they  were  to  make  peace  by  submitting  to  the  independence  of  the 
United  States.  Negotiations  were  immediately  commenced  with  the 
American  commissioners  at  Paris,  Franklin,  Adams,  Laurens,  and  Jay  ; 
they  were  protracted  by  points  of  form,  and  by  the  breaking  up  of  the 
Whig  ministry  through  the  death  of  Rockingham ;  but  provisional  arti- 
cles of  peace  were  signed  on  the  30th  of  November,  1782,  and  the  ces- 
sation of  hostilities  was  agreed  upon  in  January  following.  Owing  to  the 
necessity  of  including  the  Continental  powers  of  Europe  in  the  pacifi- 
cation, the  definitive  treaty  of  peace  was  not  concluded  till  the  next  Sep- 
tember. In  this,  the  independence  of  the  United  States  was  acknowledged, 
their  boundaries  adjusted,  and  a  share  in  the  fisheries  secured  to  them  ; 
while  the  claims  of  the  other  belligerent  powers  were  adjusted  by  the 
surrender  or  return  of  the  conquered  towns  and  islands. 

§  516.  The  peace  came  not  too  soon  for  exhausted  and  bleeding  Ame- 
rica. The  impossibility  of  satisfying  the  just  demands  of  the  army,  the 
consequent  sufferings  both  of  officers  and  men,  and  the  prospect  of  being 
disbanded  at  the  peace  and  sent  home  in  utter  poverty,  created  a  deter- 
mination among  many  of  them  to  insist  upon  the  payment  of  their  duea 
wath  arms  in  their  hands.  Nothing  but  the  moderation,  wisdom,  and  firm- 
ness of  their  great  commander-in-chief  saved  the  country  from  the  horrors 
of  military  usurpation.  Some  of  the  officers  so  far  misjudged  Washing- 
ton as  to  think  that  he  might  be  tempted  to  play  the  part  of  Cromwell ;  but 
his  prompt  and  stern  rebuke  put  an  immediate  end  to  the  project.  He 
then  exerted  himself,  and  with  success,  to  soothe  the  passions  that  had 
been  excited,  and  to  lead  the  army  back  to  moderate  and  patriotic  coua- 


382  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

sels.  The  officers  and  men  were  persuaded  to  accept  certificates  of  debt, 
with  interest,  for  the  arrears  that  were  due  to  them,  and  to  rely  upon  the 
efforts  of  Congress  and  the  gratitude  of  the  people  for  their  redemption. 
The  troops  were  quietly  disbanded  in  the  course  of  the  sum- 
mer  and  autumn,  and  towards  the  close  of  the  year,  after  the 
British  had  evacuated  every  place  upon  the  seaboard,  "Washington  was 
admitted  to  a  public  audience  by  Congress,  when  he  resigned  his  commis- 
sion, and  took  a  final  leave,  as  he  supposed,  "  of  all  the  employments  of 
public  life."  Universal  gratitude  and  respect,  which  amounted  almost  to 
veneration,  attended  him  to  his  retirement  at  Mount  Vernon, 

§  517.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  the  United  States  were  burdened  with 
a  heavy  debt,  of  which  they  had  not  the  means  even  of  paying  the  interest, 
the  public  credit  was  annihilated,  commerce  and  manufactures  were  in  a 
torpid  condition,  and  the  country  was  almost  without  a  government. 
During  the  greater  part  of  the  struggle,  Congress  had  possessed  no  au- 
thority but  what  was  tacitly  granted  to  it  from  the  necessity  of  the  case. 
The  individual  States  were  unwilling  to  give  up  any  portion  of  that  inde- 
pendence which  they  were  striving  to  vindicate  against  a  foreign  power. 
They  claimed  complete  sovereignty,  and  were  unwilling  to  appear  only 
as  the  members  of  a  confederacy,  under  the  general  control  of  a  central 
government.  Besides,  it  was  hard  to  adjust  the  terms  of  such  an  alli- 
ance. Perfect  equality  was  hardly  to  be  expected  among  states  that  dif- 
fered so  widely  from  each  other  in  regard  to  population,  wealth,  and  ex- 
tent of  territory ;  yet  on  no  terms  short  of  equality  would  any  one  State 
consent  to  a  union  with  the  others.  There  were  also  many  unadjusted  con- 
troversies between  them,  in  respect  to  boundary,  and  the  ownership  of  that 
vast  territory  beyond  the  Alleghanies  which  had  been  wrested  from  the 
French.  In  1777,  a  plan  of  union  had  been  framed  and  adopted  in  Con- 
gress, after  two  years'  discussion,  not  as  the  best  which  could  be  imagined, 
or  as  adapted  to  all  exigencies,  but  as  the  only  one  "  suited  to  existing 
circumstances,  or  at  all  likely  to  be  adopted."  It  was  not  to  go  into  effect 
until  it  was  ratified  by  all  the  States  ;  and  only  four  of  them  could  be  induced 
at  first  to  adopt  it.  Slowly  and  reluctantly  the  others  gave  in  their  adhe- 
sion, the  consent  of  New  Jersey  and  Delaware  not  being  obtained  till 
1779,  and  that  of  Maryland  not  till  1781,  when,  at  last,  the  final  sanction  of 
the  articles  of  Confederation,  as  they  were  termed,  was  joyfully  announced 
by  Congress.  But  the  union  thus  effected  was  very  inadequate  for  the 
ends  in  view.  It  did  not  establish  a  central  government ;  it  was  only  a 
league  of  several  independent  sovereignties.  Congress  was  the  only 
organ  of  the  confederacy ;  each  State  had  but  one  vote  in  this  body  on 
the  decision  of  any  question ;  and  in  respect  to  many  subjects,  the  consent 
of  nine  States  was  requisite  before  the  measure  could  go  into  effect. 
And  after  all.  Congress  had  no  power  but  to  recommend  measures ;  it 
could  not  enforce  them.     It  could  "  ascertain  the  sums  necessary  to  be 


THE   AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  383 

raised  for  the  service  of  the  United  States,"  and  determine  the  quota  or 
proportion  which  each  State  ought  to  pay ;  but  it  depended  upon  the 
States  whether  the  specified  amount  should  be  raised  and  paid,  or  the  re- 
commendation entirely  neglected.  The  fact  generally  was,  that  they 
refused  compliance,  or  paid  no  attention  to  the  demand  ;  of  the  many  re- 
quisitions of  Congress,  not  one  fourth  were  complied  with.  Excuses  or 
palliations  of  such  conduct  were  not  wanting ;  the  States  were  very  poor, 
and  had  heavy  debts  of  their  o\mi  to  provide  for.  Again,  Congress  could 
not  impose  duties  upon  imports,  and  the  circumstances  of  the  case  pre- 
vented even  the  individual  States  from  exercising  this  power.  If  im- 
ported goods'were  taxed  by  one,  they  were  admitted  free  by  another, 
which  thus  obtained  a  larger  share  of  domestic  and  foreign  trade,  while 
the  ports  of  its  rival  were  deserted.  Treaties  with  foreign  powers  could 
not  be  negotiated,  as  there  was  no  power  in  the  country  to  enforce  the 
provisions  made  in  them,  the  authority  of  Congress  and  that  of  the  sepa- 
rate members  of  the  confederacy  just  serving  to  paralyze  each  other. 
There  was  no  common  tribunal  to  which  the  States  could  appeal  for  the 
adjustment  of  their  controversies  with  each  other;  and  the  ill  compacted 
league  was  therefore  liable  to  be  broken  by  the  first  serious  dispute 
which  might  grow  out  of  many  conflicting  interests.  It  was  obvious  that 
this  stale  of  things  could  not  long  continue  without  bringing  upon  the 
country  all  the  evils  of  anarchy  and  civil  war. 

§  518.  The  condition  and  temper  of  the  people  increased  this  hazard. 
The  vast  exertions  they  had  made  during  the  armed  struggle  had  ex- 
hausted their  energies,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  had  demoralized  them. 
On  the  one  hand,  there  was  a  general  feeling  of  lassitude,  an  indisposi- 
tion to  make  any  further  sacrifices  or  efforts,  and  on  the  other,  a  fierce 
impatience  of  any  act  or  movement  which  should  even  seem  to  limit  their 
recently  acquired,  universal  freedom.  The  load  of  public  and  private 
debt  was  enormous.  Of  what  use  was  it,  that  the  people  had  successfully 
resisted  English  bayonets,  if  they  were  now  to  be  called  upon  to  respect 
implicitly  the  orders  of  the  sheriff  and  the  staff  of  the  constable?  To 
what  purpose,  had  they  braved  the  wrath  of  the  crown  and  the  parlia- 
ment, if  creditors  were  still  to  distress  them,  and  county  courts  sentence 
them  to  fine  and  imprisonment?  Or  why  tax  themselves  millions  of 
hard  dollars,  when  they  had  just  gone  through  a  seven  years'  war  because 
they  would  not  pay  an  impost  of  three  pence  a  pound  on  tea  ?  It  is  no 
cause  for  wonder  that  such  questions  were  frequently  asked,  or  even  that 
a  majority  of  the  people  were  inclined  to  answer  them  in  a  way  most  con- 
sonant with  their  present  feelings.  It  was  a  period  of  general  anxiety 
and  gloom,  —  a  true  crisis  in  the  history  of  free  institutions,  not  only  in 
this  country,  but  throughout  the  world.  It  was  now  to  be  determined 
whether  national  independence  was  to  prove  a  blessing  or  a  curse  ;  — 
whether  the  people,  after  throwing  off  all  foreign  restraint,  would  be  wise 


384  THE    MODERN    EPOCH. 

and  magnanimous  enough  to  impose  laws  upon  themselves,  and  to  respect 
them  when  made,  or  whether  they  would  follow  that  course  of  anarchj, 
license,  and  civil  war  which  has  subsequently  rendered  the  history  of  the 
South  American  republics  and  of  the  ephemeral  republican  governments 
of  the  Old  World  a  warning  to  mankind. 

§  519.  The  matter  was  brought  to  a  crisis  in  1786,  by  the  breaking 
out  of  a  rebellion  in  Massachusetts,  the  object  of  the  insurgents  being  to 
close  by  violence  the  courts  of  law,  thus  putting  a  stop  to  legal  measures 
for  the  collection  of  debts,  and  to  compel  the  government  to  issue  paper 
money,  in  order  that  all  obligations  might  be  discharged  ip  a  much  de- 
preciated currency.  Job  Shattuck  and  Daniel  Shays,  formerly  a  captain 
in  the  revolutionary  army,  were  the  leaders  of  the  disaffected  party,  and 
it  was  at  least  doubtful  whether  they  did  not  count  a  majority  of  the 
people  among  their  followers.  Job  Shattuck,  at  the  head  of  an  armed 
force,  took  possession  of  the  court-house  at  Worcester,  and  sent  a  written 
message  to  the  judges,  "  that  it  was  the  sense  of  the  people  that  the  courts 
should  not  sit."  At  last,  by  great  exertions  on  the  part  of  the  govern- 
ment and  the  well-affected  citizens,  an  army  of  4,000  men,  under  Gene- 
ral Lincoln,  was  fitted  out,  and  after  a  very  severe  campaign  in  the  midst 
of  winter,  this  dangerous  insurrection  was  suppressed  with  but  little  loss 
of  life.  An  indirect  but  happy  consequence  of  this  rebellion  was,  that  it 
convinced  a  majority  of  the  people  throughout  the  United  States  that  a 
strong  central  government  was  indispensable,  not  merely  for  their  well- 
being,  but  for  the  preservation  of  society  itself  from  anarchy  and  ruin. 
"  You  talk,  my  good  Sir,"  wrote  Washington  from  Mount  Vernon,  "  of 
employing  influence  to  appease  the  present  tumults  in  Massachusetts.  I 
know  not  where  that  influence  is  to  be  found ;  and,  if  attainable,  it  would 
not  be  a  proper  remedy  for  these  disorders.  Influence  is  not  govern- 
ment. Let  us  have  a  government,  by  which  our  lives,  liberties,  and  pro- 
perties will  be  secured,  or  let  us  know  the  worst  at  once." 

§  520.  Accordingly,  a  Convention  of  delegates  from  eleven  of  the 
States  was  held  at  Philadelphia  in  May,  1787,  to  revise  the  Articles  of 
Confederation,  or,  in  other  words,  to  frame  a  Constitution  of  government 
for  the  whole  country.  The  delegates  from  New  Hampshire  did  not 
appear  till  the  Convention  had  been  two  months  in  session,  and  Rhode 
Island  was  never  represented  at  all.  Among  the  members  present  were 
Dr.  Franklin,  then  in  his  81st  year,  and  Washington,  who  was  unani- 
mously chosen  president  of  the  Convention.  After  they  had  been  in  ses- 
sion four  months,  with  closed  doors,  strict  secrecy  being  observed  as  to 
all  their  proceedings,  they  framed  and  published  the  present  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  approved  by  the  signatures  of  all  but  three  of  the 
delegates  who  were  then  present,  and  which  was  to  go  into  effect  after  it 
had  been  ratified  in  nine  of  the  States,  by  conventions  that  v,  ere  to  be 
called  for  the  occasion.     Not  without  great  difficulty,  and  many  compro- 


THE   AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  385 

mises  of  conflicting  opinions  and  interests,  had  this  great  step  been  taken. 
The  central  government  established  by  the  Constitution  was  to  consist  of 
three  departments,  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial.  The  legislature, 
called  the  Congress,  was  to  consist  of  two  branches,  the  Senate  and  the 
House  of  Representatives.  In  the  former,  the  representation  was  equal, 
each  State  having  two  senators;  in  the  latter,  the  number  of  represent- 
atives was  to  be  proportioned  to  the  population,  which  was  to  be  ascer- 
tained every  ten  years  by  adding  to  the  whole  number  of  the  freemen 
three-fifths  of  the  slaves.  Two  classes  of  opposing  claims  were  thus  ad- 
justed by  concessions  on  both  sides.  The  executive  power  was  vested  in 
a  president,  chosen  for  four  years,  by  electors  equal  in  number,  for  each 
State,  to  all  its  senators  and  representatives  in  Congress.  The  President 
was  allowed  a  qualified  negative  on  the  enactments  of  the  legislature,  as  a 
bill  to  wliich  he  refused  his  consent  wa«  to  become  a  law  only  when  ap- 
proved by  two-thirds  of  the  votes  in  both  branches.  The  judicial  power 
was  vested  in  a  Supreme  Court,  and  such  inferior  courts  as  Congress 
might  establish ;  and  it  extended  to  all  cases  arising  under  the  Constitu- 
tion, the  laws  of  Congress,  and  treaties  made  with  foreign  powers,  to  all 
cases  of  maritime  jurisdiction,  and  all  controversies  between  States,  be- 
tween citizens  of  different  States,  and  between  foreigners  and  citizens. 
Congress  was  not  to  prevent  the  importation  of  slaves  till  the  year  1808, 
and  slaves  escaping  from  one  State  to  another  were  to  be  delivered  up. 
Congress  received  the  power  to  declare  war,  to  raise  and  support  armies, 
to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises,  to  coin  money,  to 
establish  post-offices  and  post-roads,  to  provide  and  maintain  a  navy, 
and  to  call  forth  the  militia  for  the  purpose  of  executing  the  laws,  sup- 
pressing insurrections,  and  repelling  invasions.  The  States  were  prohi- 
bited, generally,  frorft  exercising  any  of  the  functions  that  were  conferred 
upon  Congress.  In  general  terms,  the  States  retained  the  power  of  do- 
mestic legislation  upon  all  subjects  in  regard  to  which  their  interests 
were  not  likely  to  conflict,  or  which  could  be  effectually  disposed  of  with- 
out the  cooperation  of  the  whole  Union ;  while  the  Federal  government 
assumed  the  functions  which  the  States  were  deprived  of,  and  received 
whatever  other  authority  was  needed  to  enable  it 'to  negotiate  effectively 
with  foreign  powers  as  the  representative  of  one  nation.  Numerous  pro- 
visions were  borrowed  from  Magna  Charta  and  the  more  liberal  portions 
of  the  English  Common  Law,  and  incorporated  into  the  Constitution,  to 
protect  the  liberty  and  the  rights  of  individuals,  and  to  guard  against  acts 
of  oppression  and  injustice  on  the  part  either  of  the  Federal  or  the  State 
government.  The  instrument  was  very  practical  in  its  character,  and  fai 
more  simple  and  concise  than  could  reasonably  have  been  expected,  con- 
sidering the  complicated  subject  with  which  it  had  to  do,  and  the  diffi- 
culty of  adjusting  the  relations  of  the  Federal  government  to  the  indi- 
vidual States,  and  of  so  distributing  power  between  them  that  they  could 
33 


386  THE   MODERN   EPOCH. 

work  together  harmoniously  and  effectively.  As  a  whole,  if  judged  either 
by  the  most  approved  maxims  of  political  science,  or  by  the  light  reflected 
upon  it  from  that  experience  of  more  than  sixty  years  to  which  it  has 
been  subjected,  it  may  claim  a  high  place  among  the  best  models  of  go- 
vernment that  have  been  devised  in  ancient  or  modern  times.  It  has 
required  but  few  and  slight  amendments,  and  it  has  accomplished  the 
whole  work  which  it  was  designed  to  perform. 

§  521.  Great  difficulties  were  again  experienced  in  obtaining  its  ratifi- 
cation by  the  conventions  in  the  several  States  to  which  it  was  soon  sub- 
mitted. The  two  parties  which  were  then  formed,  of  its  advocates  and 
opponents,  divided  the  people  very  equally  between  them,  and,  with  some 
modifications,  these  parties  have  subsisted  to  the  present  day.  The  con- 
sent of  nine  States  was  necessary ;  five  ratified  the  instrument  soon  and 
with  little  difficulty.  Then  the  question  came  up  in  Massachusetts,  where 
the  parties  were  nearly  equal,  though  the  democratic  and  independent 
spirit  of  the  people  seemed  to  incline  the  balance  against  the  Constitu- 
tion. Every  thing  was  thought  to  depend  upon  the  decision  in  this  State 
and  Virginia,  on  account  of  their  great  weight  in  the  Union,  and  the  in- 
fluence which  they  would  respectively  exert  at  the  north  and  the  south. 
Governor  Hancock  and  Samuel  Adams,  the  former  being  the  president 
of  the  Convention,  and  the  latter  one  of  its  most  influential  members,  wa- 
vered. The  Convention  at  last  decided  to  propose  certain  amendments 
for  adoption  in  the  form  prescribed  by  the  Constitution  itself;  these  served 
as  an  anodyne  for  the  scruples  of  the  two  leading  patriots,  and  the  rati- 
fication was  finally  carried,  though  by  a  very  slender  majority.  The  con- 
sent of  Maryland,  South  Carolina,  and  New  Hampshire  was  then  obtain- 
ed, and  next  came  that  of  Virginia,  though  after  as  warm  a  struggle  as  in 
Massachusetts,  the  opposition  being  led  with  great  effect  by  Patrick  Henry. 
The  question  was  now  virtually  decided,  and  New  York  therefore  gave 
a  tardy  and  reluctant  assent,  which  would  probably  have  been  a  refusal 
if  the  measure  could  thereby  have  been  defeated.  North  Carolina  would 
only  ratify  upon  certain  conditions,  and  Rhode  Island  would  not  even  hold 
a  Convention  to  consider  the  subject ;  but  as  eleven  States  had  adopted 
the  Constitution,  their  approval  was  not  absolutely  necessary,  and  it  was 
finally  given  after  the  new  form  of  government  had  been  some  time  in 
operation.*  It  must  be  granted,  in  favor  of  the  opposition,  that  they 
showed  no  factious  spirit,  but  calmly  acquiesced  in  the  decision  of  the 
majority  of  their  countrymen.  Congress  appointed  the  first  Wednes- 
day in  January,  1789,  for  the  choice  of  electors,  the  first  Wednes- 
day in  February  for  those  electors  to  choose  a  president,  and  the  first 
Wednesday  in  March  for  the  new  government  to  go  into  oper^v- 
tion.  As  had  been  anticipated,  George  Washington  was  unanimously 
elected  president ;  indeed,  the  certainty  that  he  would  be  chosen  to  this 
office  induced  many  to  vote  for  the  Constitution  who  would  otherwise  have 


THE   AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


387 


opposed  it.  John  Adams  was  elected  Yice-President,  and  senators  and 
representatives  were  also  chosen  to  form  the  first  Congress.  Proceedings 
were  commenced  at  New  York  on  the  4th  of  March,  1789  ;  ^ut  a  quorum 
of  both  houses  did  not  come  together  till  April,  and  on  the  30th  of  this 
month,  President  TTashington  was  sworn  into  office,  and  the  new  govern- 
ment went  into  full  operation. 


BOOK    FOURTH 


THE    LATEST    PERIOD 


A.  THE  FORERUNNERS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


1.      THE    LITERATURE    OF    ILLUMINATION. 

§  522.  In  the  course  of  the  eighteenth  century,  a  shock  was  given  to 
all  existing  ideas  by  the  literature  of  France.  Ingenious,  but,  in  part, 
mistaken  men,  opposed  religious  constitutions  and  ecclesiastical  order,  at- 
tacked the  forms  of  government,  and  represented  the  conditions  and  shapes 
of  society  in  the  light  of  antiquated  abuses.  Whilst,  at  first,  they  laid 
hold  of  real  blemishes  and  faults  as  points  of  attack,  in  religion  and  the 
Church,  in  politics  and  law,  in  civil  regulations  and  social  relations,  they 
undermined  by  degrees  all  the  foundations  of  human  society  and  con- 
vulsed all  rules  of  customary  ordinance ;  whilst  they  sought  to  annul  im- 
munities, privileges,  and  class  prerogatives,  and  to  give  freedom  and  per- 
sonal merit  their  due  value,  they  weakened  also  the  force  of  old  statutes 
and  rights,  and  the  strength  of  authority;  and  whilst  they  assailed  super- 
stitious prejudices  and  worn-out  opinions,  they  perplexed  at  the  same 
time  faith  and  conscience,  destroyed  the  veneration  and  esteem  for  things 
holy  and  customary  in  the  hearts  of  men,  and  propagated  the  idea  that  the 
happiness  of  the  world  could  blossom  only  on  the  ruins  of  existing  things. 
This  was  done  especially  by  Voltaire,  Montesquieu,  and  Rousseau,  whose 
ingenious  writings,  owing  to  the  charm  of  beautiful  language  and  powers 
of  description,  were  read  by  the  whole  of  educated  Europe.  The  paths 
were  different,  but  the  result  the  same. 

§  523.  Voltaire,  a  versatile  and  ingenious  author,  who  had  distinguished 
Voltaire,  himself  in  all  kinds  of  literature,  attacked  with  the  arms  of 

A.  D.  wit  and  a  sharp  intellect  every  thing  customary  and  long- 

1694-1778.  established,  all  dominant  opinions  and  existing  regulations, 
without  concerning  himself  about  what  should  come  in  their  place.  In 
poems,  dramatic   and  epic,  (  "  Mahomet,"  "  The  Henriad,"  "  The  Maid 


THE   LITERATURE   OF  ILLUMINATION.  389 

of  Orleans," )  in  satires  and  romances,  in  historical  and  pliilosopliical 
works  ("  Essay  on  the  Customs  and  Genius  of  Nations,"  "  Times  of 
Louis  XIV.,"  "  History  of  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden,"  «kc.)  he  laid  down 
his  views  and  doubts,  his  thoughts  and  criticisms,  his  investigations  and 
conclusions.  Religion  and  the  Church,  priesthood  and  popular  belief, 
experienced  the  most  violent  attacks  ;  and  if  it  cannot  be  denied  that  Vol- 
taire's sarcasm  and  wit  have  destroyed  many  prejudices,  removed  many 
superstitions,  and  exhibited  ecclesiastical  exclusiveness  in  all  its  naked- 
ness, so  also  it  is  to  be  lamented  that  he  has  broken  down  religious  feel- 
ing in  many  a  heart,  sown  doubt  and  unbelief  in  many  a  mind,  together 
with  cold,  worldly  wisdom,  and  therewith  selfishness,  and  represented 
self-love  and  self-interest  as  the  highest  motives  of  human  actions. 
.J  .  Montesquieu,  a  more  earnest  writer,  drew  attention  to  the 

A.  D.  faultiness  and  absurdity  of  the  existing  state  of  things,  with 

1689-1755.  a  view  to  its  improvement  and  reorganization  in  accordance 
with  the  spirit  of  the  age.  In  the  "  Persian  Letters,"  he  attacked  with 
the  same  wanton  scorn  as  Voltaire  the  faith  of  the  Cliurch,  and  the  whole 
form  and  system  of  government  in  France,  and  in  the  same  way,  by  wit 
and  irony,  turned  the  customs  and  social  position  of  his  contemporaries 
into  ridicule.  In  his  ingenious  treatise  "  On  the  Causes  of  the  Greatness 
and  the  Decline  of  the  Romans,"  he  tried  to  prove  that  patriotism  and 
self-reliance  rendered  a  state  great,  but  that  despotism  brought  it  to  de- 
struction. His  third  work,  "  On  the  Spirit  of  Laws,"  presents  the  con- 
stitutional government  of  England  as  that  best  suited  to  the  present  race 
of  men. 

J.J.Rousseau,  J*  J«  Rousseau,  the  son  of  a  watchmaker  of  Geneva,  com- 
^-  D.  batted  existing  conditions  of  society  by  an  alluring  descrip- 

1712-1/72.  ^Jqj^  q^  ^^  opposite  state  of  things.  After  a  youth  full  of 
mutations  and  abounding  in  necessities  and  errors,  which  he  has  display- 
ed to  the  world  with  singular  candor  in  his  "  Confessions,"  he  arrived,  by 
the  solution  of  a  prize  question  on  the  influence  of  the  arts  and  sciences 
upon  manners,  at  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  his  whole  life  and  eflforts, 
— -  namely,  the  principle,  that  a  high  degree  of  civilization  is  the  occa- 
sion of  all  the  misery  and  all  the  crimes  of  mankind ;  and  that,  con- 
sequently, it  is  only  by  a  return  to  a  state  of  nature,  full  of  innocence 
and  simplicity,  and  by  shaking  off  all  the  fetters  imposed  by  civilization, 
education,  and  custom,  that  the  world  can  arrive  at  happiness  and  safety. 
This  principle  forms  the  central  point  of  all  his  writings,  which  are  more 
distinguished  by  sentiment  and  attractive  descriptions,  than  by  profundi- 
ty or  truthfulness.  In  the  "  Nouvelle  Heloise,"  a  romance  written  in  po- 
etical language  and  in  the  epistolary  form,  he  contrasts  the  pleasures  of 
a  sentimental  life  of  nature  with  the  perverted  relations  of  actual  exis- 
tence and  the  compulsions  of  society.  In  the  "  Emile,"  he  attemptet^  to 
establish  a  rational  system  of  education,  founded  upon  nature  and  parental 
33* 


391)  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

affection,  and  thus  expiated  the  sin  he  had  committed  by  allowing  hia 
own  children  to  be  taken  to  the  foundling  hospital.  The  "  Confession  of 
Faith  of  a  Savoyard  Vicar,"  which  is  to  be  found  in  this  work,  and  in 
which  he  taught  and  recommended  a  religion  of  the  heart  and  feelings  in 
opposition  to  the  predominant  Church  doctrine,  brought  banishment  and 
persecution  upon  him.  In  the  "  Social  Contract,"  he  represented  the 
equality  of  all  men  as  the  condition  of  a  well-ordered  state,  and  found 
the  most  estimable  government  in  a  perfect  democracy,  with  legislative 
popular  assemblies.  In  all  these  writings,  golden  truths  are  contained  side 
by  side  with  many  essential  errors  and  seductive  fallacies.  His  words  are 
the  expression  of  a  deep  inward  feeling,  and  penetrate  to  the  heart  be- 
cause they  come  from  the  heart.  The  effect  of  his  writings  was  immea- 
surable, and  every  spot  which  his  foot  had  trod,  or  where  he  had  resided 
as  a  persecuted  fugitive,  was  gazed  upon  with  reverence  by  the  rising 
generation.  A  feeling  for  nature,  simplicity,  and  the  domestic  affections 
was  awakened  in  France  by  Rousseau  ;  but  at  the  same  time,  there  was 
aroused  a  passionate  longing  for  the  lauded  state  of  primitive  liberty  and 
equality,  which  could  only  be  slaked  by  the  destruction  of  existing 
arrangements  and  relations. 

§  524.  The  influence  of  these  men  upon  the  opinions  of  all  Europe 
was  so  much  the  greater,  inasmuch  as  Paris  then  gave  the  fashion  in 
every  thing ;  the  French  language  and  literature  were  alone  read  or 
spoken  by  the  higher  classes,  and  these  writings  excited  universal  atten- 
tion by  their  agreeable  form  and  ingenious  descriptions.  Princes,  like 
Frederick  II.,  Gustavus  III.  of  Sweden,  Charles  III.  of  Spain,  Catha- 
rine II.  of  Russia,  the  greatest  statesmen  of  all  countries,  and  many  per- 
sons of  influence,  were  in  personal  or  epistolary  correspondence  with  Vol- 
taire and  many  of  his  similarly-minded  contemporaries.  Among  these 
contemporaries,  D'Alembert,  mathematician  and  philosopher,  and  the 
wanton  poet,  Diderot,  are  particularly  well  known.  They  were  the  origin- 
ators of  the  Encyclopasdic  Dictionary,  which  was  a  clear,  large-minded,  and 
unprejudiced  summary  of  all  human  science,  but  hostile  to  every  lofty 
effort.  From  this  work,  they  and  their  coadjutors  received  the  name  of 
Encyclopaedists. 

The  first  consequence  of  this  literary  activity  was  the  triumph  of  en- 
lightenment in  most  of  the   countries  of  Europe.     This  victory  shortly 
displayed  itself  in  religious  toleration,  in  the  successful  struggle  of  reason 
against  superstition  and  prejudice,  in  the  vigorous  reforms  of  many  princes 
and  ministers,  and,  above  all,  in  the  abolition  of  the  order  of 

A  D   1773 

the  Jesuits,  in  the  formation  of  the  society  of  Illuminati,  in 
the  Latin  work  of  the  suffragan  bishop,  Hontheim  of  Treves  (who,  under 
the  name  of  Febronius,  pointed  out  the  origin  of  the  papal  power  and 
attempted  to  derive  a  new  canon  law  therefrom),  and  in  the  attempts  of 
several  German  prelates,  in  the  Congress  of  Ems,  to  procure  for  the  Ca 


FORERUNNERS    OF   THE   REVOLUTION.  391 

tholic  Church  of  Germany  a  free  position  in  regard  to  the  Roman  See. 
The  Order  of  the  Jesuits,  the  great  effort  of  which  was  to  hinder 
^  ^'     ^  *       this  enliglitenment,  to  retain  the  people  in  a  state  of  pupilage, 
and  to  oppose  every  reform  and  innovation,  could  not  long  exist  at  a  time 
•when  the  whole  educated  world  was  striving  in  the  contrary  direction. 
Accordingly,  when  the  minister,  Pombal,  in  Portugal,  closed  the  colleges  of 
the  Jesuits,  and  sent  the  members  of  the  Order  to  the  States  of  the  Church, 
and  when  his  example  was  followed  in  all  the  countries  governed  by  the 
house  of  Bourbon  (Spain,  Naples,  Parma,)  Pope  Clement  XIV.,  a  libe- 
ral and   sensible  prince  of  the   Church,  saw   himself  con- 
strained to  abolish  the  Order.     This  obliged  Maria  Theresa, 
who  had  long  attempted  to  retain  the  Order  in  Austria,  to  consent  to  its 
dissolution,  and  the  papal  order  was  also  carried  into  effect  in  Bavaria 
and  the  other  Catholic  countries  of  Germany.     But  the  activity  of  the 
members  of  the  Order  was  not  thereby  destroyed.      Ex-Jesuits  prose- 
cuted the  objects  of  the  society  with  undisturbed  perseverance,  and  strove 
against  the  spirit  of  the  time.     For  the  purpose  of  paralyzing  their  efforts, 
Adam  Weishaupt,  professor   in   Ingolstadt,  in   conjunction 
with  Knigge  and  others,  founded  the  secret  society  of  Illumi- 
nati,  whose  objects  were  the  enlightenment  of  the  people,  and  the  im- 
provement of  humanity.     Their  contest  against  the  ex-Jesuits,  monks, 
and  clergy,  was  soon  checked  by  the  legal  prosecutions  of  the  Bavarian 
government. 

§  525.  In  the  war  which  the  British  Colonies  of  North  America  had  car- 
ried on  against  their  mother  country,  Europe,  which  was  filled  with  tho 
ideas  and  dreams  of  Rousseau,  saw  the  beginning  of  that  great  struggle  by 
which  mankind  were  to  enter  into  a  state  of  paradisiacal  happiness  ;  a 
struggle,  by  the  victorious  termination  of  which  the  inborn  rights  of  hu- 
manity and  the  people  were  to  attain  validity.  The  North  American 
"War  of  Independence  was  the  first  contest  of  young  freedom  against  the 
ancient  prerogatives,  forms,  and  institutions ;  and  for  this  reason  it  had 
a  particular  interest  for  Europe. 

Holland,  where  the  hereditary  Stadtholder,  William  V.,  and  his  former 
guardian  and  constant  adviser,  Ernest  of  Brunswick,  were  entirely  de- 
voted to  the  English,  whilst  the  aristocracy,  from  regard  to  the  interests 
of  commerce,  were  in  alliance  with  the  French,  was  injured  in  its  trade, 
in  its  navigation,  and  in  its  colonies,  by  this  war.  Besides  the  irrepara- 
ble losses  incurred  by  the  East  and  West  Indian  trading  companies,  the 
Dutch  possessions  in  the  East  Indies  suffered  a  diminution.  Holland 
afterwards  entered  into  more  intimate  relations  with  France.  Her  people, 
excited  by  the  notions  of  republicanism  and  democratic  freedom,  which, 
since  the  American  war,  ha*d  spread  over  Europe,  gave  vent  to  the  ani- 
mosity they  felt  against  their  government,  which  was  favorably  disposed 
towards  England,  by  an  insurrection.     Duke  Ernest  of  Brunswick  was 


392  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

obliged  to  leave  the  country,  the  Stadtholder'and  his  wife  were  threatened, 

and  armed  mobs  committed  violence  in  some  of  the  towns. 

■       At  length,  Frederick  William  11.  of  Prussia,  brother  of  the 

A.  D.  1787.       Stadtholder's  wife,  marched  troops  into  Holland,  who  quickly 

put  an  end  to  the  insurrection  and  restored  order. 

2.     INNOVATIONS    OF   PRINCES    AND    MINISTERS. 

§  52G.  The  French  illuminative  philosophy  and  the  Parisian  spirit  of 
the  age  exercised  the  greatest  influence  upon  the  views  and  measures  of 
princes  and  governments.  Not  only  were  all  the  productions  of  French 
literature  eagerly  read  and  admired  in  the  higher  circles  of  Europe,  but 
it  also  became  the  fashion  for  the  well-born  youth  to  spend  some  time  in 
Paris  to  complete  their  education,  and  no  man  of  consequence  could 
reckon  upon  consideration  or  regard  if  he  had  not  been  admitted  into  the 
intellectual  circles  of  the  French  capital.  All  the  princes  and  statesmen 
of  Europe  strove  for  the  favor  and  friendship  of  the  French  literati  and 
philosophers.  Is  it  then  to  be  wondered  at,  that,  in  the  three  last  decen- 
niums  which  preceded  the  French  Revolution,  many  reforms  and  innova- 
tions were  undertaken,  which  had  their  origin  in  that  spirit  of  the  times 
which  had  been  formed  in  France  ?  The  endeavor  was  to  apply  practi- 
cally that  which,  in  speech  and  in  writing,  was  allowed  to  be  the  truth.  Zeal- 
ous efforts  were  accordingly  made  on  all  sides  to  revolutionize  ancient 
forms  and  institutions,  laws  and  customs,  and  to  adapt  them  by  fresh 
arrangements  to  the  spirit  of  the  age.  In  the  region  of  religion  and  the 
Church,  this  spirit  first  displayed  itself  in  the  establishment  of  the  liberal 
and  magnanimous  principle  of  toleration  in  matters  of  faith,  in  the  abolition 
of  the  Order  of  the  Jesuits  and  of  the  Inquisition,  and  in  the  moderation 
of  all  principles  and  institutions  dangerous  to  philanthropy  or  the  rights 
of  mankind.  This  new  epoch  of  humanity  exhibited  itself  most  actively 
and  with  the  best  results  in  the  affairs  of  law,  where  efforts  were  every- 
where made  to  establish,  as  far  as  possible,  the  equal  administration  of 
justice  to  every  man,  and  to  ameliorate  or  abolish  the  statutes  and  bur- 
dens which  had  descended  from  the  n^iddle  ages.  In  many  countries,  serf- 
dom was  abolished,  feudal  duties  were  done  away  with,  oppressive  or  de- 
grading relations  removed  ;  new  codes  and  ordinances  respecting  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice  annulled  the  cruel  punishments  of  a  stern  and 
gloomy  period,  such  as  the  rack,  wheel,  &c.,  and  conferred  the  privileges 
of  humanity  even  on  the  criminal.  In  regard  to  the  economy  of  the 
state,  nev/  principles  were  established  in  France,  which  were  adopted  in 
many  countries.  According  to  these,  money  is  the  great  lever  of  state 
science,  and,  consequently,  the  great  object  is  to  raise  as  large  a  revenue 
as  possible  by  labor  and  by  making  use  of  natural  agents.  If  this  prin- 
ciple, on  the  one  hand,  was  the  occasion  of  the  encouragement  of  agri- 
culture, mining,  and  planting,  and  that  trade,  industry,  and  useful  inven- 


INNOVATIONS   OF   PRINCES   AND   MINISTERS.  393 

tions  were  patronized,  it  led,  on  the  other,  to  oppressive  duties,  to  the 
royal  right  of  preemption,  to  indirect  taxation,  and  to  paper  money. 

§  527.  The  first  who  reorganized  the  relations  of  the  state  upon  these 
Joseph  Em-  principles  was  Pombal,  in  Portugal,  the  all-powerful  minis- 
mannel,  a.  d.  ter  of  Joseph  Emmanuel.  An  attempt  to  murder  the  king, 
1750-1777.  which  was  ascribed  to  the  powerful  family  of  Tavora  and 
A.  D.  1759.  ^^Q  instigations  of  the  Jesuits,  was  made  use  of  to  drive  the 
members  of  this  Order  out  of  Portugal,  and  afterwards  to  effect  the  en- 
lightenment of  the  people  by  new  seminaries  of  education  and  by  the  dif- 
fusion of  printed  books.  The  pervading  activity  of  this  able  man  was 
felt  in  every  quarter.  He  had  the  affairs  of  the  army  and  those  relating  to 
war  placed  on  a  better  footing  by  the  German  marshal,  Wilham  of  Lippe- 
Schaumburg  ;  he  encouraged  agriculture  and  industry,  to  draw  the  people 
from  dirt  and  indolence ;  and  when  a  fearful  earthquake  destroyed 
November,  30,000  houses  in  Lisbon,  he  was  indefatigable  in  repairing  the 
1755.  mischief.     Pombal  united  the  severity  and  arbitrariness  of  a 

despot  to  the.  courage  and  the  penetrating  will  of  a  reformer.  All  the 
prisons  were  filled  with  those  who  opposed  him.  When  these  regained 
their  Hberty  under  the  reign  of  the  weak  Maria,  they  united  themselves 
for  the  overthrow  of  the  minister,  after  which,  Portugal  was  again  plung- 
ed into  the  same  wretched  state  as  before.  In  Spain,  similar  attempts 
were  made  to  i-eorganize  the  affairs  of  Church  and  State  by 
A.  D.  '  liberal  ministers,  like  Aranda  and  others.  "When  the  Jesuits 
1759-1785.  opposed  these  innovations,  Aranda  ordered  5,000  of  them  to 
be  arrested  in  a  single  night,  embarked  on  board  shi})s,  without  distinc- 
tion of  age  or  rank,  and  carried  off  like  criminals,  with  great  harshness, 
to  the  States  of  the  Church.  Their  property  was  confiscated  and  their 
establishments  closed.  During  the  latter  years  of  the  reign  of  Charles 
III.,  however,  the  clergy  and  Inquisition  again  acquired  great  influence, 
and  destroyed  or  disturbed  the  greater  number  of  the  reforms.  In 
France.  France,  the  minister  Choiseul  belonged   to  the  promoters  of 

Choiseul.  enlightenment  and  progress ;  but  under  the  government  of  a 
voluptuous  king,  like  Louis  XV.,  no  improvement  could  take  place. 
After  the  ascension  of  the  throne  by  Louis  XVL,  two  men  were  ciilled 
to  the  ministry  who  possessed  both  the  power  and  the  will  to  heal  the 
shattered  constitution  of  the   state  by  effectual ,  reforms — Tuigot   and 

^  Malesherbes.      They  proposed  that  a  new  mode  of  taxation 

Malasherbes,  should  be  introduced,  that  the  nobility  and  clergy  should 
A.  D.  1776.  i^pjjj.  j^j^^jj^.  gjjj^j.^  Qf  ^i^Q  burdens  of  the  state,  and  that  the 
institutions  of  the  middle  ages  should  be  modified  so  as  to  suit  the 
present  times.  Civil  equality  before  the  law,  without  regard  to  person, 
rank,  or  religion,  was  to  be  everywhere  maintained  ;  but  their  plans 
were  shipwrecked  by  the  selfishness  of  the  nobles  and  the  clergy,  and  by 
the  blindness  of  the  court. 


394  THE   LATEST  PERIOD. 

§  528.  Similar  attempts  at  reform  were  made  about  the  same  time 
Christian  VII.  ^"  *^^®  North  and  East  of  Europe.  In  Denmark,  under  the 
A. ».  imbecile  king,  Christian  VII.,  the  German  physician,  Struen- 

see,  arrived  at  the  dignity  of  count  of  the  empire  and  prime 
minister,  bj  the  aid  of  the  queen,  Caroline  Matilda,  a  daughter  of  the 
royal  house  of  England.  Furnished  with  unheard-of  powers,  so  that  all 
orders  signed  by  him  and  provided  with  the  seal  of  the  cabinet  possessed 
the  same  validity  as  if  the  king  himself  had  subscribed  them,  Struensee 
adopted  a  multitude  of  arrangements,  in  the  spirit  of  the  age,  for  the  re- 
lief of  the  citizen  and  peasant  classes,  for  the  curtailment  of  the  power 
of  the  nobility,  and  for  the  improvement  of  the  proceedings  of  justice. 
A  man  without  remarkable  qualities,  without  strength  of  character,  with- 
out courage  or  resolution,  he  soon  laid  himself  open  in  such  a  way  that  his 
fall  was  readily  accomplished.  His  confidential  relations  with  the  high- 
minded  although  imprudent  queen  received  an  unfavorable  interpretation ; 
he  offended  the  national  feeling  of  the  Danes  by  his  use  of  the  German 
language  in  all  official  proclamations ;  and  by  the  want  of  courage  he 
displayed  on  the  occasion  of  a  trifling  tumult  among  the  military  and  sail- 
ors, he  rendered  himself  contemptible,  and  inspired  his  opponents  with 
confidence.  Whilst  the  minister  was  at  a  ball,  Juliana,  Christian's  step- 
mother, pressed  into  the  king's  bedchamber  with  some  of  her  confidants, 
and,  by  her  description  of  the  dangers  that  were  threatening,  induced  him 
to  sign  a  number  of  orders  of  arrest  that  were  already  prepared.  Upon 
this,  Struensee  and  his  friend  Brandt  were  committed  to  prison,  and,  after 
a  most  ini^uitously  conducted  trial,  punished,  the  one  by  being  beheaded, 
August  28,  the  other  by  the  loss  of  his  right  hand.  Caroline  Matilda, 
1772.   •  betrayed  by  the  weakness  of  Struensee,  was  separated  from 

A.  D.  1775.  the  king,  and  died,  after  three  years  of  wretchedness,  in 
Celle.  After  the  death  of  Struensee,  Juliana  took  possession  of  the  gov- 
ernment, and  ordered,  through  her  favorite  Guldberg,  all  the  offensive 
reforms  to  be  repealed.  But  when  the  Crown  Prince,  Frederick,  came 
of  age,  he  conducted  the  government  in  his  father's  name,  and  made  over 
the  conduct  of  the  ministry  to  the  gallant  Bernstorf. 

§  529.  In  Sweden,  the  power  of  the  aristocracy  attained  its  full  deve- 
Adolf  Frede-  lopment  under  the  reign  of  the  good-natured  king,  Adolf  Fre- 
rick,  A.  D.  derick.  The  council  of  state,  which  had  the  management  of 
1/57-1771.  every  thing,  consisted  of  men  without  either  honor  or  patriot- 
ism, who  sold  themselves  to  foreign  powers,  and  served  the  interests  of 
those  states  from  which  they  drew  the  largest  sums  of  money ;  the  honor 
and  well-being  of  the  country  was  a  point  they  never  considered.  Two 
parties,  called  "  Hats  "  and  "  Caps,"  the  former  in  the  pay  of  France,  the 
latter  in  that  of  Russia,  hated  and  persecuted  each  other  even  unto  blood- 
shed, and  made  the  Diet  the  scene  of  their  hostile  attacks.  The  king 
possessed  neither  power  nor  respect.     This  state  of  things  came  to  an  end;. 


IXN0VATI0X3    OF   PRINCES   AXD   MINISTERS.  395 

»rhen,  after  the  death  of  Adolf  Frederick,  the  adroit  and  popular  Gus- 
tavus  III.  ascended  the  throne.  Brave,  chivalrous,  and  elo- 
*'  quent,  he  easily  gained  over  the  Swedish  army  and  people  to 
1771-1791  ^^^  ^'^^^'  ^"^  ^^^^  compelled  the  state  council,  after  he  had 
surrounded  their  house  of  assembly  with  troops,  to  consent  to 
alterations  in  the  government.  By  this  bloodless  revolution,  the  execu- 
tive power  was  restored  to  the  crown,  and  the  council  of  state  reduced 
within  the  bounds  of  a  deliberative  assembly.  The  disposition  of  the 
land  and  sea  forces,  and  the  appointment  of  state  and  military  officers, 
were  in  the  hands  of  the-  king.  lie  was  to  collect  the  votes  of  the  Es- 
tates before  levying  a  tax,  declaring  war,  or  concluding  a  peace.  But 
after  a  few  years,  he  freed  himself  from  this  restraint  also,  by  an  arbitra- 
ry exercise  of  power,  and  gave  absolute  authority  to  the  throne.  En- 
dowed with  many  talents  and  kingly  qualities,  Gustavus  III.  took  ad- 
vantage of  his  lofty  position  to  introduce  many  reforms  in  the  govern- 
ment and  administration  of  justice,  which  contributed  to  the  welfare  of 
his  people,  and  were  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  times.  But 
many  of  his  proceedings  were  the  result  of  a  love  of  magnificence,  a  de- 
sire to  imitate  French  fashions,  and  an  attachment  to  the  departed  times 
of  chivalry.  The  founding  of  an  academy  upon  the  French  model,  the 
erection  of  theatres  and  opera  houses,  the  revival  of  tournaments  and 
running  at  the  ring,  occasioned  great  expenses  to  the  impoverished 
country.  The  king's  unseasonable  dreams  of  heroism,  and  his  chivalrous 
whims,  gave  a  distorted  turn  to  his  activity.  When  he  declared  that  the 
distillation  of  brandy  was  a  privilege  of  royalty,  and  compelled  the  Swedes 
to  buy  their  accustomed  beverage,  which  hitherto  almost  every  family 
had  prepared  for  itself,  for  a  high  price  af  the  royal  distilleries,  and  when 
he  undertook  a  useless  and  expensive  war,  both  by  sea  and  land,  with 
Russia,  the  affection  of  his  people  gradually  decayed ;  and 
when,  at  lenojth,  before  the  former  wounds  had  ceased  to  bleed, 

A.  D.  1790.  ,  ,.  f  .   ,      T^  ^  ,  n 

he  meditated  a  war  with  r  ranee,  for  the  purpose  or  opposing 

the  Revolution,  and  saving  the  crown  of  Louis  XVL,  a 
1792       '        conspiracy  was  formed,  in  consequence  of  which  Gustavus 

III.  was  shot  at  a  masked  ball  by  Ankarstrom,  a  forraei 
officer  of  the  guard. 

.  §  530.  In  Austria,  Maria  Theresa,  in  conjunction  with  the 

enlightened  minister,  Kaunitz,  was  the  first  to  abolish  many 
abuses,  and  to  introduce  many  timely  reforms.  The  affairs  of  the  army 
and  of  war  were  reorganized,  the  administration  of  justice  was  in  every  way 
improved ;  new  seminaries  of  education  were  established,  and  the  econo- 
my of  the  state  properly  arranged.  But  she  proceeded  with  prudence 
and  discretion,  and  treated  with  forbearance  not  only  the  national  faith, 
but  the  national  rights,  and  the  established  usages  and  customs.  Not  so 
her  son  Joseph  II.     Scarcely  had  he  become  the  absolute  ruler  of  the 


396  THE    LATEST    PERIOD. 

vast  Austrian  empire,  before  he  undertook  a  series  of  reforms  which 
offended  the  clergj  and  the  zealous  friends  of  the  Church, 
os^p  II.,  prejudiced  the  privileged  nobility,  and  outraged  the  national 
1780-1790.  feelings  of  the  subjects  of  the  imperial  house.  He  first  in- 
troduced religious  toleration,  and  afforded  the  adherents  of 
the  Lutheran,  Calvinistic,  and  Greek  Churches  the  free  exercise  of  their 
religion,  and  equal  civil  and  political  rights  with  the  Catholics  ;  he  then 
diminished  the  number  of  monasteries,  and  applied  the  property  of  the 
Church  which  was  thus  obtained  to  the  improvement  of  schools,  and  to 
the  erection  of  establishments  of  general  utility  ;  he  limited  pilgrimages 
and  processions,  and  embarrassed  the  communication  and  intercourse  of 
the  clergy  with  Rome.  It  was  in  vain  that  pope  Pius  YI.  endeavored  to 
bring  the  emperor  to  a  different  course  by  the  unexampled  proceeding 
of  a  journey  to  Vienna.  Joseph  received  him  with  the  greatest  respect, 
but  remained  firm  to  his  purpose.  Not  less  fertile  of  results  were  his 
reforms  in  civil  and  political  matters.  He  established  personal  freedom 
by  the  abolition  of  serfdom,  and  civil  legal  equality  by  the  introduction 
of  an  equitable  system  of  taxation,  and  of  equality  in  the  eye  of  the  law, 
without  regard  to  rank  or  person.  Joseph  II.  had  the  noblest  intentions 
in  these  innovations  ;  but  he  proceeded  with  too  great  haste,  and  too  little 
regard  to  existing  relations,  customs,  and  prejudices,  and  did  not  allow 
the  seed  the  necessary  time  to  ripen.  He  thus  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  opponents  of  progress  the  means  of  throwing  suspicion  upon  his  ac- 
tions and  efforts,  and  of  depriving  his  measures,  which  were  calculated 
for  the  happiness  of  mankind,  of  all  their  fruits.  When  he  attempted  to 
introduce  his  reforms  into  the  Austrian  Netherlands  also,  established  a 
new  high  court  of  justice  in  Brussels,  and  commenced  the  reorganization  of 
the  university  of  Louvain,  which  was  under  the  guidance  of  the  clergy, 
disturbances  arose  that  at  length  terminated  in  a  universal  rebellion. 
The  Netherlanders  refused  the  taxes,  drove  the  Austrian  re- 
gency, along  with  the  weak  garrison,  out  of  the  country,  and 
declared  in  a  congress  the  independence  of  the  Netherlands.     This  event, 

^  ^        which  had  been  brou^rht    about  by  the  nobility  and  clersry, 

A.  D.  1790.  .  °  "^  J  nJ  J 

and  similar  occurrences  in  Hungary,  broke  the  heart  of  the 

Febmary  20,    irritable    emperor,    and   hastened   his    death,   the   seeds    of 
1790 

which  he  had  imbibed  in  the  unhealthy  lands  of  the  Danube, 

during  the  Turkish    wars,   when  he  was  the  ally  of  Russia.    Joseph's 

indefatigable  exertions,  and  the  activity   with  which  he  superintended 

every  thing  himself,  the  freedom  with  which    he   admitted   both    high 

and  low  to  his  presence,  and  his  abolition  of  the  tyranny  of  officials,  met 

with  no  appreciation;  his  views  were  misunderstood  and  misrepresented, 

Leopold  n.,     his  noblest  plans  were  frustrated,  and  his  name  calumniated. 

A..  B.  But  posterity,  which  can  appreciate  more  justly  his  intentions 

1790-1792.      ^^^^  yg  efforts,  will  ever  bless  his  memory.     His  brother  and 


WAR   OF   RUSSIA   WITH   THE   TURKS.  397 

luccessor,  Leopold  II.,  restored  most  of  the  ancient  usages,  and  thus 
brouglit  back  peace  in  Belgium  and  Hungary. 

Russia.  §  531.  Even  uncivilized   Russia  felt  the  influence  of  the 

Catherine  H.,   spirit  of  the  age,  under  the  long  and  splendid  reign  of  Cathe- 
A.  D.  rine  II.     The  empress  possessed  great  talents  for  govern- 

1762-1796.  ment,  and  a  susceptible  mind  ;  she  maintained  a  correspond- 
ence with  Voltaire  and  others  of  similar  sentiments,  invited  Diderot  to 
St.  Petersburg,  and  encouraged  sciences  and  arts.  She  improved  the 
administration  of  justice,  founded  schools  and  academies,  and  adopted 
many  arrangements  that  gave  an  air  of  civilization  to  the  country,  and 
which  were  loudly  applauded  by  the  French  authors.  But  the  greater 
part  was  mere  illusion  ;  the  celebrated  journey  of  the  empress  to  Tauris, 
during  which,  artificial  villages,  shepherds  and  their  flocks  driven  to  the 
spot,  and  country  festivals  along  the  road,  were  to  produce  the  belief  that 
the  land  was  blooming  and  prosperous,  is  an  image  of  her  whole  reign. 
As  regards  the  private  life  of  the  empress  and  her  court,  the  same  immo- 
rality, dissoluteness,  and  luxury  reigned  in  St.  Petersburg  as  in  Paris. 
After  Gregor  Orloff,  to  whom  the  voluptuous  empress  had  surrendered 
both  her  person  and  her  empire  in  return  for  the  share  he  had  taken  in 
the  murder  of  her  husband,  followed  a  succession  of  other  paramours, 
who  were  all  loaded  with  wealth  and  honors.  The  situation  of  the  fa- 
vored lover  of  the  empress  was  at  length  disposed. of  like  a  court-office. 
No  one,  however,  enjoyed  her  favor  so  long  as  Potemkin  the  Taurlan. 
For  a  space  of  sixteen  years,  he  conducted  the  affairs  of  government  and 
Potemkin,  the  plans  of  conquest,  lived  during  the  whole  of  the  time  in 
A.  D.  1791.  a  state  of  magnificence  that  bordered  on  the  fabulous,  and 
displayed  the  wealth  that  was  showered  upon  him  by  his  liberal  mistress 
in  a  manner  truly  remarkable.  It  was  only  a  man  with  a  spirit  of  en- 
terprise so  daring  as  to.  spare  neither  money  nor  human  life,  who,  in  the 
eyes  of  the  empress,  was  capable  of  giving  the  befitting  glory  and  renown 
to  her  government.  The  rebellion  of  Pugatschcff,  a  Don  Cossack,  who 
called  himself  Peter  III.,  and  who  found  many  adherents  in 
the  neighborh-»od  of  the   Volga,  was    speedily  sui)pressed. 

PujiratscheiF,  bet.ayed  by  his  bosom  friend,  was  beheaded  in 
A.  D.  1775.        __  °  \  ,  .         -,  . 

Moscow,  and  his  body  cut  to  pieces. 

3.    THE    PARTITIONS    OF    POLAND,     AND     RUSSIA'S    WAR    WITH 
THE    TURKS. 

§  532.  The  kingdom  of  Poland  had  long  been  a  rotten  structure,  which 
was  preserved  upright  only  by  the  divisions  and  jealousies  of  the  neighbor- 
ing states,  and  not  by  its  own  strength.  The  elective  constitution  was  the 
misfortune  of  the  country  ;  every  vacancy  of  the  throne  produced  the 
most  violent  contests,  by  which  the  nation  was  divided  into  parties,  bri- 
bery and  corruption  became  predominant,  and  the  nobles  attained  such 
34 


398  THE  LATEST   PERIOD. 

privileges  as  were  inconsistent  with  any  well  organized  state  policy.  The 
throne  was  powerless;  the  Diet,  from  which  « Republican  Poland"  re- 
ceived her  laws,  became  proverbial  from  the  vehement  party  contests 
that  rendered  every  debate  fruitless  ;  the  whole  power  was  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  armed  confederation.  A  kingdom,  where  it  was  only  the 
noble  who  possessed  liberty  or  the  privilege  of  bearing  arms,  and  who, 
relying  upon  his  sword,  despised  the  law ;  where  enslaved  peasants  were 
held  in  a  condition  of  serfdom ;  where  commerce,  which  in  other  lands 
is  carried  on  by  a  cultivated  class  of  citizens,  was  in  the  hands  of  sor- 
did f.nd  avaricious  Jews,  must  needs  have  excited  the  cupidity  of  ambi- 
tious neighbors. 

Augustus  in.,  After  the  death  of  Augustus  III.,  the  Polish  empire  again 
A.  D.  1763.  became  the  prey  of  the  old  elective  tempests,  till  at  length, 
Stanislaus  Poniatowski,  one  of  the  former  lovers  of  the  empress  Cathe- 
rine II.,  was  chosen  king  in  the  plain  of  Wola,  amidst  the  clash  of  Rus- 
September,  4,  sian  sabres.  Poniatowski  was  a  connoisseur  and  patron  of 
1764.  literature  and  the  arts,  and  an  amiable  and  accomplished  gen- 

Poniatow?ki  tleman,  but  without  strength  of  character  or  power  of  will. 
A.  D.  Weak,  and  with  no  consistency  of  character,  he  was  a  mere 

17M-Ira5.  tennis-ball  in  the  hands  of  the  powerful.  The  Russian  am- 
bassador in  Warsaw  possessed  greater  power  than  he  did ;  and,  to  pre- 
vent the  possibility  of  Poland's  escape  from  this  state  of  disorder  and 
feebleness,  Russia  and  Prussia  determined  upon  maintaining  the  ancient 
constitution  unaltered. 

§  533.  It  happened  at  this  crisis,  that  the  Polish  Dissidents,  under 
which  term  were  included  not  only  the  Protestants  and  Socinians,  but 
also  the  adherents  of  the  Greek  Church,  petitioned  the  Diet  for  the  resto- 
ration of  the  ecclesiastical  and  civil  privileges  of  which  they  had  been  de- 
prived by  the  Jesuits.  Their  petition,  although  supported  by  Russia, 
Prussia,  and  most  of  the  Protestant  governments,  was  rejected  at  the 
Diet  by  the  Catholic  nobility,  at  the  instigation  of  the  clergy.  The  Dis- 
sidents, in  combination  with  the  "  discontented,"  now  formed  the  General 

^  ^   Confederation  of  Radom,  called  upon  Russia  for  assistance, 

July23, 17G7.       T  -,     ,     r  .        J     ,.  .  -.    .    .  /> 

and  extorted  the  tree  exercise  oi   religion,  admission  to  ot- 

fices,  and  the  churches  they  had  before  possessed,  from  the  Diet.  Sur- 
rounded by  Russian  troops,  the  representatives  subscribed,  under  the 
portrait  of  the  empress,  the  act  of  toleration,  that  was  greeted  by  all 
Europe,  and  which  was  the  sign  of  the  impotence  of  Poland.  That  this 
impotence  might  be  permanent,  it  was  decided  that  no  change  should  be 
made  in  the  existing  constitution  without  the  consent  of  Russia. 

These  proceedings  offended  the  national  feeling  of  the  Polish  patriots, 
«md  aroused  the  religious  hatred  of  the  Catholic  zealots.  The  ante-con- 
February  28,  federation  of  Bar  was  formed,  which  was  to  free  the  Poles 
1768.  from  Russian  supremacy,  and  to  wrest  from  the  Dissidents 


"WAR  OF  RUSSIA   iflTH  THE  TURKS.  399 

the  riglits  that  had  been  conceded  them.  France  supported  it  -with 
money  and  officers.  A  furious  war  now  arose  between  the  two  confede- 
rations. But  the  Russian  army,  which  had  remained  in  the  country  for 
the  protection  of  the  Diet  and  the  Dissidents,  carried  off  the  victory. 
Bar  and  Cracow,  the  chief  strongholds  of  the  enemy,  were  stormed,  and 
they  were  compelled  to  take  refuge  in  the  Turkish  dominions.  The  Rus- 
sians followed  them  over  the  borders,  and  did  not  refrain  from  murder- 
ing, plundering,  and  devastating  even  on  a  foreign  soil. 

§  53i.  This  infringement  of  territory  indijced  the  Porte,  which  was 
urged  on  by  the  French  ambassadors,  to  declare  hostilities  against  Rus- 
First  Turkish  si^?  whereupon  the  Turkish  war  burst  forth,  which  for  six 
War,  A.  D.  years  fearfully  convulsed  the  east  of  Europe  both  by  land 
1768-1774.  and  sea.  Whilst  RomanzofT,  after  two  bloody  encounters, 
was  conquering  Moldavia  and  Wallachia,  and  the  dreadful  storm  of  Ben- 
der was  filling  all  Europe  with  astonishment,  the  Morea,  where  the 
Greeks,  relying  upon  the  assistance  of  Russia,  had  risen  against  the  rule 
of  the  Turks,  was  horribly  ravaged  with  fire  and  sword  by  the  latter,  so 
that  whole  districts  were  covered  with  ruins  and  corpses  ;  and  in  the 
haven  of  Tschesme,  opposite  the  island  of  Chios,  the  whole  Turkish 
July,  16,  fleet  was  destroyed  by  fire.  At  the  same  time,  Moscow  and 
A.  D.  1771.  its  neighborhood  were  visited  by  a  desolating  pestilence,  and, 
in  Poland,  the  civil  war  still  raged  with  increasing  fury.  It  was  only 
by  a  miracle  that  Poniatowski  escaped  from  some  conspirators,  who 
wished  to  carry  him  off  from  Warsaw.  On  every  side  the  eye  encoun- 
tered plains  soaked  with  blood,  villages  burnt  to  the  ground,  and  weep- 
iftg  inhabitants.  The  impotence  and  divisions  of  Poland  invited  the 
neighboring  powers  to  attempt  a  partition  of  her  territory.  After  a  per- 
sonal interview  between  Frederick  II.  and  Joseph  II.  (the  rightminded 
Maria  Theresa  was  hostile  to  the  scheme,)  and  a  visit  of  prince  Henry  of 
August  5,  Prussia  to  St.  Petersburg,  a  treaty  of  partition  was  arranged 
1772.  between   Russia,  Austria,  and   Prussia,  in  consequence  of 

which  each  of  these  states  took  possession  of  the  portion  of  Poland  which 
adjoined  their  own  territories.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  Diet  opposed  it- 
self courageously  and  resolutely  to  the  execution  of  this  project,  and 
showed  that  the  pretended  rights  and  claims  which  the  powers  insisted 
upon  had  long  been  given  up  by  contracts,  surrenders,  and  treaties  of 
peace  ;  it  was  in  vain  that  it  solemnly  protested  before  God  and  the 
world  against  such  an  abuse  of  superior  power,  and  against  a  proceeding 
which  outraged  truth  and  good  faith  ;  surrounded  and  threatened  by 
Russian  arms,  it  at  length  yielded  to  force,  and  consented  to  the  surrender 
of  the  country.  It  was  thus  that  Polish  Prussia,  together  with  the  dis- 
trict of  the  Netz,  and  the  fertile  lands  of  the  Vistula  (Elbing,  Marien- 
burg.  Culm,  &;c.)  became  the  property  of  Prussia;  Galicia,  with  the 
rich  mines   of  Wielicza,  of  Austria;  and  the  lands  on   the  Dwina  and 


400  THE  LATEST  PERIOD. 

Dnieper,  of  Russia.  The  establishment  of  a  "  perpetual  council "  that 
was  completely  under  Russian  influence,  deprived  the  king  of  the  last 
remains  of  power.  From  this  time  forth,  the  Russian  ambassador  in 
"Warsaw  was  the  real  governor  of  the  Pohsh  republic.  Shortly  after, 
Russia,  by  the  peace  of  Kudschuck  Kainardsche  Avith  the  Porte,  obtained 
the  riglit  of  passage  through  the  Dardanelles,  and  the  protective  gov- 
ernment of  Moldavia  and  Wallachia,  and  the  peninsula  of  the  Crimea. 

§  535.  Russia's  thirst  of  conquest  was  not  satisfied  with  this.  A  few- 
years  afterwards,  the  khan  of  the  Tartars  was  compelled  to  lay  down  his 
oflice ;  upon  which,  Potemkin  conquered  the  Crimea,  after 
dreadful  devastations,  and  united  it,  with  the  other  lands  on 
the  Black  Sea,  into  one  territory,  distinguished  by  the  ancient  name  of 
Tauris.  Colonists  were  called  forth  from  Germany  into  the  desolate 
steppes,  the  trading  towns  of  Cherson  and  Odessa  arose,  and  deceived  the 
world  by  the  outward  appearance  of  civilization.  But  the  happiness 
and  prosperity  of  the  inhabitants  disappeared  with  freedom ;  the  once 
splendid  city  of  tents  degenerated  into  a  camp  of  gypsies  ;  and  the  houses 
and  palaces  of  stone  fell  into  ruins.  The  threatening  neighborhood  of 
Second  Turk-  Russia  was  a  cause  of  anxiety  to  the  Porte.  Before  long,  a 
ish  War,  A.  d.  second  furious  war  broke  out,  by  land  and  sea,  between  Rus- 
1787-1792.  gj^  ^^^  Turkey.  But  this  time,  also,  victory  accompanied 
the  Russian  army  and  its  dreadful  leader.  In  the  midst  of  winter,  Po- 
December  17,  temkin  stormed  the  strong  city  of  Oczakow,  after  he  had 
1788.  filled  the  trenches  with  blood  and  dead  bodies  ;  and  the  brave 

SuwarofF  took  the  fortress  of  Ismael  under  circumstances  of  similar  hor- 
December  22,  ror.     The  road  to  Constantinople  now  stood  open  to  the  Rus- 
^'^^0-  sians,  and  the  name  of  Catherine's  second  grandchild,  "  Con- 

stantine,"  was  supposed  to  indicate  the  secret  intention  of  the  empress  to 
introduce  a  Christian  prince  into  the  Byzantine  capital.  This  love  of 
conquest  displayed  by  Russia  occasioned  uneasiness  to  the  other  states. 
England  and  Prussia  assumed  a  threatening  aspect ;  Gustavus  III.  of 
Sweden  attacked  the  Russians  by  sea  and  land  ;  and  Poland  thought 
that  the  favorable  moment  had  arrived  for  withdrawing  herself  from  the 
dictatorial  influence  of  Russia,  and  for  again  regaining  her  political  inde- 
pendence. In  alliance  with  Prussia,  the  Poles  dissolved  the  perpetual 
council,  turned  the  elective  empire  into  an  hereditary  mon-^ 
'  '  archy,  gave  themselves  a  constitutional  government  with 
two  chambers,  and  a  stricter  separation  of  the  executive,  legislative,  and 
judicial  powers. 

§  536.  This  constitution,  appropriate  to  the  age,  and  the  work  of  pa- 
triotically-disposed men,  was  received  with  applause  by  the  whole  of 
Europe.  The  king  swore  to  observe  it.  Frederick  William  II.  ex- 
pressed his  favorable  wishes :  even  Catherine  concealed  her  vexation.  A 
new  spirit  seemed  to  have  taken  possession  of  the  nation.     But  party- 


THE   PARTITIONS   OF   POLAND.  401 

spirit  and  selfishness  destroyed  the  good  work.  Many  of  the  noblea 
were  discontented  with  the  change  ;  a  party  was  formed  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  Polish  "  liberty,"  as  they,  in  their  delusion,  called  the  ancient  sys- 
tem, and  they  invoked  the  aid  of  the  empress.  The  latter  had  just  concluded 
the  peace  of  Jassy  witli  the  Porte,  and  embraced  with  avidity  the  oppor- 
tunity of  marching  her  army  upon  the  frontiers.  Trusting  to  this  assist- 
Januarj',  ance,  the  Russian  party  formed  the  confederation  of  Targo- 
1792.  wicz,  for  the  restoration  of  the  old  constitution.     A  Russian 

May  14,  army  soon  stood  in  the  heart  of  Poland.     In  vain  the  patri- 

1792.  ots  called  upon  Prussia  for  assistance  ;  opinions  had  changed 

in  Berlin  ;  an  alliance  with  Russia  was  preferred  to  the  frienship  of  Po- 
land, more  particularly  as  an  imitation  of  the  new  French  ideas  and 
forms  of  government  was  detected  in  the  new  constitution.  Nevertheless, 
the  Poles  did  not  despair  of  their  righteous  cause.  Kosciuzko,  a  brave 
soldier,  who  had  fought  in  the  cause  of  freedom  under  Washington  in 
America,  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  patriots,  and  encountered  the 
July  17,  superior  force  of  the  Russians  at  Dubienka.     But  party-c^ptnt, 

1792.  dissension,  treachery,  and  want  of  system  impeded  every  un- 

dertaking, and  paralyzed  every  power.  The  king,  hitherto  an  enthusias- 
tic adherent  of  the  new  constitution,  soon  fell  into  his  old  irresolution  and 
faint-heartedness,  and  allowed  himself  to  be  so  terrified  by  a  threatening 
letter  of  the  empress,  that  he  joined  the  alliance  of  Targowicz,  and  re- 
nounced all  further  hostilities.  The  gallant  warriors  laid  down  the  sword 
in  wrath,  and  left  their  homes  to  escape  the  scorn  of  the  victors. 

But  a  new  act  of  violence  followed  the  victory.     In  April,  Russia  and 
Prussia  declared   that  it  was  necessaiy  to  inclose    Poland 

A.  D,  1793.  ...  ,..,.,  n       .r.. 

withm  narrower  limits,  for  the  purpose  of  stifling  the  intoxi- 
cation of  liberty  which  had  penetrated  into  the  republic  from  France,  and 
of  preserving  the  neighboring  states  from  every  taint  of  democratic  Jaco- 
binism. It  was  in  vain  that  the  Diet  assembled  at  Grodno  opposed  itself 
to  this  new  treaty  of  partition.  Every  opposition  gradually  ceased,  when 
Russian  troops  surrounded  the  house  of  assembly,  and  violently  carried 
oiF  the  boldest  speakers.  Thus  followed  the  second  division  of  Poland, 
July  22;  hy  which  Russia  obtained  the  most  important  of  the  eastern 
October  14,  districts  (Lithuania,  Little  Poland,  Volhynia,  Podolia,  Ukra- 
'  ine)  \  Prussia  gained  possession  of  Great  Poland,  along  with 

Dantzic  and  Thorn.  The  republic  of  Poland  retained  scarce  a  third  of 
her  former  territory.  • 

§  537.  The  partitioned  land  was  occupied  by  Russian  and  Prussian 
troops ;  and  Catherine's  ambassador,  the  coarse  and  brutal  Igelstrom, 
ruled  with  pride  and  insolence  in  "Warsaw.  The  national  spirit  of  Poland 
was  once  more  aroused.  A  secret  conspiracy  was  formed,  which  ex 
tended  its  branches  over  the  whole  country.  Kosciuzko  and  the  emi 
grant- patriots  returned,  and  placed  themselves  at  the  head  of  the  move* 

34* 


402  THE   LATEST  PERIOD. 

ment,  the  central  point  of  which  was  Cracow.  It  was  from  this  place 
that  Kosciuzko,  who  had  been  named  the  absolute  chief  of  the  national 
force,  issued  a  summons  to  the  people,  in  which  he->rep^esented  the  restora- 
tion of  the  freedom  and  independence  of  the  country,  the  reconquest  of 
the  separated  territories,  and  the  introduction  of  a  ,  onstitutional  govern- 
AprillT,  ment,  as  the  objects  of  the  struggle^  The  insurrection 
1794.  quickly  extended  itself  to  the  capital,     x   e  Russian  garrison 

in  Warsaw  was  attacked  on  Maundj-Thursdaj,  and  "'ither  cut  to  pieces 
or  made  prisoners.  Igelstrom's  palace  was  destroyed  '  y  fire  ;  four  of 
the  most  illustrious  adherents  of  Russia  died  upon  ti^  gallows.  The 
provinces  followed  the  example  of  the  capital ;  the  king  approved  the 
revolt  of  the  misused  nation  ;  and  every  thing  promised  a  successful  is- 
sue. The  Prussians,  who  had  marched  into  the  neighborhood  of  War- 
saw, were  compelled  to  a  hasty  and  disastrous  retreat  hj  the  brave 
generals  Kosciuzko,  Dombrowski,  and  Joseph  Poniatowski  "(the  nephew 
of  the  king.)  But  the  success  of  the  Poles  increased  the  enemy's  de- 
sire of  vengeance.  Catherine,  with  the  consent  of  Austria  and  Prussia, 
sent  her  most  redoubted  general,  Suwaroff,  into  Poland.  Kosciuzko  was 
obliged  to  yield  to  the  superior  strength  of  his  opponent.  After  an  un- 
successful engagement,  he  fell,  wounded,  from  his  horse,  with  the  excla- 
OctoberlO,  mation,  "  the  end  of  Poland  ! "  and  was  carried  off  a  prisoner. 
1794.  On  the  4th  of  November,  the  suburb,  Praga,  was  stormed  by 

Suwaroff;  12,000  defenceless  people  were  either  slain  or  drown-^d  in 
the  Vistula.  The  shrieks  of  the  slaughtered  terrified  the  inhabitants  of 
the  capital,  and  made  them  willing  to  surrender.  On  the  9th  of  Novem- 
ber, Suwaroff  made  his  splendid  entry  into  Warsaw  as  a  conqueror. 
Poniatowski  was  obliged  to  surrender  the  crown.  He  lived  in  St.  Pe- 
tersburg, on  an  annuity,  till  his  death  in  1798,  an  object  of  deserved  con- 
tempt.  A  few  months  later,  the  three  powers  declared  that 
'  out  of  love  for  peace  and  the  welfare  of  their  subjects,  they 
had  decided  upon  the  partition  of  the  whole  republic  of  Poland.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  south,  with  Cracow,  went  to  Austria ;  the  land  on  the  left 
of  the  Vistula,  with  the  capital,  Warsaw,  to  Prussia ;  Russia  took  pos- 
session of  all  the  rest.  Thus  the  once  renowned  and  powerful  Poland 
disappeared  from  the  ranks  of  independent  States,  a  victim  to  a  weakness 
for  which  she  was  indebted  to  herself,  and  a  violence  that  despised  the 
rights  of  foreign  nations.  Kosciuzko,  after  being  set  at  liberty  by  Paul 
I.,  died  as  a  private  man  in  Switzerland  (October,  1817).  His  dead 
body  was  conveyed  to  Cracow. 


THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  403 


B.    THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 

1.    TH   ,   LAST   DATS    OF   ABSOLUTE   MONARCHY. 

§  538.  Louis  "^V.  at  first  possessed  the  affections  of  his  people  to  suck 
Louis  XV.  a  d'  o^66>  t^^t  ^6  was  named  the  "  Much-beloved ; "  and  when 
died  1774.  jjp  ^vas  attacked  by  a  dangerous  illness  in  Metz,  the  whole 
land  went  ir  Jiouming,  and  his  recovery  was  celebrated  by  the  greates/ 
rejoicings.  Lut  this  love  gradually  changed  into  hatred  and  contempt 
when  the  k*ng  gave  himself  up  to  the  most  shameless  debaucheries,  and 
surrendered  the  government  of  the  country,  the  command  of  the  army, 
and  the  decision  upon  points  of  law  and  state  policy,  to  the  companions 
of  his  orgies  and  the  ministers  of  his  lusts  and  pleasures ;  and  when 
mistresses,  without  ifaorals  or  decency,  ruled  the  court  and  the  empire. 
Among  these  women,  none  possessed  greater  or  more  enduring  influence 
than  the  Marchioness  of  Pompadour,  who  guided  the  whole  policy 
of  France  for  a  period  of  twenty  years,  filled  the  most  important  offices 
with  her  fiworites,  decided  upon  peace  or  war,  and  disposed  of  the  revenues 
of  the  state  as  she  did  of  her  private  purse,  so  that,  after  a  life  passed  in 
luxury  and  splendor,  she  left  millions  behind  her.  She  and  her  creatures 
encouraged  Louis's  excesses  and  love  of  pleasure,  that  he  might  plunge 
continually  deeper  in  the  pool  of  vice,  and  leave  to  them  the  government 
of  the  state.  For  the  rest,  the  Pompadour  used  her  position  and  her  in- 
fluence with  a  certain  dignity,  and  with  tact  and  discretion ;  but  when  the 
countess  Du  Barry,  a  woman  from  the  very  dregs  of  the  people,  occupied 
her  place,  the  court  lost  all  authority  and  respect. 

§  539.  This  reign  of  lust  and  extravagance,  together  with  the  useless 
and  costly  wars  in  Germany,  exhausted  the  treasury  and  increased  the 
burden  of  debts  and  taxation.  And  as  all  these  taxes  and  imposts  press- 
ed entirely  upon  the  citizen  and  peasant  class,  whilst  the  wealthy  no- 
bility and  the  clergy  enjoyed  an  exemption,  the  man  of  moderate  means 
was  very  heavily  burdened,  especially  as  the  government  did  not  super- 
intend their  collection,  but  left  it  in  the  hands  of  the  farmers-general  of 
the  revenue  and  of  their  blood-sucking  subordinates.  The  land  and 
property-tax,  the  capitation-tax,  the  house-tax,  the  tolls  and  duties  upon 
salt,  wrested  from  the  lower  classes  (who,  in  addition,  had  to  pay  tithes, 
labor-dues,  and  other  feudal  taxes  to  their  landlords),  the  fruits  of  their 
industry,  and  prevented  the  rise  of  a  prospe'rous  middle  class.  It  was 
the  custom  that  all  laws  and  ordinances  relating  to  taxes  should  be  re- 
gistered in  the  parliament  of  Paris  ;  hence  it  followed,  that  in  default  of 
the  States-General,  which  since  1614  had  no  more  been  summoned,  the 
validity  of  taxes  and  orders  depended  upon  its  sanction  ;  and  that  it  also 
the  right  of  opposing  the  laws  and  edicts  relating  to  taxes  by 


404  THE  LATEST  PERIOD. 

refusing  their  registration.  This  produced  a  violent  contest  between  the 
parliament  and  government  at  every  new  tax,  which  was  usually  termi- 
nated by  the  king  holding  a  "  bed  of  justice,"  and  overpowering  resistance. 
Beside  the  lax  edicts,  the  arbitrary  lettres  de  cachet  were  another  source 
of  contention  between  the  court  and  the  parliament.  These  terrible  let- 
ters, which  were  easily  to  be  obtained  by  any  one  possessing  any  influ- 
ence at  court,  were  a  despotic  attack  upon  the  liberty  of  the  person,  in- 
asmuch as  by  their  means  any  one  might  be  arrested  and  imprisoned 
without  a  hearing.  For  ten  years  did  the  parliament  struggle  against 
the  court  and  government,  till  Louis  XV.,  weary  of  the  perpetual  opposi- 
tion, at  length  gave  a  new  direction  to  the  matter,  and  ordered 
A.  D.  1771.  ^j^^  members  of  the  opposition  to  be  arrested.  But  they 
again  assumed  the  same  attitude  under  his  successor. 

§  540.  "When  Louis  XV.,  in  consequence  of  his  excesses,  was  carried 
off  in  the  midst  of  his  sins  by  a  frightful  distemper,  the  treasury  was  ex- 
hausted, the  country  in  debt,  credit  gone,  and  the  people  heavily  oppress- 
Louis  XVI.  6^  by  their  burdens.  It  was  under  these  melancholy  cir- 
A.  D.  cumstances,  that  an  absolute  throne  descended  to  a  prince 

1774-1793.  ^Ijq  certainly  possessed  the  best  of  hearts,  but  a  weak  un- 
derstanding ;  who  w^as  good-natured  enough  to  wish  to  relieve  the  condi- 
tion of  the  people,  but  who  possessed  neither  strength  nor  intellect  for 
efficient  measures.  This  prince  was  Louis  XVL  Weak  and  indulgent, 
he  allowed  the  frivolitj'-  and  extravagance  of  his  brothers,  the  count  of 
Provence  (afterwards  Louis  XVIIL),  and  the  count  of  Artois  (Charles 
X.)  ;  and  permitted  hiT  wife,  Marie  Antoinette,  the  highly-accomplished 
daughter  of  Maria  Theresa,  to  interfere  in  matters  of  state,  and  to  exert 
a  considerable  irflnence  upon  the  court  and  government.  The  queen,  by 
her  pride  and  haughty  bearing,  incurred  the  dislike  of  the  people,  so  that 
they  ascribed  every  unpopular  measure  to  her  influence,  and  put  a  bad 
construction  upon  every  liberty  she  allowed  herself  in  private.  Even  in 
the  celebrated  story  of  the  necklace,  in  which  some  swindler  made  use 
of  her  name  to  gain  possession  of  a  splendid  ornament,  many  believed 
her  participation  in  the  guilt. 

The  prevailing  want  of  money,  and  the  disordered  state  of  the  revenue, 
could  only  be  remedied  by  including  the  nobility  and  clergy  in  the  taxa- 
tion, by  large  reforms  in  the  whole  system  of  government,  like  those  pro- 
posed by  Turgot  and  Malesherbes,  and  by  order  and  economy  in  the  ex- 
penditure. But  Louis  XVL  had  neither  strength  nor  resolution  to  carry 
out  such  decisive  measures ;  and  as  for  economy,  the  extravagant  court  of 
Versailles  would  not  listen  to  it.  The  Genevese  banker,  Necker,  who 
Keeker's  first  ^^^^^rtook  the  management  of  the  finances  after  Turgot,  was 
ministry,  as  littl'j  in  a  position  as  his  predecessor  to  reduce  the  disorder 
A.  D.  in  the  state  economy  ;  and  when,  upon  the  occasion  of  a  loan, 

he  exposed  the  financial  condition  of  France  in  a  pamphlet, 


THE   FKENCH  REVOLUTION.  405 

he  drew  upon  himself  the  displeasure  of  the  court  and  the  aristocracy  to 
such  a  degree,  that  he  was  obliged  to  resign  his  office.     This 
happened  at  the  time  when  the  American  war  had  increased 
the  scarcity  of  money,  and  aroused  the  feeling  of  liberty  and  republican- 
ism in  France.     It  was,  therefore,  a  great  misfortune  for  the   French 
monarchy,  that  just  at  this  critical  moment  the  frivolous  and  extrava- 
gant Calonne  undertook  the  management  of  the  finances.     This  man  de- 
parted from  the  frugal  plan  of  Necker,  acceded  to  the  wishes  of  the  queen 
and  the  necessities  of  the  princes  and  courtiers,  and    deluded  tlie  world 
with  high-sounding  promises  of  putting  an  end  to  all  difficulties.     The 
most  splendid  festivals   were  celebrated  in  Versailles,  and  the  talents  of 
Calonne  loudly  extolled.    But  his  means,  also,  were  soon  exhausted.    Ho 
was  obliged  to  resolve  upon  calling  an  Assembly  of  Notables,  consisting 
of  nobles,  clergy,  high  state  officials,  parliamentary  council- 
®  J"*'^'        lors,  and  a  few  representatives  of  the  towns.     They  rejected 
the  proposal  of  a  universal  taxation,  which  should  embrace 
both  the  nobles  and  clergy,  and  threatened  the  minister  of  finance  with 
impeachment,  who   thereupon  resigned  his  situation   and  j^roceeded  to 
London. 

§  541.  Calonne's  successor  in  the  management  of  the  finances,  Lo- 
menie  de  Brienne,  was  in  a  difficult  position.  To  cover  the  deficit  in  the 
revenue,  he  was  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  the  usual  measures,  increas- 
ing the  taxes  and  raising  a  loan,  but  encountered  so  violent  an  opposition 
from  the  parliament  of  Paris,  that  the  government  determined,  since  the 
worn  out  method  of  compulsion  —  a  royal  sitting — no  longer  availed, 

to  arrest  the  boldest  speakers  and  banish  them  to  Troves. 
August,  1787.    ^,  .  ,.  .     ,  .  ,       -^ 

Ihis  proceedmg  excited  a  great  commotion  among  the  peo- 
ple, which  induced  the  government  to  arrange  a  compromise  with  the 
banished  members,  and  to  again  sanction  the  assemblies.  But  the  spirit 
of  opposition  had  become  too  strong,  and  had  already  seized  upon  the 
people.  They  formed  a  tumultuous  meeting  around  the  house  of  as- 
sembly, and  saluted  the  speakers  of  the  opposition  with  acclamations  and 
the  government  party  with  abuse.  They  burned  the  detested  minister 
of  finance  every  day  in  effigy,  and  in  several  towns  displayed  the  excited 
state  of  their  minds  by  riotous  proceedings.  The  cry  for  the  States-Gen- 
eral was  heard  in  the  streets  as  well  as  in  parliament.  It  was  in  vain 
that  the  ministry  attempted  to  overcome  the  opposition  by  converting  the 

.  .^o«    parliament  into  an  upper  court  (cour  pleniere)   and  several 
Augiist,  1788.    .   ^     .  \  r  / 

mterior  courts  ;  a  new  spirit  had  taken  possession  of  the  na- 

^  tion,  that  was  at  length  to  gain  the  victory.     Brienne  was 

second  minis-  compelled  to  resign  at  a  time  when  the  scarcity  of  money 

try,  had  become  so  great  that  all  ready  money  payments  were 

*••  ^'    ^         suspended,  and  a  state  bankruptcy  appeared  inevitable.     The 

popular  favorite,  Necker,  was  a  second  time  summoned  to  the 


406  THE  LATEST  PERIOD. 

ministrj.  He  first  allayed  the  irritation  by  repealing  tlie  resolutions 
against  the  parliament,  and  then  made  preparations  for  summoning  the 
Estates.  Owing  to  this,  there  soon  arose  a  division  between  him  and  the 
parliament  and  Notables,  whom  he  had  again  consulted.  The  latter  w^ere 
of  opinion  that  the  new  assembly  should  conform  itself,  both  as  to  the 
number  of  representatives  and  the  mode  of  procedure,  to  the  Estates  of 
1614,  whilst  Necker  wished  to  allow  a  double  representation  to  the  third 
Estate,  and  that  they  should  vote  individually,  and  not  as  a  class  ;  a 
view  that  was  supported  by  some  of  the  ablest  writers  of  the  nation  in  a 
multitude  of  pamphlets.  (Abbe  Sieyes:  "What  is  the  third  Estate?") 
Necker's  opinion  triumphed.  An  order  of  the  king  fixed  the  number  of 
noble  and  ecclesiastical  members  at  300  each,  that  of  the  citizens  at  600, 
December  ^^^  appointed  the  following  May  as  the  time  of  opening. 
1788.  Necker  was  the  hero  of  the  day,  but  he  was  not  the  pilot  of 

the  ship,  he  only  "  drove  with  the  wind." 

2.  THE  PERIOD  OP  THE  NATIONAL  ASSEMBLY. 

§  542.  In  the  beginning  of  May,  the  deputies  of  the  three  Estates,  and 
among  them  some  of  the  ablest  and  most  accomplished  men  of  France, 
assembled  at  Versailles.  The  third  Estate,  irritated  by  the  neglect 
of  the  court  at  the  opening  and  during  the  audience,  came  to  a 
rupture  with  the  two  privileged  Estates  at  the  first  sitting,  when  the 
latter  required  that  the  Estates  should  carry  on  their  debates  separately, 
whilst  the  former  insisted  upon  a  general  council  and  individual  votes. 
After  a  contest  of  some  weeks,  the  third  Estate,  which  had  chosen  the 
astronomer,  Bailli,  the  freedom-inspired  representative  of 
Paris,  for  its  President,  but  which  was  guided  by  the  superior 
talents  of  Sieyes  and  Mirabeau,  declared  itself  a  National  Assembly, 
upon  which  it  was  joined  by  portions  of  the  other  Estates.  The  Assem- 
bly at  once  passed  the  resolution  of  allowing  the  levying  of  the  present 
taxes  only  so  long  as  the  Estates  should  remain  undissolved.  This  pro- 
ceeding disturbed  the  court,  and  inspired  it  with  the  thought  of  granting 
a  constitution  to  the  nation,  and  thus  rendering  the  Estates  unnecessary. 
For  this  purpose,  a  royal  sitting  was  appointed,  and  the  hall 
of  assembly  closed  for  a  few  days.  Upon  the  intelli- 
gence of  this,  the  deputies  proceeded  to  the  empty  saloon  of  the  Tennis 
Court,  and  raised  their  hands  in  a  solemn  vow  not  to  separate  till  they  had 
given  a  new  constitution  to  the  nation.  When  this  Court  also  was  closed, 
the  meetings  were  held  in  the  church  of  St.  Louis.  The  royal  sitting  took 
place  on  the  23d  of  June.  But  neither  the  speech  of  the  king,  nor  the 
sketch  of  the  new  constitution,  afforded  due  satisfaction,  and  they  were 
consequently  rec6ived  with  coldness.  After  the  termination  of  the  sitting, 
Louis  dissolved  the  Assembly.  The  nobility  and  clergy  obeyed,  but  the 
citizen  class  retained  their  seats,  and  when  the  master  of  the  ceremonies 


THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  407 

called  upon  them  to  obey,  Mirabeau  exclaimed,  "  Tell  your  master  that 

we  sit  here  by  the  power  of  the  people,  and  that  we  are  only  to  be  driven 

out  by  the  bayonet !  "     The  weak  king  did  not  venture  to  en- 

counter  this  resolute  resistance  by  force,  but  rather  advised 

the  nobility  and  clergy  to  join  the  citizens. 

§  543.  The  Storming  of  the  Bastille.  —  During  these  proceed- 
ings, the  fickle  populace  of  Paris  were  kept  in  a  state  of  perpetual  excite- 
ment by  journals,  pamphlets,  and  inflammatory  harangues.  In  the  open 
squares,  in  the  coffee-houses,  in  taverns,  and  especially  in  the  Palais- 
Royal,  the  dwelling  of  the  profligate,  ambitious,  and  wealthy  duke  of  Or- 
leans, violent  discourses  were  held  upon  popular  freedom,  the  rights  of 
men,  and  the  equality  of  all  classes,  by  seditious  demagogues,  and  the  as- 
sembled crowds  were  excited  to  obtain  these  advantages  by  violence. 
Among  these  popular  orators,  the  accomplished  advocate,  Camille  Des- 
moulins,  a  fanatic  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  was  especially  preeminent.  The 
military  who  were  present  in  the  capital  were  hurried  away  by  the  enthu- 
siasm for  liberty,  and  a  portion  enrolled  themselves  in  the  newly-formed 
National  Guard.  The  government  of  the  city  was  made  over  to  a  demo- 
cratic municipality,  at  the  head  of  which  stood  Bailli,  as  mayor.  The  court, 
alarmed  at  this  increasing  ferment,  determined  upon  retiring  to  Versailles 
with  a  few  regiments  of  German  and  Swiss  troops.  In  this  proceeding, 
the  leaders  of  the  movement  believed  they  saw  the  purpose  of  some  act  of 
violence,  and  made  use  of  it  -accordingly  to  excite  fresh  irritation.  The 
intelligence  was  spread  abroad  in  Paris,  that  Necker  had  been  suddenly 
dismissed  and  banished  from  the  country,  and  a  favorite  of  the  queen 
placed  in  his  office.  This  was  interpreted  as  the  first  step  in  the  contem- 
plated outrage,  and  proved  the  signal  for  a  general  rise.  Crowds  of  the 
lowest  mob,  wearing  the  newly-invented  national  cockade,  (blue,  white, 
and  red,)  paraded  riotously  through  the  streets,  the  alarm-bell  was 
sounded,  the  work-shops  of  the  gunsmiths  plundered  ;  tumult  and  confu- 
sion reigned  every  where.  On  the  14th  of  July,  after  the  populace  had 
taken  30,000  stand  of  arms  and  some  cannon  from  the  Hospital  of  the 
Invalides,  took  place  the  storming  of  the  Bastille,  an  old  castle  that  served 
as  a  state  prison.  The  governor,  Delaunay,  and  seven  of  the  garrison, 
fell  victims  to  the  popular  rage  ;  their  heads  were  carried  through  the 
streets  upon  poles  ;  and  many  men  who  were  hated  as.  aristocrats  were 
put  to  death.  The  banished  Necker  was  recalled,  and  his  entrance  into 
the  towns  and  villages  of  France  was  celebrated  as  that  of  a  hero  crowned 
with  victory.  In  this  joyous  reception  of  the  minister,  the  people  dis- 
played their  enthusiasm  for  liberty  and  their  hatred  to  the  court  and  the 
aristocracy.  Lafayette,  the  champion  of  the  liberty  of  America,  was  ap- 
pointed commander  of  the  National  Guard,  and  whilst  the  king  returned 
to  Paris,  and  exhibited  himself  to  the  assembled  people  from  the  balcony 
of  the  council-house  with  the  cockade  in  his  hat,  the  count  of  Artois, 


408  THE  LATEST   PERIOD. 

nnd  many  nobles  of  the  first  rank,  as  Conde,  PoUgnac,  left  their  country 
in  mournful  anticipation  of  coming  events. 

§  544.  The  New  System.  —  Since  the  storming  of  the  Bastille,  the 
laws  and  magistrates  had  lost  their  authority  in  France,  and  the  power 
lay  in  the  hands  of  the  populace.  The  country  people  no  longer  paid 
their  tithes,  taxes,  and  feudal  dues  to  the  clergy  and  nobles,  but  took  ven- 
geance for  the  long  oppression  they  had  suffered  by  destroying  the  ma- 
norial castles.  When  intelligence  of  these  proceedings  spread  abroad,  it 
was  proposed,  in  the  National  Assembly,  that  the  upper  classes  should 
prove  to  the  people  by  their  actions,  that  they  were  willingto  lighten  their 
burdens,  and  that,  with  this  purpose,  they  should  renounce,  of  their  own 
free  will,  all  the  inherited  feudal  privileges  of  the  middle  ages.  This 
proposal  excited  a  storm  of  enthusiasm  and  self-renunciation.  None 
would  be  behind-hand.  Estates,  towns,  provinces,  each  strove 
for  the  honor  of  making  the  greatest  sacrifices  for  the  com- 
mon good.  This  was  the  celebrated  4th  of  August,  when,  in  one  feverish 
and  excited  session,  all  tithes,  labor-dues,  manorial  rights,  corporate 
bodies,  &;c.,  were  abolished,  the  soil  was  declared  free,  and  the  equality 
of  all  citizens  of  the  state  before  the  law  and  in  regard  to  taxation  was 
decreed.  These  resolutions,  and  the  necessary  laws  and  arrangements 
required  for  their  reduction  to  practice,  which  were  gradually  adopted, 
produced  in  a  short  time  a  complete  revolution  in  all  existing  conditions. 
The  Church  lost  her  possessions  and  was  subjected  to  the  state ;  monas- 
teries and  religious  orders  were  dissolved,  and  the  clergy  paid  by  the  state, 
the  bishoprics  newly  regulated,  and  religious  freedom  established.  Priests 
were  required  to  swear  allegiance,  like  officers  of  state,  to  the  new  con- 
stitution ;  but  as  the  pope  forbade  it,  the  greater  number  refused  the  oath, 
which  was  the  occasion  of  the  French  clergy  being  divided  into  sworn 
and  unsworn  priests ;  the  latter  lost  their  offices  and  were  exposed  to  all 
kinds  of  persecutions,  but  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  faithful  among 
the  people.  The  noble  forfeited  not  only  his  privileges  and  the  greater 
part  of  his  income,  but  he  also  lost  the  external  distinctions  of  his  rank, 
by  the  abolition  of  all  titles,  coats  of  arms,  orders,  &c.  Upon  the  prin- 
ciple of  equality,  all  Frenchmen  were  to  be  addressed  as  "  citizens/'  For 
the  purpose  of  annihilating  every  remnant  of  the  ancient  system,  France 
received  a  new  geographical  division  into  departments  and  arrondisse- 
menis;  a  new  system  of  judicature  with  jurymen  ;  equality  of  weights, 
measures,  and  standards;  and  lastly,  a  constitutional  government,  in 
which  the  privileges  of  royalty  were  limited  more  than  was  reasonable, 
and  the  legislative  power  committed  to  a  single  chamber,  with  a  universal 
right  of  suffrage. 

§  545.  The  King  and  the  National  Assembly  at  Paris.— 
When  the  king  hesitated  to  promulgate  the  resolutions  of  the  Assembly 
RS  laws,  the  report  was  again  propagated  of  a  contemplated  stroke  of 


THE   FRENCH   REVOLUTION.  409 

itate  policy.  This  report  gained  strength  when  the  Flemish  regiment 
was  ordered  to  Versailles,  and  the  king  was  indiscreet  enough  to  show 
himself,  with  the  queen  and  dauphin,  at  a  feast  given  by  the  body-guard 
to  the  newly-arrived  officers,  and  thus  to  give  occasion  to  imprudent 
speeches,  toasts,  and  songs,  among  the  assembled  troops,  who  were  heated 
with  drinking.  This  occurrence  was  soon  made  known  by  busy  tongues 
in  Paris,  and  added  to  the  popular  excitement,  which  had  besides  been 
increased  by  a  scarcity  of  bread.  Accordingly,  on  the  5th  of  October,  an 
immense  multitude,  chiefly  of  women,  proceeded  to  Versailles  to  de- 
mand from  the  king  relief  from  the  scarcity  of  bread,  and  a  return  of 
the  court  to  Paris.  The  king  at  first  attempted  to  pacify  tliem  by  a  con- 
ciHatory  answer.  But  a  wing  of  the  palace  was  stormed  during  the 
night,  and  the  guard  put  to  the  sword  ;  the  arrival  of  Lafayette,  with 
the  National  Guard,  prevented  any  further  mischief.  Upon  the  follow- 
ing day,  the  king  was  obliged  to  consent  to  proceed  to  Paris  with  his 
family,  under  the  escort  of  this  frightful  crew,  and  to  take  up  his  resi- 
dence in  the  Xuileries,  which  had  for  many  years  remained  unoccupied. 
Shortly  after,  the  National  Assembly  also  followed,  for  whom  the  riding- 
school  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  palace  had  been  prepared.  The  power 
now  fell  more  and  more  into  the  hands  of  the  lower  class,  who  were 
kept  in  perpetual  excitement  by  licentious  journahsts  and  popular  lead- 
ers, and  were  goaded  to  hatred  against  the  court  and  the  "  aristocrats." 
The  "  Friend  of  the  People,"  of  the  insolent  Marat,  a  physician  from 
Neufcbatel,  was  distinguished  by  its  violence.  The  democratic  clubs, 
which  increased  every  day  in  extent  and  influence,  also  aided  the  revolu- 
tion. The  Jacobin  club,  in  particular,  which  had  branches  in  all  the 
towns  of  France,  acquired  a  place  in  the  history  of  the  world.  The 
members,  '^vho  wore  the  red  cap  of  the  convicts  of  the  galleys  as  a  distinc- 
^tion,  ainved  at  a  republic,  with  freedom  and  equality  for  all  the  *'  citizens." 
"With  these  was  joined  the  club  of  Cordeliers,  which  numbered  some  of 
the  most  daring  men  of  the  revolution,  as  Danton  and  Camille  Desmou- 
lins,  among  its  members.  The  Constitutional  club,  on  the  other  hand,  to 
which  Lafayette  had  joined  himself,  declined  in  importance  every  day. 
§  546.  The  Ceremony  of  Federation. — Flight  of  the  King. 
On  the  day  of  the  year  in  which  the  Bastille  was  taken,  a 
grand  federative  festival  was  arranged  in  the  Champ  de 
Mars.  It  must  have  been  a  moving  spectacle,  when  Talleyrand,  at  the 
head  of  300  priests,  clothed  in  white,  and  girded  with  tri-colored  scarfs, 
performed  the  consecration  of  the  banner  at  the  altar  of  the  country ; 
when  Lafayette,  in  the  name  of  t\ie  National  Guard,  the  president  of 
the  National  Assembly,  and,  at  length,  the  king  himself,  vowed  fidelity 
to  the  Constitution  ;  when  the  innumerable  multitude  raised  their  hands 
aloft  and  repeated  after  Jiim  the  oath  of  citizenship,  and  the  queen  her- 
lelf,  carried  away  by  enthusiasm,  raised  the   Dauphin  in  the  air  and 

35 


410  THE  LATEST  PERIOD. 

joined  in  the  acclamations.  This  was  the  last  day  of  happiness  for  ths 
king,  whose  situation  after  this  grew  constantly  worse.  Necker,  no  longer 
equal  to  the  difficulties,  left  France  and  retired  to  Switzerland.  Mira- 
beau,  won  over  by  the  court,  opposed  farther  encroachments  upon  the 
kingly  power  with  the  whole  of  his  eloquence,  inasmuch  as  he  believed 
a  constitutional  monarchy  and  not  a  republic  to  be  the  best  government 

for  France.  Unfortunately  for  the  king,  this  great  man  died, 
^"  ^'  '  *  in  his  forty-second  year,  of  a  sickness  brought  on  by  his  dis- 
orderly life  and  by  over-exertion.  A  splendid  funeral  ceremony  gave 
evidence  of  the  influence  of  the  man  in  whom  sank  the  last  strong  pillar 
of  the  throne.  Weak  and  unselfreliant  as  Louis  XVI.  was,  he  now 
lost  all  firmness.  By  his  refusal  to  receive  a  sworn  priest  as  his  con- 
fessor, or  to  declare  the  emigrants  traitors,  who  were  endeavoring  from 
Coblentz  to  excite  the  European  courts  to  a  crusade  against  France, 
he  excited  a  suspicion  that  he  was  not  honestly  a  supporter  of  the  con- 
stitution he  had  sworn  to  maintain,  and  not  altogether  ignorant  of  the 
efforts  of  the  emigrants.  The  more  this  suspicion  gained  ground  with 
the  people,  the  more  perilous  became  the  position  of  the  king.  At  this 
crisis,  Louis  embraced  the  desperate  resolution  of  secretly  flying  to  the 
northern  frontier  of  his  kingdom.  Bouille,  a  resolute  general  in  Lor- 
raine, was  let  into  the  secret,  and  promised  to  support  the  scheme  with 
his  troops.  Leaving  behind  him  a  letter,  in  which  he  protested  against 
all  the  acts  which  had  been  forced  from  him  since  October,  1789,  the 
king  happily  escaped,  with  his  family,  from  Paris  in  a  large  carriage. 

But  the  clumsily  executed  project  nevertheless  miscarried. 
'  *  Louis  was  recognized  in  St.  Menehould  by  the  postmaster, 
Drouet,  stopped  by  the  militia  at  Yarennes,  and  led  back  to  Paris  at  the 
command  of  the  National  Assembly,  who  -  sent  three  of  their  members, 
and  among  them,  Petion,  to  receive  the  royal  family.  The  suspension 
of  the  royal  authority,  which  had  already  been  pronounced  by  the  As- 
sembly, remained  in  force,  till  Louis  proclaimed,  and  swore  to  observe, 
the  Constitution  completed  at  the  end  of  September. 


3.      THE    LEGISLATIVE   ASSEMBLY   AND    THE   FALL    OF   THE   MONARCHY 
(OCTOBER    1,    1791 SEPTEMBER    20,    1792.) 

§  547.  The  Girondists.  —  As  the  members  of  the  Constituent  As- 
sembly had  voluntarily  excluded  themselves  from  the  new  Chamber,  the 
elections  to  the  Legislative  Assembly,  which  were  carried  on  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Jacobins,  mostly  terminated  in  favor  of  the  republicans. 
These  latter,  however,  soon  divided  into  a  radical-democratic  and  a  mo- 
derate party :  the  former,  from  its  position  in  the  House,  was  called  the 
Mountain  ;  the  latter  received  the  name  of  Girondists,  because  many  of 
its  speakers  were  from  Bordeaux  and  the  department  of  the  Gironde 


THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  411 

Among  the  latter,  who,  at  the  commencement,  assembled  themselves 
around  the  minister,  Roland,  and  his  intelligent  and  high-minded  wife, 
were  men  of  great  oratorical  talents  and  exalted  civic  virtues,  as  Verg- 
niaud,  Lanjuinais,  Barbaroux,  Brissot,  &c.  The  Girondists  formed  the 
majority,  and  the  ministry,  consisting  of  Roland,  Dumourier,  &;c.,  be- 
longed to  this  party. 

The  attention  of  the  government  and  the  Assembly  was  particularly 
directed  to  the  priests,  who  had  refused  the  oath,  and  to  the  emigrants. 
Both  were  endeavoring  to  overthrow  the  existing  order  of  things :  the 
former  by  exciting  hatred  and  discontent  among  the  French  people ;  the 
latter  by  making  military  preparations  at  Coblentz,  and  endeavoring  to 
stir  up  foreign  powers  to  an  armed  invasion  of  France.  The  Assembly 
therefore  determined  upon  seeking  out  and  arresting  the  unsworn  priests, 
and  declaring  the  emigrants  traitors  and  conspirators,  and  punishing  them 
by  the  loss  of  their  estates  and  incomes.  The  king  put  his  veto  upon 
both  these  resolutions,  and  prevented  their  execution.  This  refusal  was 
ascribed  to  the  secret  hopes,  entertained  by  the  court,  of  assistance  from 
foreign  powers  and  of  the  triumph  of  the  emigrants,  and  thus  the  temper 
of  the  people  grew  continually  more  hostile.  It  was  also  known  that  the 
queen  was  in  correspondence  with  her  brother,  the  emperor  of  Austria, 
and  that  she  looked  for  support  and  safety  to  the  emigrant  nobility.  Nei- 
ther was  it  any  longer  doubtful  that  war  must  soon  break  out,  since  the 
emperor  of  Austria  and  the  king  of  Prussia,  after  a  conference  in  Pillnitz 
(August,  1791,)  were  making  preparations,  and  demanded  of  the  French 
government  not  only  to  make  befitting  indemnification  to  the  German 
princes  and  nobles  who  had  suffered  loss  by  the  abolition  of  tithes  and 
feudal  burdens,  and  to  restore  the  province  of  Avignon,  that  had  been 
wrested  from  the  pope,  but  to  arrange  the  government  upon  the  plan 
proposed  by  the  king  himself  in  June,  1789.  These  demands  were  fol- 
April  20,  lowed  by  a  declaration  of  war  against  Austria  and  Prussia 
1792.  on  the  part  of  the  French  government,  to  which  the  king 

yielded  his  consent  with  tears.  For  the  purpose  of  securing  the  capital 
and  the  National  Assembly  against  any  attack,  it  was  resolved  to  sum- 
mon 20,000  of  the  federates  from  the  southern  provinces,  under  pretence 
of  celebrating  the  festival  of  the  Bastille,  and  to  commit  the  defence  of 
Paris  to  them.  But  Louis  refased  his  consent  to  this  resolution  also. 
Upon  this,  the  Girondist  ministers  laid  down  their  offices,  after  Madame 
Roland  had  reproached  and  reprimanded  the  king  in  a  letter  that  was 
soon  in  the  hands  of  every  body.  These  proceedings  increased  the  irri- 
tation to  such  an  extent  that  it  became  easy  for  the  republicans  to  ex- 
cite a  popular  insurrection.  On  the  20th  of  June,  the  anniversary  of 
the  meeting  in  the  Tennis  Court,  the  terrible  mob,  armed  with  pikes, 
marched  from  the  suburbs,  under  the  conduct  of  the  brewer,  Santerre, 
and  the  butcher,  Legendre,  into  the  Tuileries,  to  force  the  king  to  con- 


412  THE  LATEST  PERIOD. 

firm  tlie  decree  against  the  unsworn  priests  and  for  the  summoning  of 
the  National  Guard.     But  here  also   Louis  remained  firm.     He  defied 
for  several  hours  all  threats  and  dangers,  and  endured  the  insolence  of 
the  mob,  who  even  placed  the  red  Jacobin  cap  upon  his  head  and  ga^waA. 
him  wine  to  drink,  with  the   courage   of  a  martyr.     The  rather  lardy  f 
arrival  of  Petion  with  the  National  guard  at  length  freed  him  f^^^o^^^i^   I^  J 
perilous  position.  ^         rv    Jyi 

§  548.  These  proceedings  were  the  prelude  to  the  eventful  TK^rTth^^^^^ 
August.  War  had  already  commenced,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  Ji^^^VT 
sian  officers,  who  promised  themselves  great  glory  and  little  trooble  fronaLO^ 
the  "military  promenade,"  as  they  called  the  French  campaign.  T!ie 
Prussians  marched  into  Lorraine  under  the  command  of  duke  Ferdinand 
of  Brunswick,  who  had  become  known  in  the  Seven  Years'  war.  An 
Austrian  force,  under  Clerfait,  was  placed  at  his  command ;  12,000  emi- 
grants joined  themselves  to  him,  who  were  burning  with  eagerness  to 
overthrow  the  "  government  of  advocates,"  and  to  have  v^engeance  upon 
their  enemies.  On  setting  out,  the  duke  published  a  manifesto,  drawn 
up  by  one  of  the  emigrants,  full  of  injurious  menaces  against  the  National 
Assembly,  the  city  of  Paris,  the  National  Guard,  and  all  the  French 
who  favored  the  new  system.  The  insolent  tone  of  this  proclamation 
made  an  indescribable  impression  upon  the  people,  who  were  enthusiastic 
for  the  new  order  of  things,  and  produced  the  fiercest  rage  against  the 
emigrants  and  their  defenders.  This  feeling  was  taken  advantage  of  by 
the  Jacobins  for  the  overthrow  of  the  king.  Supported  by  the  declara- 
tion of  the  Assembly,  "  The  country  is  in  danger,"  they  summoned  from 
Marseilles,  Brest,  and  other  maritime  towns,  crowds  of  the  lowest  refuse 
of  the  people,  even  galley-slaves,  to  Paris,  then  formed  a  committee  of 
insurrection,  and  prepared  the  rude  and  sturdy  inhabitants  of  the  su- 
burbs for  a  decisive  blow.  The  alarm  sounded  at  midnight  on  the  10th 
of  August.  A  fearful  mob  proceeded,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  Hotel  de 
Ville,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  new  democratic  municipality,  and 
then  marched  to  the  royal  palace,  which  was  defended  by  900  Swiss, 
and  the  Parisian  National  Guard  under  the  command  of  Mandat.  The 
honest  Mandat  was  resolved  to  check  the  advancing  masses,  which  were 
ever  assuming  a  more  menacing  aspect,  by  force ;  his  destruction  was 
consequently  resolved  upon  by  the  demo'crats.  He  was  commanded  to 
appear  at  the  Hotel  de  Yille,  and  assassinated  on  his  way  thither ;  upon 
which  the  National  Guard,  uncertain  what  to  do,  and  disgusted  by  the 
presence  of  a  number  of  nobles  in  the  palace,  for  the  most  part  dispersed. 
The  mob  constantly  assumed  a  more  threatening  aspect ;  cannon  were 
turned  upon  the  palace,  the  pikemen  pressed  forwards  upon  every  en- 
trance, the  people  loudly  demanded  the  deposition  of  the  king.  At  this 
crisis,  Louis  suffered  himself  to  be  persuaded  to  seek  for  protection  with 
his  family  in  the  hall  of  the  National  Assembly,  where  they  passed  six- 


THE    FRENCH    REVOLUTIOJT.  413 

teen  hours  in  a  narrow  closet.  The  king  had  scarcely  left  the  palace, 
before  the  tumultuous  multitude  pressed  forward  more  violently;  the 
Swiss  guard  maintained  a  gallant  resistance,  and  defended  the  entrance. 
When  the  report  of  musketry  was  heard  in  the  adjoining  Assembly,  the 
indignant  representatives  of  the  people  compelled  the  intimidated  king 
to  give  his  guard  orders  to  cease  firing.  By  this  order,  the  faithful  de« 
fenders  of  monarchy  were  doomed  to  destruction.  Scarcely  had  the 
furious  mob  observed  that  the  enemy's  fire  had  ceased,  before  they 
stormed  the  palace,  slaughtered  those  they  found  in  it,  and  destroyed  the 
fui-niture.  Nearly  5,000  men,  and  among  them,  700  Swiss,  fell  in  the 
struggle,  or  died  afterwards,  the  victims  of  the  popular  fury.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  National  Assembly,  upon  the  proposal  of  Vergniaud, 
embraced  the  resolution  "  to  suspend  the  royal  authority,  to  place  the 
king  and  his  family  under  control,  to  give  the  prince  a  tutor,  and  to 
assemble  a  National  Convention."  The  Temple,  a  strong  fortress 
erected  by  the  knights  templars,  soon  enclosed  the  imprisoned  royal 
family. 

§  549.  The  Days  op  September.  —  After  the  suspension  of  the 
king,  a  new  ministry  was  formed  by  the  National  Assembly,  in  which, 
by  the  side  of  the  Girondist,  Roland,  and  others,  the  terrible  Danton 
held  office  as  minister  of  justice.  This  ministry,  and  the  new  Common 
Council  of  Paris  which  had  appointed  itself,  and  which,  after  the  10th 
of  August,  had  strengthened  itself  by  members  who  might  be  depended 
upon  as  hesitating  at  no  wickedness,  now  possessed  the  whole  power. 
The  Municipal  Council  ordered  the  police  of  the  capital  to  be  conducted 
by  pikemen,  and  the  prisons  were  quickly  filled  with  the  "  suspected " 
and  "aristocrats."  It  was  now  that  the  frightful  resolution  was  matured 
of  getting  rid  of  the  opponents  of  the  new  order  of  things  by  a  bloody 
tribunal,  and  of  suppressing  all  resistance  by  terror.  After  the  recusant 
priests  had  been  slaughtered  by  hundreds  in  the  monasteries  and  prisons, 
the  dreadful  days  of  September  were  commenced.  From  the  2d  to 
the  7th  of  September,  bands  of  hired  murderers  and  villains  were  collected 
round  the  prisons.  Twelve  of  them  acted  as  jurymen  and  judge,  the 
others  as  executioners.  The  imprisoned,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
whose  names  were  marked  upon  a  list,  were  put  to  death  by  this  in- 
human crew  under  a  semblance  of  judicial  proceedings.  Nearly  3,000 
human  beings  were  either  put  to  death  singly,  or  slaughtered  in  masses, 
by  these  wretches,  who  received  a  daily  stipend  from  the  Common  Coun- 
cil for  their  "  labors."  Among  the  murdered  was  the  princess  Lamballe, 
the  friend  of  the  queen ;  a  troop  of  pikemen  carried  her  head  upon  a 
pole  to  the  Temple,  and  held  it  before  Maria  Antoinette's  window.  The 
example  of  the  capital  was  imitated  in  many  of  the  departments.  The 
barbarous  destruction  of  all  statues,  coats  of  arms,  inscriptions,  and  other 
memorials  of  a  former  period,  formed  the  conclusion  of  the  August  and 

35* 


414  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

September  days,  which  were  the  transition  period  between  the  French 

monarchy  and  republic.     The  autumnal  equinox  was  distinguished  as 

the  commencement  of  the  reign  of  liberty  and  equality  under 

p  em  er     .  ^^^  republican  National  Convention. 

Lafayette,  who  was  serving  with  the  northern  army,  and  who,  after 
the  days  of  June,  had  returned  to  Paris  on  his  own  responsibility,  for 
the  purpose,  if  possible,  of  saving  the  king,  was  now  summoned  before 
the  National  Assembly  to  answer  for  his  conduct.  Convinced  that  the 
Jacobins  were  seeking  his  death,  he  fled,  with  some  friends  who  shared 
his  sentiments,  to  Holland,  that  he  might  escape  to  America ;  but  he  fell 
into  the  hands  of  enemies,  who  treated  him  like  a  prisoner  of  war,  and 
allowed  him  to  live  for  five  years  in  the  dungeons  of  Olmutz  and  Mag- 
deburg. Talleyrand  repaired  to  England,  and  thence  to  America,  where 
he  awaited  better  times. 

4.   REPUBLICAN  FRANCE   UNDER  THE   GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  NATIONAL 
CONVENTION   (SEPTEMBER,    1792 OCTOBER,   1795). 

§  550.  Execution  of  the  King.  —  The  new  Assembly,  'which, 
under  the  influence  of  the  Jacobins,  had  been  elected  by  universal  suf- 
frage, was  composed  almost  exclusively  of  republicans,  but  of  different 
dispositions  and  opinions.  The  moderates,  Girondists,  who  were  aiming 
at  a  republican  form  of  government  upon  the  model  of  antiquity,  or  upon 
that  of  the  North  Americans,  and  who  abhorred  bloodshed  as  a  means, 
gradually  fell  before  the  radicals  and  democrats,  who  first  overthrew  by 
violence  all  the  existing  arrangements,  and  then  sought  to  found  a  new 
system  of  "  liberty  and  equality  "  upon  the  levelled  surface.  They  acted 
upon  the  principle,  "  that  he  who  is  not  for  us  is  against  us,"  and  at- 
tempted to  bear  down  all  opposition  by  terror  and  bloodshed.  Strong  in 
the  Jacobin  clubs  and  in  the  wild  bands .  of  the  numerous  defenders  of 
the  revolution,  who  were  distinguished  by  the  name  of  "  Sans-Culottes," 
and  who  were  maintained  in  a  constant  state  of  excitement  by  songs 
(Marseillaise,  Ca  ira),  revolution  festivals,  trees  of  liberty,  and  such 
matters,  the  destructive  party  soon  obtained  the  upper  hand.  The  trial 
of  the  king,  "  Louis  Capet,"  was  one  of  the  first  proceedings  of  the 
National  Convention.  An  iron  safe  had  been  discovered  in  a  wall  of 
the  Tuileries,  containing  secret  letters  and  documents,  from  which  it  was 
apparent  that  the  French  court  had  not  only  been  in  alliance  with 
Austria  and  the  emigrants,  and  had  projected  plans  for  overthrowing  the 
Constitution  that  had  been  sworn  to  by  Louis,  but  that  it  had  also  at- 
tempted to  win  over  single  members  of  the  National  Assembly  (for  exam- 
ple, Mirabeau),  by  annuities,  bribery,  and  other  means.  It  was  upon  this 
that  the  republicans,  who  would  willingly  have  been  quit  of  the  king, 
founded  a  charge  of  treason  and  conspiracy  against  the  country  and  the 
people.     Louis,  with  the  assistance  of  two  advocates,  to  whom  the  noble 


THE  FKENCH  REVOLUTION.  415 

Malaslierbes,  of  his  own  free  impulse,  associated  himself,  appeared  twice 
before  the  Convention  (11th  and  26th  December),  but  despite  his  own 
dignified  bearing  and  defence,  and  despite  the  efforts  of  the  Girondist 
party  to  have  the  sentence  referred  to  a  general  assembly  of  the  people, 
January  17,  Louis  was  Condemned  to  death  in  a  stormy  meeting,  by  a 
1793.  small  majority  of  five  voices.     The  party  of  the  Mountain, 

where  the  advocate,  Maximilian  Robespierre,  the  former  marquis  St. 
Just,  the  frightful  Danton,  the  lame  Couthon,  and  the  duke  of  Orleans, 
who  had  assumed  the  name  of  Citizen  Egalite,  were  the  leaders  and 
chiefs,  had  left  no  means  unattempted  to  produce  this  result  by  terror ; 
they  would,  nevertheless,  have  failed  in  their  purpose,  had  they  not  car- 
ried a  resolution  beforehand  in  the  Assembly,  that  a  bare  majority  should 
be  sufficient  for  a  sentence  of  death,  and  not,  as  had  heretofore  been  the 
custom,  that  two  thirds  of  the  votes  should  be  necessary.  The  murder 
was  thus  veiled  by  a  show  of  justice.  On  the  21st  of  January,  the  un- 
fortunate king  ascended  the  scaffold  in  the  square  of  the  Revolution. 
The  drums  of  the  National  Guard  drowned  his  last  words,  and  "  Robes* 
pierre's  women "  greeted  his  bloody  head  with  the  shout  of  "  Vive  la 
Republique." 

§  551.  DuMOURiER.  —  In  the  mean  time,  the  Prussians  had  marched 
through  Lorraine  into  Champagne.  But  the  duke  of  Brunswick,  accus- 
tomed to  the  slow  and  circumspect  proceedings  of  the  Seven  Years*  war, 
wasted  time  in  the  conquest  of  unimportant  fortresses,  and  entered 
Champagne  in  an  unfavorable  period  of  the  year,  when  the  roads  were^ 
impassable  from  the  rain,  and  the  army  was  weakened  and  destroyed  by 
September  20,  the  use  of  unwholesome  provisions  and  of  unripe  fruit.  After 
I7y2.  ii^Q  battle  of  Valmy,  where  Dumourier  and  Kellerman  suc- 

cessfully repulsed  the  attack  of  the  enemy,  the  Prussian  generals  relin- 
quished the  idea  of  any  farther  advance,  and  concluded  a  compromise 
with  Dumourier,  by  which  the  Prussians  were  assured  of  an  uninter- 
rupted retreat.  The  Austrians,  who  had  marched  from  the  Netherlands, 
met  with  no  better  success.  After  the  battle  of  Jemappes, 
Dumourier  conquered  Belgium  and  Liege,  and  threatened 
the  frontiers  of  Holland,  whilst  the  hussar-general,  Custine,  made  him- 
October  21,  self  master  of  the  towns  on  the  Rhine,  and  gained  the  for- 
1/92.  tress  of  Mayence,  where  there  were  many  adherents  of  the 

ideas  of  freedom  and  equality,  for  the  French  republic.  The  citizens  of 
Mayence,  deserted  by  their  elector,  their  clergy,  and  the  nobility,  received 
the  French  troops  with  enthusiasm.  George  Fo.-ter,  the  circumnavigator  of 
the  globe,  was  the  soul  of  the  republican  party  in  Mayence.  This  success 
of  the  French  arms  inspired  the  republicans  with  fresh  courage,  and  the 
powers  of  Europe  with  fresh  alarm.  Were  they  to  look  quietly  on, 
whilst  a  king  was  murdered  in  a  revolting  manner  in  Paris,  whilst  the 
revolutionists,  intoxicated  with  success,  called  upon  the  people  every- 


416  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

where  to  overthrow  their  monarchical  governments,  and  promised  them 
the  protection  of  the  French  nation  in  establishing  their  republics  ?  The 
enthusiasm  of  the  people  for  the  new  ideas  gave  great  assistance  to  the 
republican  arms :  not  only  the  thrones  of  kings  and  the  dominions  of 
princes,  but  the  privileges  and  possessions  of  the  nobility  and  clergy, 
were  in  peril.  Fresh  armies  from  all  parts  of  Europe  were  therefore 
marched  across  the  French  frontiers,  for  the  purpose  of  suppressing  a 
revolution  which  endangered  the  peace  and  security  of  other  states.  Eng- 
land, where  the  Tories,  under  the  guidance  of  the  younger  Pitt,  were  in 
possession  of  the  government,  and  where  the  orator,  Edmund  Burke, 
once  the  advocate  of  the  American  War  of  Liberty  both  in  speech  and 
writing,  took  the  field  against  the  Revolution,  and  solemnly  separated 
himself  from  his  old  friend,  Fox,  the  leader  of  the  liberal  Whigs,  headed 
the  "Coalition"  against  France.  English  subsidies  soon  gave  fresh  life 
to  the  war.  An  Austrian  army  appeared  in  the  Netherlands  under  the 
prince  of  Coburg,  who  was  assisted  by  Clerfait  and  the  Archduke  Charles, 
March  18,  drove  back  the  French  over  the  Maase,  and  defeated  Dumou- 
1793.  pjer  at  Neerwinden.     This  defeat  was  ascribed  by  Dumou- 

rier  principally  to  the  Jacobins,  because  they  had  corrupted  the  army, 
had  neglected  the  necessary  military  supplies,  and  had  placed  an  incom- 
petent coadjutor  by  his  side.  In  his  disgust,  he  allowed  it  to  appear 
pretty  unequivocally  that  he  meditated  the  overthrow  of  the  republican 
constitution,  and  the  reestablishment  of  a  king  (for  which  office  he  had 
selected  the  duke  of  Orleans,  or  his  son,  Louis  Philippe.)  The  Conven- 
tion, apprised  of  this  intention,  impeached  the  general,  and  required  his 
presence  in  Paris  to  answer  for  himself.  But  instead  of  obeying  the 
summons,  Dumourier  ordered  the  ambassadors  of  the  Convention  to  be 
seized  and  delivered  up  to  the  enemy,  and  then  went  over  with  a  part 
of  his  troops  to  the  Austrians. 

About  the  same  time,  Mayence,  after  the  most  obstinate  defence,  and 
after  enduring  the  extremities  of  famine,  fell  again  into  the  hands  of  the 
Prussians,  who  once  more  approached  the  frontiers  of  France. 

§  552.  Dumourier's  treachery  was  employed  by  the  Jacobins  for  the 
overthrow  of  the  Girondists,  to  which  party  Dumourier  had  belonged. 
The  Girondists,  enraged  at  the  increasing  power  of  the  populace  in  Paris, 
and  the  unbridled  acts  of  violence  committed  by  the  mob,  entertained  the 
project  of  converting  France  into  a  republican  union  like  North  America, 
and  by  this  means,  destroying  the  supremacy  of  the  capital.  The  Moun- 
tain and  the  Jacobins,  who  saw  that  this  scheme  would  weaken  the  revo- 
lutionary power  of  France,  and  endanger  the  future  of  the  democratic  re- 
public, commenced  a  war  of  life  and  death  with  the  Girondists  (also  cal- 
led Brissotins)  upon  this  point.  They  accused  them  of  an  understanding 
with  Dumourier,  they  reproached  them  with  weakening  the  power  of  the 
people,  and  destroying  the  republic  at  a  moment   when   France  was 


THE   FRENCH   REVOLUTION.  417 

threatened  with  enemies  both  within  and  without ;  and  when  all  these 
attacks  were  ignominiously  repulsed  by  the  victorious  eloquence  of  the  Gi- 
rondists, the  savage  Marat,  in  his  "  Friend  of  the  People,"  called  upon 
the  populace  to  rise  against  the  moderate  and  lukewarm,  and  thus  gave 
occasion  to  daily  riots  and  tumults,  which  disturbed  the  capital  and  en- 
dangered life  and  property.  All  moderate  and  reputable  people  were 
in  continual  pei:il.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  Girondists  succeeded  in 
having  Marat  brought  before  a  court  of  justice,  he  was  acquitted  by  the 
Jacobins,  and  carried  back  to  the  Convention  in  triumph  by  the  people  ; 
it  was  in  vain  that  the  Girondists  procured  the  appointment  of  a  Com- 
mission of  Twelve,  who  were  to  discover  and  punish  the  exciters  of  the 
tumult.  "When  the  Commission  ordered  Ilebert,  who,  in  his  vulgar  and 
libellous  journal,  "  Fere  Duchesne,"  excited  the  people  to  tumult  and 
murder,  and  some  of  his  associates,  to  be  imprisoned,  the  raging  mob 
compelled  their  release,  and  then  arranged  the  great  insurrection  of  the 
81st  of  May  and  1st  of  June.  They  made  the  branded  Ilenriot,  who 
had  first  been  a  lacquey,  then  a  smuggler,  and  lastly  a  spy  of  the  police, 
commander  of  the  National  Guard.  Under  his  guidance,  the  innumerable 
multitude  of  the  sans-culottes  surrounded  the  Tuileries,  where  the  Con- 
vention was  holding  its  meeting,  and  demanded  with  threats  the  abolition 
of  the  Commission  of  Twelve,  and  the  exclusion  of  the  Girondists  and 
the  moderates.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  latter  employed  the  whole  force 
of  their  eloquence  to  induce  the  Assembly  not  to  consent  to  the  demands 
of  the  people:  the  mob  pressed  into  the  hall  and  the  galleries,  and  de- 
manded its  sacrifice  with  wild  shouts  and  cries.  It  was  in  vain  that  the 
majority  of  the  Assembly,  the  courageous  president,  Ilerault,  at  their 
head,  attempted  to  leave  the  apartment  where  they  could  no  longer  de- 
bate in  freedom;  driven  back  by  Henriot,  nothing  was  left  to  Ihera  but 
to  consent  to  the  demands  of  the  people  and  the  party  of  the  Mountain, 
and  to  admit  the  supremacy  of  the  mob.  Thirty-four  Girondists  were 
immediately  thrust  out  and  imprisoned  ;  twenty  of  them  (Pution,  Guadet, 
and  Barbaroux,  were  of  the  number)  escaped,  and  summoned  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Normandy,  Bretagne,  and  the  maritime  cities  of  the  south,  to 
take  up  arms  against  the  Jacobins  ;  the  remainder  died  some  time  after 
on  the  guillotine.  The  assassination  of  Marat,  by  the  noble  Charlotte 
Corday,  who  was  inspired  by  a  spirit  of  genuine  liberty,  and  a  frightful 
civil  war,  were  the  first  results  of  this  act  of  violence.  Most  of  the 
escaped  Girondists  also  died  violent  deaths,  by  their  own  hands  or  those 
of  others.  Thus  died  Roland,  Petion,  Barbaroux,  Condorcet,  and 
others.  Madame  Roland  also  died  on  the  guillotine.  Seventy-three 
members  of  the  Convention,  who  had  sided  with  the  Girondists,  were 
al^o  expelled,  so  that  the  Convention  was  now  entirely  ruled  by  the  demo- 
crats of  the  Mountain. 

§  553.  The  Reign  of  the  Jacobins.  —  The  National  Convention 


418  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

acquired  greater  unanimity  by  the  exclusion  of  the  Girondists  and  the 
moderates ;  so  that,  from  this  time,  it  was  enabled  to  develop  a  frightful 
power  and  activity.  For  the  purpose  of  better  superintending  and  con- 
ducting its  multitudinous  affairs,  it  resolved  itself  into  committees,  of 
which  the  committee  of  public  safety  and  that  of  public  security  acquired 
a  frightful  celebrity  by  the  persecution  of  every  one  opposed  to  the  new 
order  of  things.  A  revolutionary  tribunal,  consisting  of  twelve  jurymen 
and  five  judges,  to  which  that  man  of  blood,  Fouquier  Tinville,  occupied 
the  office  of  public  accuser,  seconded  the  activity  of  these  committees  by 
a  cruel  and  summary  administration  of  justice.  At  the  head  of  the  com- 
mittee of  public  safety  stood  three  men,  whose  names  became  the  terror 
and  horror  of  all  just  men  ;  the  envious  and  malignant  Kobespierre,  the 
bloodthirsty  Couthon,  and  the  fanatic  for  republican  liberty  and  equality, 
St.  Just.  They  pursued  their  bloody  object  without  regard  to  human 
life;  every  thing  that  ventured  to  oppose  their  storm.y  course  was  unpity- 
ingly  hurled  down.  Thus  originated  the  terrible  period  of  the  years  '93 
and  '94,  which  displayed  itself  in  three  different  directions — within,  by 
a  cruel  persecution  of  all  citizens  who  were  known  as  aristocrats  or  fa- 
vorers of  royalty,  and  by  a  bloody  suppression  of  insurrections  in  the 
south  and  west ;  without,  by  a  vigorous  defensive  war  against  innumerable 
enemies. 

§  554.  —  1.  Persecution  op  Aristocrats.  —  Since  the  municipal 
government  in  Paris  had  been  in  the  exclusive  possession  of  Jacobins 
and  democrats  of  the  extreme  class,  since  democratical  committees  had 
had  the  political  supervision  of  all  the  sections,  since,  besides  the  National 
Guard,  a  revolutionary  army  of  sans-culottes  had  stood  at  the  disposal  of 
the  republican  government,  the  whole  power  had  been  in  the  hands  of 
the  populace  and  their  frantic  leaders.  The  Jacobin  clubs  in  Paris  and 
the  provincial  cities  possessed  the  government ;  their  orators  and  presi- 
dents executed,  with  the  aid  of  the  people,  the  most  sanguinary  outrages 
upon  all  who  were  not  of  their  own  party.  The  most  effectual  means 
of  destroying  all  opponents  was  the  frightful  law  against  the  suspected, 
which  threatened  with  death  all  "  enemies  of  the  country,"  all  who  mani- 
fested any  attachment  to  the  former  condition  of  things,  or  to  the  priest- 
hood or  the  nobility.  In  consequence  of  this  and  similar  laws,  the  pri- 
sons were  filled  with  thousands  of  so-called  aristocrats  ;  and  forty  or  sixty 
men  were  daily  dragged  to  the  guillotine.  All  those  who  were  distin- 
guished from  the  ruling  democracy  by  rank,  wealth,  refinement,  or  no- 
bility of  mind,  stood  in  continual  peril  of  their  lives.  The  malicious 
slander  of  an  enemy,  the  accusation  of  a  spy,  the  hatred  of  a  sans-culotte, 
were  sufficient  to  bring  an  innocent  man  to  prison,  and  from  prison  to 
die  scaffold.  The  transition  was  so  sudden,  that  death  lost  its  terrors, 
and  the  prison  became  the  scenes  of  cheerful  and  refined  society,  and  of 
mtellectual  conversation.  The  most  noble  and  distinguished  men  of  France 


THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  419 

were  among  the  victims.  The  former  minister,  Malasherbes,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Constituent  Assembly,  Bailli,  Barnave,  &:c.,  ail  who  belonged 
to  the  old  monarchy,  and  -who  had  not  saved  themselves  by  flight,  died 
by  the  guillotine.  Among  them  was  the  severely-tried  queen,  Marie 
Antoinette,  who  displayed,  durinf]j  her  trial  and  at  her  exe- 
cution,  a  firmness  and  strength  oi  soul  that  was  worthy  oi 
her  education  and  her  birth.  Her  son  died  beneath  the  cruel  treatment 
of  a  Jacobin ;  her  daughter  (the  duchess  of  Angouleme)  carried  a  gloomy 
spirit  and  an  embittered  heart  with  her  to  the  grave.  Louis  XVI.'s 
May  10,  pious  sister,  Elizabeth,  also  died  on  the  scaffold ;  the  head 

1794.  of  the  profligate  duke  of  Orleans,  whom  even  the  favor  of 

Dan  ton  could  not  preserve  from  the  envy  of  Robespierre,  had  fallen  be- 
fore her  own. 

§  555. —  2.  Outrages  in  the  South. — The  bloody  rule  of  the 
Mountain  party  displayed  itself  in  its  most  frightful  excess  in  the  sup- 
pression of  the  revolt  against  the  reign  of  terror.  When  the  inhabitants 
of  Normandy  and  Bretagne  rose  in  support  of  the  excluded  Girondists, 
the  committee  of  public  safety  ordered  the  district  between  the  Seine, 
the  Loire,  and  the  extreme  sea-coast,  to  be  visited  with  blood  and 
slaughter  by  the  terrible  Carrier.  This  monster  ordered,  at  Nantes,  his 
victims  to  be  drowned  by  hundreds  in  the  Loire,  by  means  of  ships  with 
movable  bottoms  (noi/ades).  The  proceedings  of  the  Jacobins  in  the 
cities  of  the  south,  Lyons,  Marseilles,  and  Toulon,  were  still  more  barba- 
rous. In  the  first  of  these  towns,  Chalier,  who  had  formerly  been  a 
priest,  and  now  was  president  of  the  Jacobin  club,  excited  the  people  by 
scandalous  placards  to  plunder  and  destroy  the  "aristocrats."  Irritated 
at  this  audacity,  the  respectable  and  wealthy  citizens  of  Lyons,  who  were 
thus  menaced  in  their  lives  and  property,  procured  the  exe- 
cution of  the  demagogue.  This  deed  filled  the  Parisian  ter- 
rorists with  fury.  A  republican  army  appeared  before  the  walls  of  the 
town,  which,  after  an  obstinate  contest,  was  taken  and  fearfully  punished. 
Freron,  a  companion  of  Marat,  Fouche,  Couthon,  and  others,  caused  the 
inhabitants  to  be  shot  down  in  crowds,  because  the  guillotine  was  too 
tedious  in  its  operations  ;  whole  streets  were  either  pulled  down  or  blown 
into  the  air  with  gunpowder.  The  goods  of  the  rich  were  divided 
among  the  populace  ;  Lyons  was  to  be  annihilated,  reduced  to  a  name- 
less common.  The  republicans  raged  in  a  similar  way  in  Marseilles  and 
Toulon.  The  royalists  of  Toulon  had  called  upon  the  English  for  assist- 
ance, and  surrendered  to  them  their  town  and  harbor.  Confident  in 
this  assistance,  and  in  the  strength  of  their  walls,  the  citizens  of  Toulon 
bade  defiance  to  their  republican  enemies.  But  the  army  of  sans-culottes, 
in  which  the  young  Corsican,  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  exhibited  the  first 
proofs  of  his  military  talents,  overcame  all  obstacles.  Toulon  was  storm- 
ed.    The  English,  unable  to  maintain  the  town,  set  fire  to  the  fleet,  and 


420  THE  LATEST  PERIOD. 

left  the  unfortunate  inhabitants  to  the  frightful  vengeance  of  tha 
Convention.  Here  also  the  barbarous  Freron  ordered  all  the  wealthy 
citizens  to  be  shot,  and  their  property  to  be  divided  among  the  sans- 
culottes. The  respectable  inhabitants  fled,  and  abandoned  the  city  to  the 
mob  and  the  galley-slaves.  Tallien  behaved  in  a  similar  manner  in 
Bourdeaux ;  and  in  the  north  of  France,  Lebon  marched  from  place  to 
place  with  a  guillotine. 

§  556.  Scenes  of  blood  ix  La  Vendee.  —  But  the  fate  of  La 
Vendee  was  the  most  frightful.  This  singular  country,  situated  in  the 
west  of  France,  was  covered  with  woods,  hedges,  and  thickets,  and  inter- 
sected by  ditches.  Here  dwelt  a  contented  people,  in  rural  quietude,  and 
in  the  simplicity  of  the  olden  time.  The  peasants  and  tenants  were  at- 
tached to  their  landlords ;  they  loved  the  king ;  and  clung  with  reverence 
to  their  clergy  and  their  church  usages,  which  had  been  dear  and  sacred 
to  them  from  their  youth.  When  the  National  Assembly  slaughtered 
©r  expelled  their  unsworn  priests,  when  the  blood  of  their  king  was 
poured  out  on  the  guillotine,  when  the  children  of  the  peasants  were 
called  away,  by  a  general  summons,  to  the  army  — then  the  enraged 
people  roused  themselves  to  resistance  and  civil  conflict.  Under  brave 
leaders,  of  undistinguished  birth,  as  Charette,  Stofflet,  Cathelineau,  who 
were  joined  by  a  few  nobles,  Laroche-Jaquelein,  D'Elbee,  &c.,  they  at 
first  drove  back  the  republican  army,  conquered  Saumur,  and  threatened 
JSTantes.  Upon  this,  the  Convention  despatched  a  revolutionary  army  to 
La  Vendee,  under  the  command  of  Westermann  and  the  frantic  Jacobins, 
Ronsin  and  Rossignol.  These  fell  upon  the  inhabitants  like  wild  beasts, 
set  fire  to  towns,  villages,  farms,  and  woods,  and  attempted  to  overcome 
the  resistance  of  the  "  royalists  "  by  terror  and  outrage.  But  the  courage 
of  the  Vendean  peasants  remained  unsubdued.  It  was  not  until 
general  Kleber  marched  against  La  Vendee  with  the  brave  troops  who 
had  returned  to  their  homes  after  the  surrender  of  Mayence,  that  this 
unfortunate  people  gradually  succumbed  to  the  attacks  of  their  enemies, 
after  the  land  had  become  a  desert,  and  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  had 
saturated  the  soil  with  their  blood.  La  Vendee,  however,  was  only  re- 
stored to  tranquillity  when  Hoche,  who  was  equally  renowned  for  his 
courage  and  philanthropy,  assumed  the  command  of  the  army,  offered 
peace  to  those  who  were  weary  of  the  contest,  and  reduced  the  refractory 
to  submission.  StoflSet  and  Charette  were  made  prisoners  of  war,  and 
shot. 

§  557.  Fall  of  the  Dantonists. —  The  rage  and  cruelty  of  the 
Jacobins  at  length  excited  the  disgust  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Cordeliers, 
Danton  and  Camille  Desmoulins.  The  former,  who  was  rather  a  volup- 
tuary than  a  tyrant,  and  who  was  capable  of  kindly  feelings,  had  grown 
weary  of  slaughter,  and  had  retired  into  the  country  for  a  few  months 
with  a  young  wife,  to  enjoy  the  wealth  and  happiness  that  the  revolution 


THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  421 

had  brought  him ;  but  Camille  Desmoulins,  in  his  much  read  paper, 
"  The  Old  Cordelier,"  applied  the  passages  where  the  Roman  historian, 
Tacitus,  describes  the  tyranny  and  cruelty  of  Tiberius,  so  appropriately 
to  his  own  times,  that  the  application  to  the  three  chiefs  of  the  committee 
of  safety  and  tlieir  laws  against  the  suspected  was  not  to  be  mistaken. 
This  enraged  the  Jacobins ;  and  when,  'about  this  time,  several  friends 
and  adherents  of  Danton  (Fabre  d'Eglantine,  Chabot,  &c.)  were  guilty 
of  deceit  and  corruption  in  connection  with  the  abolition  of  the  East  In- 
dia Company,  and  others  gave  offence  by  their  sacrilegious  proceedings, 
the  committee  of  safety  made  use  of  the  opportunity  to  destroy  the 
whole  party  of  Danton.  For  since  the  Convention  had  altered  the  ca- 
lendar and  the  names  of  the  months,  had  maJe  the  year  commence  on 
the  22nd  of  September,  had  abolished  the  observance  of  Sunday  and  the 
festivals,  and  introduced  in  their  place  the  decades  and  sans-culotte  feasts, 
many  Dantonists,  like  Hebert,  Chaumette,  Momoro,  Cloots,  and  others, 
had  occasioned  great  scandal  by  their  animosity  to  priests  and  Christian- 
ity. They  desecrated  and  plundered  the  churches,  ridiculed  the  mass 
vestments  and  the  church  utensils,  which  they  carried  through  the  streets 
in  blasphemous  processions,  raged  with  the  spirit  of  Vandals  against  all 
the  monuments  of  Christianity,  and  at  length  carried  a  resolution 
through  the  Convention,  that  the  worship  of  Reason  should  be  intro- 
duced in  place  of  the  catholic  service  of  God.  A  solemn  festival,  in 
which  Momoro's  pretty  wife  personated  the  Goddess  of  Reason  in  the 
church  of  Notre  Dame,  marked  the  commencement  of  this  new  religion. 
Robespierre,  who  plumed  himself  upon  his  reputation  for  virtue,  because 
he  was  not  a  participator  ii\  the  excesses  or  avarice  of  Danton  and  his 
associates,  took  offence  at  these  proceedings.  He  determined  to  destroy 
their  originators,  and  in  their  fall  to  involve  the  destruction  of  Desmou- 
lins and  Danton,  before  whose  poweiful  natures  his  own  spirit,  which  was 
filled  with  envy  and  ambition,  stood  abashed.     Scarcely,  therefore,  had 

Danton  resumed  his  seat  in  the  Convention,  before  St.  Just 
March,  1794.    ,  ,        .  ,  ,     ,  i    ,  ,  i  •        i  •  i 

began  the  violent  struggle  by  a  remarkable  proposal,  m  which 

he  divided  the  enemies  of  the  republic  into  three  classes,  the  corrupt, 
the  ultra-revolutionary,  and  the  moderates,  and  insisted  upon  their  pun- 
ishment. This  proposal  resulted  in  nineteen  of  the  ultra-revolutionaries, 
and  among  them  Cloots,  Momoro,  Ronsin,  and  several  members  of  the 
Common  Council,  being  led  to  the  guillotine  on  the  19th  of  March.  On 
the  31st  of  April,  the  corrupt  were  placed  before  the  Revolutionary  Tri- 
bunal, and  Danton,  Camille  Desmoulins,  Ilerault  de  Sechelles,  &;c.  were 
maliciously  distinguished  as  their  partisans  and  involved  in  their  fate. 
But  Danton  and  Desmoulins,  supported  by  a  raging  mob  that  were  de- 
voted to  them,  demanded  with  vehemence  that  their  accusers  should  be 
confronted  with  them.  For  three  days,  Danton's  voice  of  thunder  and 
the  tumult  among  the  populace  rendered  his  condemnation  impossible 
36 


422  THE   LATEST  PERIOD. 

For  the  first  time,  the  bloody  men  of  the  Revolutidnary  Tribunal  be« 
came  confused.  The  Convention  at  length,  by  a  law  of  its  own,  gava 
the  Tribunal  the  power  of  condemning  the  accused  who  were  endeavor- 
ing to  subvert  the  existing  order  of  things  by  an  insurrection,  without 
further  hearing ;  upon  which  the  blood-stained  heroes  of  the  10th  of 
August  and  the  days  of  September,  who  during  their  trial  had  shown 
that  a  lofty  spirit  might  dwell  even  in  the  bosom  of  criminals,  were  led 
to  the  guillotine  and  beheaded,  with  a  crowd  of  inferior  He- 
'  '  *  bertists.  They  died  with  courage  and  resolution. 
§  558. — 3.  Wars  of  the  Republic.  First  Coalition. — Whilst 
these  bloody  proceedings  were  going  on  within,  the  armies  of  almost  all 
the  nations  of  Europe  were  marching  upon  the  frontiers  of  France. 
The  Dutch,  Austrians,  and  English  were  in  the  Netherlands  ;  Dutch, 
Prussian,  and  Austrian  troops  crossed  the  Rhine ;  Sardinia  threatened 
the  south-east ;  and  Spanish  and  Portuguese  armies  occupied  the  Pyre- 
nees :  at  the  same  time,  the  English  government,  conducted  by  Pitt, 
sought  to  destroy  the  naval  power  of  France,  to  conquer  her  colonies, 
and  to  keep  the  war  alive  by  large  subsidies  to  the  continental  powers. 
At  first,  the  arms  of  the  allies  met  with  some  snccess ;  Alsace  and  Flan- 
ders fell  into  their  hands,  and  the  way  to  Paris  stood  open.  But  want 
of  union  and  want  of  system  prevented  any  brilliant  success,  although 
the  new  method  of  warfare  had  not  yet  been  created  in  France.  The 
republicans  wished  to  gain  the  victory  by  terror.  General  Beauharnois, 
who  arrived  too  late  to  relieve  Mayence,  died  on  the  guillotine ;  Custine 
and  his  son  experienced  the  same  fate  ;  Houchard,  the  victor  over  the 
September  8,  Dutch  and  Hanoverians  at  Handschooten,  had  a  similar  fate 
1793.  when  he  was  afterwards  obliged  to  retire  before  the  superior 

November  force  of  the  enemy ;  and  Hoche  expiated  in  prison  the  de- 
feat suffered  by  the  Hollanders  and  Prussians  at  Kaiserslau- 
tem.  But  the  brave  and  active  Carnot  now  took  his  seat  in  the  commit- 
tee of  safety,  and  gave  unity  and  system  to  the  military  operations.  The 
whole  nation  was  interested  in  the  war  by  a  general  summons  ;  the  newly 
acquired  freedom  awakened  courage  and  enthusiasm  among  the  troops ; 
fanatical  bands  were  now  opposed  to  the  enemy  in  masses,  and  no  longer 
in  small  divisions  ;  and  the  greatest  commanders  of  the  century  rose  from 
the  ranks.  The  generals  with  their  antiquated  tactics,  and  with  soldiers 
who  fought  for  pay,  and  not  for  liberty  or  their  fatherland,  could  not 
maintain  their  ground.  Jourdain  compelled  the  evacuation 
'  of  Belgium  in  June,  after  the  battle  of  Fleurus ;  and,  by  the 
beginning  of  autumn,  the  Austrian  Netherlands  and  the  frontier  fortresses 
of  Holland  were  in  the  hands  of  the  French.  It  thus  became  practica- 
ble for  General  Pichegru  to  undertake  a  daring  expedition  in  December 
and  January  across  the  frozen  waters,  against  the  States-General  of 
Holland.     Pichegru,  with  an  army  that  was  suffering  from  a  want  oi 


THE   FRENCH   REVOLUTION.  423 

clothing  and  provisions,  made  himself  master  of  the  rich  land,  drove  the 
hereditary  Stadtholder  to  England,  and  brought  about  the  establishment 
of  a  Batavian  Republic,  with  democratic  rights,  with  trees  of  liberty, 
and  popular  Clubs.  From  this  time,  Holland  remained  united  with 
France;  and  not  only  were  the  French  troops  clothed  and  maintained  at 
the  cost  of  the  country,  and  vast  sums  sent  to  Paris  to  defray  the  expen- 
ses of  the  war,  but  the  English  at  the  same  time  seized  upon  the  Dutch 
ships  and  colonies,  so  that  the  unfortunate  country  was  a  sufferer  on  all 
Lands. 

§  559.    The  Peace  of  Basle.  —  The  French  arms  were  equally 
successful  on  the  Rhine.     The  Austrian  and  Prussian  troops  retreated 
across  the   German  riv.er  in   October,  and  abandoned  the 
further   side    to   the  French.     Shortly  after,   the  Prussian 
government,    which    was    busied    with    the    proceedings    in    Poland 
^       commenced  negotiations  with  France  which  led  to  the  peace 
'       '  of  Basle.     By  this  disgraceful  peace,  not  only  was  the  left 
bank  of  the  Rhine,  together  with  Holland,  abandoned  to  the  enemy,  but 
the  northern  portion  of  Germany  separated  by  a  line  of  demarcation 
from  the  southern.     Whilst  the  war  was  carried  on  in  the  latter,  the 
former  was  declared  neutral  territory.     The  Austrians,  on  the  other 
hand,  under  the  conduct  of  the  brave  leaders  Clerfait  and  Wurmser,  con- 
tinued  the   war   with   greater   energy.     After    Clerfait's   victory  over 
Pichegru  at  Plandschuchsheim,  the  imperialists  took  Heidelberg,  which 
September  24,  was  in  the  possession  of  the  French,  and,  after  a  frightful 

1795.  bombardment  of  several  days,  the  strong  town  of  Mannheim, 
which,  with  its  abundant  military  provisions,  had  been  disgracefully  sur- 
rendered to  the  enemy  at  the  first  summons  by  the  governor,  Palgrave 
Oberndorf.  A  part  of  the  town  was  in  ruins  when  the  Germans  again 
entered  it.  The  archduke  Charles,  the  brother  of  the  emperor,  gave 
September  3,  splendid  proofs  of  distinguished  military  talents.  He  de- 
i*^^^-  feated  Jourdain  at  Wijrzburg,  and  compelled  him  to  a  hasty 
retreat  upon  the  Rhine.  The  inhabitants  of  Spessart  and  Odenwald, 
enraged  at  the  oppressions  and  exactions  of  the  French,  rose  upon  their 
retreating  enemies,  and  destroyed  them  wherever  they  appeared  singly. 
Moreau  was  more  fortunate ;  he  was  indeed  driven  back  from  Bavaria 
and  Swabia,but  he  gained  the  Rhine  without  any^reat  loss  by  a  masterly 
September  19  ^^^^eat  through  the  valleys  of  the  Black  Forest.  The  Ger- 
— October  24,  man  governments,  far  from  encouraging  the  people  in  this 

1796.  rising  against  the  enemies  of  the  empire,  imitated,  for 
the  jmost  part,  the  example  of  Prussia,  and  concluded  a  peace  with 
France. 

§  560.  Robespierre's  Fall.  —  Since  the  fall  of  Danton,  the  com- 
mittee of  safety  had  ruled  with  wellnigh  unlimited  sway,  and  by  re- 
peated executions  and  arrests  had  brought  the  reign  of  terror  to  its  high- 


424  THE  LATEST  PERIOD. 

est  point^  But  its  chiefs  had  lost  the  confidence  of  the  people  and  oothe 
Convention.  The  friends  of  Danton  were  on  the  watch  for  the  favorable^ 
moment  of  attack,  and  the  number  of  their  enemies  was  increased,  when 
Robespierre^tg^Ttlt'-nii  wd  tQ^QjjJa;^itfnaa.nn«ip'06€>6di.Hg3  .of  the  ad- 
herents of  the  worship  of  Reason,  had  a  resolution  passed  by  the  Con- 
vention in  May,  "That  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Being  and  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul  were  truths:"  and  rendered  himself  at  once  hateful 
and  ridiculous  by  his  pride  at  the  new  festival  in  honor  of  the  Supreme 
Being  in  the  Tuileries,  at  which  he  officiated  as  high  priest.  •  Among  his 
opponents  was  Tallien,  who  at  a  former  period  had  been  guilty  of  ex- 
cesses in  Bourdeaux,  but  who  had  been  brouglit  to  adopt  different  principles 
by  the  fascinating  Fontenay  Cabarrus.  "With  him  were  joined  Freron, 
Fouche,  Yadier,  the  polished  rhetorician  Barrere,  and  others. 
'  '  On  the  9th  Thermidor,  a  battle  for  life  or  death  commenced 
in  the  Convention.  Robespierre  and  his  adherents  were  not  allowed  to 
speak ;  their  voices  were  drowned  in  the  cries  of  their  enemies,  who  car- 
ried through  a  stormy  meeting  the  resolution,  "  That  the  three  chiefs  of 
the  committee  of  safety,  Robespierre,  St.  Just,  Couthon,  and  their  confede- 
rate, Ilenriot,  should  be  denounced,  and  conveyed  as  prisoners  to  the 
Luxembourg  palace."  They  were  liberated  by  the  mob  on  their  way ; 
whereupon  the  drunken  Henriot  threatened  the  Convention  with  the 
National  Guard,  whilst  the  others  betook  themselves  to  the  Hotel  de 
Viile.  But  the  National  Assembly  was  beforehand  with  them  by  a  hasty 
resolution.  A  loudly  proclaimed  sentence  of  outlawry  suddenly  dispersed 
Henriot's  army,  whilst  the  citizens  who  were  opposed  to  the  Jacobins 
arranged  themselves  around  the  Convention.  The  accused  were  again 
secured  in  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  Henriot  crept  into  a  sewer,  whence  he 
■was  dragged  forth  by  hooks.  Robespierre  attempted  to  destroy  himself 
by  a  pistol-shot,  but  only  succeeded  in  shattering  his  lower  jaw,  and  was 
first  conveyed,  horribly  disfigured,  amidst  the  curses  and  execrations  of 
the  people,  before  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal,  and  then  guillotined,  with 

^  ,      ^  twenty-one  of  his  adherents.     On   the   two  followinj^  days, 

July  28.  ''  .  o        J    ■) 

seventy-two  Jacobins  shared  the  fate  of  their  leaders. 

§  561.  The  Last  Days  of  the  Convention.  —  Robespierre's  over- 
throw by  the  "  Thermidorians  "  was  the  commencement  of  a  return  to 
moderation  and  order.  The  assemblies  of  the  people  were  gradually 
limited,  the  power  of  the  Comm.on  Council  diminished,  and  the  lowei 
classes  deprived  of  their  weapons.  Freron,  converted  from  a  republican 
bloodhound  into  an  aristocrat,  assembled  the  young  men,  who  from  their 
clothing  were  called  the  "gilded  youth,"  around  him.  These,  with  the 
heavy  stick  they  usually  cai-ried  about  them,  attacked  the  Jacobins  in  the 
streets  and  in  their  clubs  at  every  opportunity,  and  opposed  the  song  of 
the  "  Awakening  of  the  People "  to  the  Marseillaise.  At  length,  the 
club  was  shut  up  and  the  cloister  of  the  Jacobins  pulled  down.     The 


FRANCE   UXDER   THE   DIRECTORY.  425 

(Convention  strengthened  itself  by  the  recall  of  the  expelled  members  and 
of  such  Girondists  as  were  still  left,  and  ordered  the  worst  of  the  Terror- 
ists, Lebon,  Carrier,  Fouquier  Tinville,  &c.,  to  be  executed.  But  when 
four  of  the  most  active  members  of  the  committee  of  safety  (Barrere, 
Vadier,  Collot  d'Herbois,  and  Billaud-Varennes)  were  denounced,  the 
Jacobins  collected  the  last  remains  of  their  strength,  and  drove  the 
people,  who  were  suffering  from  a  scarcity  and  want  of  money,  to  a 
frightful  insurrection.  Crowds  of  grisly  wretches  surrounded  the  house 
March  31.  of  assembly,  and  demanded,  with  threatening  cries,  the 
April  1, 1795,  liberation  of  the  patriots,  bread,  and  the  constitution  of 
1793.  Pichegru,  who  was  just  at  this  moment  in  Paris,  came  to  the  as- 
Bistance  of  the  distressed  Convention  with  soldiers  and  citizens,  and  dis- 
persed the  crowd.     The  still  more  formidable  insurrection  of  the  1st 

«  ,..  -    Prairial,  in  which  the  mob  held  the  Convention  surrounded 
May  20, 1795.  ,      ,       .  ,  .  ,      .  ,  ^  ,,,-., 

both  withm  and  without,  irom  seven  o  clock  m  the  morning 

till  two  at  night,  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  a  return  to  the  reign  of 
terror,  was  also  suppressed  by  the  courageous  president,  Boissy  d'Anglas. 
From  this  time,  the  power  of  the  Terrorists  was  no  more.  Many  Jaco- 
bins died  by  their  own  hands  ;  others  were  beheaded,  imprisoned,  or 
transported.  By  so  much  the  stronger  became  the  party  of  the  royalists, 
who  wished  to  have  a  king  again ;  and  when  the  new  government  was 
shortly  after  determined  upon,  by  which  the  executive  power  was  to  be 
delivered  to  a  Directory  of  five  persons,  tlie  legislative  power  to  a 
council  of  Ancients  and  a  council  of  Five  Hundred,  the  republican 
members  of  the  Convention  feared  that  in  the  new  election  they  might  be 
thrust  aside  by  the  royalists.  They  therefore  made  additions  to  tho 
original  charter  of  the  constitution,  wherein  it  was  declared  that  two- 
thirds  of  the  two  legislative  councils  must  be  chosen  from  members  of 
the  Convention.  The  royalists  raised  objections  against  this  and  some 
other  limitations  of  the  freedom  of  election ;  and  when  these  were  un- 
attended with  success,  they  occasioned  the  insurrection  of  the  Sections. 
Hereupon,  the  Convention  made  over  to  the  Corsican,  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte, the  supression  of  the  insurgent  royalists,  who  were  joined  by  all 
the  enemies  of  the  republic  and  of  the  revolution.  The  victory  of  the 
Octobers,  13th  Vendemiaire,  which  was  fought  in  the  streets  of  Paris, 
1795.  gave  the  supremacy  to  the  republicans  of  the  Convention, 

and  the  command  of  the  Italian  army  to  Napoleon,  who  was  then  twenty- 
six  years  of  age,  and  who,  a  short  time  before,  had  married  Josephine, 
the  widow  of  General  Beauharnois. 

5.  france  under  the  directory  (october,  1795 november 

9th,  1799). 

§  562.  Napoleon  in  Italy.  —  The  French  army  in  Savoy  and  on 
the  frontiers  of  Italy  was  in  a  melancholy  condition.     The  soldiers  were 

36* 


426  THE  LATEST  PERIOD. 

in  want  of  every  thing.  At  this  crisis,  Napoleon  appeared  as  their  com- 
mander-in-chief, and  in  a  short  time  contrived  so  to  inspirit  the  despond^ 
ing  troops  and  attach  them  to  his  person,  that  undp  his  guidance  they 
cheerfully  encountered  the  greatest  dangers.  Whe^'e  th^  love  of  giory  and 
the  sentiment  of  honor  were  not  sufficient,  there  the  tKcagVi'ies  of  woialthy 
Italy  served  as  a  stimulus  to  valor.  'fn'^A.pril,  Napoleon 
defeated  the  octogenarian  Austrian  general,  Bqaulieu,  at 
Milesimo  and  Montenotte,  separated,  by  this  victory7"the  Austmns  from' 
the  Sardinians,  and  so  terrified  the  king,  Victor  Amadeus,  that  n#  con- 
sented to  a  disadvantageous  peace,  by  which  he  surrendered  ISavoy  and 
Kice  to  the  French,  gave  up  six  fortresses  to  the  general,  and  submitted 
to  the  oppressive  condition  of  allowing  the  French  array  to  march 
through  his  land  at  any  time.  By  these  and  other  oppressive  conditions, 
the  country  became  entirely  dependent  upon  France,  so  that,  upon  the 
king's  death,  which  took  place  soon  after,  his  son,  Charles  Emmanuel 
(1796  — 1802),  surrendered  Piedmont  to  the  enemy,  and  settled  himself 
and  his  family  in  Sardinia.  The  course  of  Napoleon's  victories  in  Up- 
per Italy  was  equally  rapid.  After  the  memorable  passajre 
May  10, 1796.   ^^     ,       /  . ,  n    -r     -,.     ■,  ,     -.    •  *  .         ti^-i 

01    the  bridge  or    Liodi,  he    marched  nito  Austrian  Milan, 

subjected  the  Lombard  towns,  and  so  terrified  the  smaller  princes  by  the 
success  of  his  arms  and  his  insolence,  that  they  were  only  too  happy  to 
make  peace  with  the  victor  at  any  price.  Napoleon  extorted  large  sums 
of  money,  and  valuable  pictures,  treasures  of  art  and  manuscripts,  from 
the  dukes  of  Parma,  Modena,  Lucca,  Tuscany,  &:c.  He  behaved  as  the 
Roman  generals,  with  whose  lives  he  was  acquainted  from  the  descrip- 
tions of  Plutarch,  had  once  done ;  he  enriched  the  French  capital  with 
the  productions  of  the  mind,  that  he  might  please  the  vain  and  spectacle- 
loving  Parisians.  He  supported  the  weak  Directory  with  the  extorted 
supplies  of  money. 

AVurmser  now  took  the  place  of  the  old  Beaulieu.     But  he  also  was 

defeated  at  Castiojlione,  and  afterwards  besiepred  in  Mantua. 
August  5.  o         J  o 

The  army  under  Alvinzi  that  was  sent  to  his  relief  sustained 

January,  three  defeats  (at  Areola,  Rivoli,  La  Favorita),  by  which  the 

February,        whole  Austrian  force  in  Italy  was  destroyed,  dispersed,  or 

1^^*^*  captured.     This  compelled  the  gallant  Wurmser  to  deliver 

up  Mantua  to  the  glorious  victor.     Bonaparte,  respecting  the  courage 

of  his  enemy,  permitted  a  free  retreat  to  the  gray-headed  marshal,  his 

staff,  and  a  part  of  the  brave  garrison.     Pope  Pius  VL,  terrified  at  these 

T^  1-  ,«    rapid  successes,  hastened  to  purchase  the  peace  of  Tolentino 

Febraary,  19.   ^         .  r.  .  ^  ,  ^         ^ 

by  cessions  or  territory,  sums  of  money,  and  works  of  art. 

Archduke  Charles  now  assumed  the  command  of  the  Austrian  army 

in  Italy.     But  he  also  was  compelled  to  a  disastrous  retreat,  and  was 

pursued  by  Bonaparte  as  far  as  Klagenfurt,  with  the  view  of  falling 

upon  Vienna.     The  emperor  Francis,  anxious  for  the  fate  of  his  capital, 


FRANCE  UNDER  THE  DIRECTORY.  427 

allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  by  female  influence  to  conclude  the  dis* 
advantageous  preliminary  peace  of  Leoben,  at  the  very  mo- 
^"  '  '  '  ment  when,  by  the  non-arrival  of  the  expected  reinforce- 
ments, and  the  threatening  movements  of  the  Tyrolese,  Styrians,  and 
Carinthians,  the  position  of  the  French  army  was  becoming  critical. 
About  the  time  this  treaty  of  peace  was  concluded,  a  popular  insurrec- 
tion arose  in  the  rear  of  the  French  army,  in  the  territory  of  the  republic 
of  Venice,  in  consequence  of  which  many  Frenchmen  were  murdered 
in  Verona  and  its  neighborhood,  and  even  the  sick  and  wounded  in  the 
hospitals  were  not  spared.  This  was  taken  advantage  of  by  Napoleon 
to  destroy  the  Vcnctjatt  republic.  The  cowardice  of  the  aristocratic 
councillors,  who,  instelWRffering  a  brave  resistance  and  falling  with 
honor,  humbly  implored  the  grace  of  the  proud  conqueror,  and  surren- 
dered the  government  to  a  democratic  council,  facilitated  the  enterprise. 
As  early  as  May,  the  French  marched  into  Venice,  carried  off  the  ships 
and  the  stores  of  the  arsenal,  robbed  the  churches,  galleries,  and  libraries 
of  their  choicest  ornaments  and  most  valued  treasures,  and  kept  posses- 
sion of  the  city  till  the  negotiations  with  Austria  were  so  far  advanced, 
October  17,  ^^^^^  the  peace  of  Campo  Formio,  by  which  Upper  Italy  fell 
1797.  into  the  hands  of  France  under  the  name  of  the  Cisalpine 

Republic,  was  concluded.  Austria,  who  by  this  peace  also  surrendered 
Belgium  to  the  French  republic,  and  consented  to  the  cession  of  the  left 
bank  of  the  Rhine  with  Mayence,  received  the  territory  of  Venice, 
together  with  Dalmatia,  as  a  recompense  for  this  loss.  The  princes, 
prelates,  and  nobles,  who  suffered  by  this  abandonment  of  the  farther 
Rhineland,  were  to  be  indemnified  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  and 
this,  as  well  as  all  other  points  relating  to  Germany,  were  to  be  settled 
December,  at  the  Congress  at  Rastadt.  Napoleon  opened  this  congress 
1797.  himself,  and  then  returned  to  Paris  where  he  was  received 

with  acclamations. 

§  563.  Gracchus  Babceuf.  The  Royalists.  —  The  reign  of  the 
five  directors,  among  whom  La  Reveillere-Lepeaux  (founder  of  the 
Society  of  the  Theo-Philanthropists,  Friends  of  God  and  Men)  and 
Carnot  possessed  the  greatest  influence,  was  detested  by  the  violent  re- 
publicans as  well  as  by  the  royalists,  and  had,  consequently,  to  sustain 
the  attacks  of  both  parties.  The  first  attempt  to  overthrow  it  was  made 
by  the  republicans,  under  the  guidance  of  Gracchus  Babceuf,  who,  like 
the  Roman  tribune  whose  name  he  had  assumed,  wished  to  establish  an 
equalization  of  property,  and  a  new  division  of  lands.  He  was  joined 
by  some  of  the  old  Jacobins,  particularly  by  Drouet.  The  conspiracy 
was  discovered.  After  some  legal  proceedings,  which  attracted  a  great 
deal  of  attention,  Babceuf  and  one  other  were  executed,  the  others  were 
banished.  But  greater  than  this  was  the  danger  with  which  the  direc- 
toral  government  was  threatened  by  the  royalists.     When,  in  accordance 


428  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

with  tlie  cliarter  of  the  Constitution,  at  the  expiration  of  the  first  year, 
a  third  part  of  the  council  vacated  their  seats,  and  were  replaced  bj  a 
fresh  election,  the  royalists,  who  had  founded  the  club  of  Clichy,  succeed- 
ed, almost  entirely,  in  returning  people  of  their  own  way  of  thinking  to 
the  legislative  assembly.  Among  them  was  Pichegru,  who  as  commander 
of  the  Rhine  army,  had 'been  connected  with  the  emigrants,  and  now, 
as  president  of  the  Council  of  the  Five  Hundred,  was  seeking  to  effect 
the  restoration  of  the  king.  This  caused  anxiety  to  the  republicans  hi 
the  Directory  and  in  the  legislative  chamber.  They  accordingly  sought 
assistance  from  Bonaparte.  The  latter  despatched  a  division  of  his 
army  to  Paris,  under  the  conduct  of  the  shrewd  Bernadotte  and  the 
gallant  Augereau,  ostensibly  to  convey  thither  the  conquered  standards, 
September  4,  ^ut  in  reality  to  assist  the  Directors  against  the  royalists. 
1797.  On  the  18th  Fructidor,  Augereau  surrounded  the  Tuileries 

with  his  troops,  and  ordered  the  royalist  deputies  to  be  arrested ;  upon 
which,  eleven  members  of  the.  Council  of  Ancients,  forty-two  of  the  Five 
Hundred  (among  them  Pichegru),  and  two  Directors,  were  sentenced  to 
deportation.  The  royalist  elections  were  then  declared  invalid,  the  re- 
turned emigrants  again  banished,  and  many  journals  suppressed.  The 
directoral  government,  however,  possessed  neither  respect  nor  confi- 
dence. Trade,  industry,  and  agriculture  fell  into  decay,  and  the  national 
finances  were  in  a  dilapidated  state.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
llevolution,  the  government  had  ordered  paper  money  to  be  issued, 
for  the  security  and  guarantee  of  which  they  assigned  the  confiscated 
property  of  the  Church  and  of  the  emigrants.  These  notes  were  called 
assignats.  A  want  of  confidence  in  the  stability  of  the  revolutionary 
government  soon  produced  a  depreciation  of  this  paper  money,  especially 
as  the  increasing  number  of  assignats  rendered  their  redemption  every 
day  more  improbable.  During  the  reign  of  terror,  no  one  refused  an 
acceptance  that  was  commanded  by  law,  and  the  assignats  had  thus  a 
compulsatory  circulation.  But  after  the  fall  of  Robespierre,  and  the 
decline  of  terrorism,  this  paper  money  sank  daily  in  value ;  and,  despite 
the  efforts  made  by  the  directoral  government  to  restore  the  confidence 
of  the  people  by  discharging  the  old  assignats  and  issuing  fresh  bills 
(mandats,  inscriptions),  the  new  notes  were  soon  as  worthless  as  the  old 
ones.  The  losses  were  enormous ;  property  had  fled  from  the  rich  and 
the  illustrious  to  the  lower  classes.  To  defray  the  expenses  of  war  and 
other  outlays,  the  Directory  established  a  complete  system  of  plunder  in 
the  conquered  countries. 

§  5G4.  The  Republicans  in  Italy.  Changes  in  Switzerland. 
Italy  and  Switzerland  were  particularly  exposed  to  the  insolence  and 
rapacity  of  the  directoral  government.  In  the  winter  of  1797,  repub- 
lican commotions  took  place  in  Rome  and  other  parts  of  the  States  of 
the  Church,  which  were  occasioned  by  French  influence.     During  the 


FRANCE  UNDER  THE  DIRECTORY.  429 

Euppression  of  these  by  the  papal  troops,  general  Duphot,  who  was  present 
in  Rome,  lost  his  life.  This  afforded  the  French  government  an  oppor- 
tunity of  ordering  Berthier  to  march  with  an  array  into  Rome.  A  tree 
Februar}^,  of  liberty  was  erected  in  the  midst  of  the  Roman  Forum, 
1798.  the   Pope  was  deprived  of  his  temporal  power,  which  was 

made  over  to  a  republican  government,  consisting  of  consuls,  senators, 
and  tribunes.  The  French  then  imposed  severe  military  levies  and  im- 
posts upon  the  town,  and  carried  off  the  most  valuable  works  of  art  to 
Paris' :  and  when  this  proceeding  occasioned  some  popular  commotions, 

the  erey-headed  pope,  Pius  VI.,  was  led  away  to  Paris, 
August,  1799.       ,/-,.,.,/„.  T    ,  ,.      , 

where  he  died  m  the  tollowmg  year,  and  the  cardinals  were 

subjected  to  severe  persecutions.  Lucca  and  Genoa  also  received  demo- 
cratical  constitutions,  and  paid  for  them  with  their  treasures.  But  the 
most  remarkable  occurrences  took  place  in  Naples.  The  hard-hearted 
and  cowardly  king  Ferdinand  governed  there,  and  devoted  himself  en- 
tirely to  hunting  and  fishing,  whilst  he  left  the  business  of  the  state  to  his 
impetuous  wife,  Caroline,  a  daughter  of  Maria  Theresa,  who,  on  her 
side,  allowed  herself  to  be  entirely  guided  by  the  notorious  courtezan, 
Lady  Hamilton,  the  wife  of  the  English  ambassador.  Filled  with  deadly 
hate  against  France  and  the  regicide  republicans,  and  informed  that  the 
European  powers  had  determined  upon  a  fresh  campaign,  the  queen 
persuaded  her  husband  to  allow  a  Neapolitan  army,  under  the  command 
of  the  Austrian  general  Mack,  to  march  into  the  States  of  the  Church. 
The  French  were  -at  first  driven  out  of  Rome,  and  the  town  taken  pos- 
session of;  but  in  a  few  days  they -again  returned,  under  Charapionnet, 
put  the  Neapolitans  to  flight,  and  marched  into  the  territory  of  their 
enemy.  Confused  and  helpless,  the  Neapolitan  court  fled  to  Sicily,  or- 
November  dered  its  own  fleet  to  be  set  on  fire,  and  abandoned  the  capi- 
December,  tal  and  the  whole  country  to  the  conquerors.  But  the  popu- 
l'^^-  lace  of  Naples,  excited  by  the  monks  and  clergy,  now  arose. 

Troops  of  ragamuffins  (lazzaroni),  united  with  peasants  and  galley-slaves, 
took  possession  of  Naples,  and  sf>rcad  such  alarm,  that  the  viceroy  fled 
to  Sicily,  and  Mack  sought  protection  among  the  French.  Championnet 
then  marched  over  blood  and  corpses  into  the  stubbornly  defended  town, 

,^     and  established  the   Parthenopeian  Repubhc.     All  the  re- 
January  1799.  ^  '^ 

spectable  and  educated  Neapolitans,  who  were  inspired  with 

any  feeling  of  patriotism,  delighted  to  escape  from  years  of  kingly  and 
priestly  despotism,  attached  themselves  with  enthusiasm  to  the  new  order 
of  things. 

La  the  year  1798,  Switzerland  also  experienced  a  change  in  her  con- 
stitution. Bern,  and  its  associate,  Vaud,  were  governed  by  an  aristo- 
cratic council,  all  the  members  of  which  belonged  to  patrician  families. 
The  Vaudois,  excited  by  the  French  republicans,  seized  their  arms  foi 
the  purpose  of  freeing  themselves  from    the  government  of  the  Ber- 


430  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

nesp.  But  as  tliej  were  not  a  match  for  their  opponents,  they  claimed 
the  assistance  of  France  ;  upon  which  general  Brune  took  possession 
of  Bern,  made  himself  master  of  the  rich  treasures  and  of  the  arsenal, 
and  extorted  large  sums  from  the  land  by  military  levies.  Supported 
by  the  democratic  party,  with  Ochs  of  Basle  and  Laharpe  of  Yaud  at 
Uieir  head,  the  French  converted  Switzerland  into  the  single  and 
\ndivisible  Helvetic  Republic,  with  a  form  of  policy  borrowed  from 
Uie  directoral  government  of  France.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  Catholic 
?antons  on  the  lake  of  Lucerne,  excited  by  their  priests,  opposed 
themselves  to  this  arrangement  and  'took  up  arms ;  they  were  defeated, 
and  compelled  to  conform  to  the  new  system.  Geneva  was  united  to 
France. 

§  565.  The  War  of  the  Second  Coalition.  —  These  proceedings, 
and  the  simultaneous  expedition  of  Napoleon  to  Egypt  and  Syria,  pro- 
duced a  fresh  coalition  of  the  three  great  European  powers,  Russia,  Eng- 
land, and  Austria,  against  France.  Russia  had  been  governed  since  the 
year  1796  by  Paul,  the  eldest  son  of  Catherine,  a  prince  with  a  mind 
somewhat  deranged,  who  cherished  the  bitterest  hatred  against  the  Re- 
volution; and  who,  as  a  great  admirer  of  the  Order  of  Malta,  to  the 
Grand  Mastership  of  which  he  had  had  himself  appointed,  saw,  in  the 
capture  of  that  island  by  Napoleon,  a  cause  for  war.  England  feared 
danger  to  her  foreign  possessions  from  the  Egyptian  expedition,  and 
scattered  money  with  a  liberal  hand  to  raise  up  fresh  enemies  against 
France.  Austria  was  at  variance  with  the  directoral  government,  be- 
cause the  house  of  the  French  ambassador  in  Vienna,  Bernadotte,  had 
been  broken  open,  and  the  tricolor  flag  torn  down  and  burnt,  during  a 
popular  festival,  without  the  Austrian  government  having  afforded  the  re- 
quired satisfaction. 

War  was  waged,  at  the  same  time,  in  Germany,  in  Italy,  in  Switzer- 
land, and  in  the  Netherlands.     After  the  French  had  been  defeated  at 

nf     1. «-  -Ko^  Stockach  by  the  archduke  Charles,  and  forced  over  the  Rhine, 

March  25, 1799.  "^  '  ' 

the  French  ambassadors   (Roberjot,  Bonnier,  Jean   Debry), 

who  had  hitherto  conducted  the  affairs  of  peace  in  Rastadt,  and  rendered 
themselves  universally  odious  by  their  pride  and  insolence,  wished  to  re- 
turn. But  scarcely  had  they  left  Rastadt  at  the  commencement  of  night, 
.  before  they  were  attacked,  in  defiance  of  all  the  riglits  of  na- 

tions, by  Szekler  hussars,  robbed  of  their  papers,  and  treated 
in  such  a  way  that  two  died  immediately,  and  Jean  Debry,  who  was 
severely  wounded,  only  saved  his  life  by  crawling  into  a  ditch.  This 
deed  excited  universal  disgust,  and  was  taken  advantage  of  by  the  Direc- 
tory to  excite  the  people  to  vengeance.  In  Italy,  also,  the  French  had 
the  disadvantage.  The  Russians,  under  Suwarrow,  conquered  the  Cisal- 
pine Republic  in  a  few  weeks,  after  Moreau  had  been  defeated  at  Cassano, 
and  Macdonald,  who  had  led  the  French  army  out  of  Naples,  at  Trebia, 


FRANCE  UNDER  THE  DIRECTORY.  431 

famous  for  the  victory  of  Hannibal.     The  bloody  defeat  of  the  French 

in  the  battle  of  Novi,  where  the  younj'  o^eneral  Joubert  died 
»une  17 — 19.  o   o 

the  dearii  of  a  hero,  completed  the  loss  of  Italy.     This  change 

August  5.  jjj  affairs  was  a  death-blow  to  the  Parthenopeian  Republic. 
Scarcely  had  the  French  army  left  Naples,  before  the  barbarous  cardinal 
Ruffo  stormed  the  city  with  bands  of  Calabrian  peasants  and 
exasperated  lazzaroni,  and  the  court  returned  from  Sicily. 
The  republicans  of  Naples  were  now  visited  by  a  frightful  punishment. 
Supported  by  Admiral  Nelson,  who  lay  with  his  fleet  before  the  city,  and 
who,  seduced  by  the  charms  of  Lady  Hamilton,  allowed  himself  to  be 
made  the  instrument  of  an  ignominious  vengeance,  the  priesthood  and  the 
royal  government  practised  deeds,  before  which  the  atrocities  of  the 
French  reign  of  terror  retreat  into  obscurity.  After  the  murderings  and 
plunderings  of  the  lazzaroni  were  over,  the  business  of  the  judge,  the 
executioner,  and  the  gaoler  commenced.  Every  partisan,  adherent,  or 
favorer  of  the  republican  institutions  was  persecuted.  Upwards  of 
4,000  of  the  most  respectable  and  refined  men  and  females  died  upon  the 
scaffold  or  in  frightful  dungeons.  For  it  was  precisely  the  noblest  por- 
tion of  the  nation,  who  wished  to  redeem  the  people  from  their  degrada- 
tion and  ignorance,  that  had  joined  themselves  with  patriotic  enthu- 
siasm to  the  new  system.  The  grey-haired  prince,  Caraccioli,  the 
former  confidant  of  Ferdinand  and  the  friend  of  Nelson,  was  hanged 
at  the  yard-arm,  and  his  body  plunged,  loaded  with  weights,  into 
the  waves.  The  republican  government  was  also  dissolved  in 
Rome,  whereupon  the  new  pope,  Pius  VII.,  again  took  possession  of 
the  Vatican.  ^  ^ 

After  the  conquest  of  Italy,  Suwarrow  surmounted  the  pathless  ice- 
bergs of  the  Alps,  with  the  purpose  of  driving  the  French  out  of  Switz- 
erland. The  Russian  army  had  incredible  difficulties  and  dangers  to 
encounter  in  this  expedition.  Combats  were  sustained  on  the  Gothard 
and  at  the  Devil's  Bridge  against  the  enemy  and  natural  difficulties,  that 
may  be  classed  with  the  most  daring  feats  in  the  world's  history.  But 
despite  all  their  efforts,  the  Russians,  owing  to  not  being  sufficiently  sup- 
ported by  the  Austrians,  were  defeated  by  the  French  in  the  battle  of 
September  25,  Zurich.  (During  the  capture  of  Zurich,  which  followed, 
2G,  1799.  Lavater  was  mortally  wounded.)     Suwarrow  conducted  the 

remains  of  his  army  across  the  frozen  heights  of  the  Grisons  to  their 
Ma  1800  ^^™^j  where  he  shortly  after  died.  The  simultaneous  at- 
tempt of  the  English  to  drive  the  French  out  of  the  Nether- 
lands, and  restore  the  Stadtholder,  had  a  disastrous  termination.  The 
unskilful  general,  the  duke  of  York,  purchased  the  retreat  of  himself 
October  1799  ^"^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^  disgraceful  convention,  without  troubling 
*  himself  about  his  alhes,  the  Russians.  This  ignoble  and 
selfish  behavior  of  the   English  and  Austrians  exasperated  the  Russian 


432  THE    LATEST    PERIOD. 

emperor,  Paul,  so  much  against  the  allies,  that  he  retired  from  the 
coalition. 

§  566.  Bonaparte  in  Egypt  and  Syria.  —  During  these  trans- 
actions, Bonaparte  found  himself  in  Egypt,  at  the  head  of  a  consider- 
able army.  In  the  June  of  1708,  he  had  sailed  from  the  island  of 
Malta,  which  had  been  wrested  from  the  knights  of  St.  John  by  treach- 
ery, towards  the  land  of  the  jS^ile.  The  chief  inducements  to  this  strange 
and  adventurous  undertaking  were  the  wash  to  inspire  the  excitable 
French  nation  with  enthusiasm  for  himself  by  extraordinary  actions,  the 
desire  of  glory,  and  the  thought  of  being  able  to  weaken  the  maritime 
power  of  England,  and  to  threaten  her  possessions  in  the  East  Indies 
from  Egypt.  After  his  disembarkation  at  Alexandria,  the  whole  of  the 
French  fleet  at  Aboukir,  owing  to  the  carelessness  of  the  admiral,  was 
defeated  and  captured  by  the  English  naval  hero.  Nelson ;  and  Napoleon 
was  in  consequence  obliged  to  make  arrangements  for  a  longer  stay.  In 
July,  he  marched  from  Alexandria  through  the  Egyptian  desert  to  Cairo. 
The  distress  of  the  army,  unprovided  with  water  or  sufficient  necessaries, 

in  the  burning  heat,  was  very  great.  In  the  battle  of  the 
'  '  Pyramids,  "  from  the  tops  of  which  4,000  years  looked  down 
upon  the  combatants,"  the  Mamalukes,  who  at  that  time  swayed  Egypt 
under  the  Turkish  government,  w^ere  defeated ;  whereupon  Bonaparte 
marched  into  Cairo,  and  established  a  new  government,  police,  and  taxa- 
tion, upon  the  European  pattern,  and  ordered  the  curiosities  of  this  won- 
derful land  to  be  examined,  and  its  monuments  and  antiquities  to  be  col- 
lected and  described,  by  the  artists  and  men  of  learning  who  accompanied 
his  army.  In  the  meanwhile,  although  Bonaparte  and  his  troops  treated 
the  religious  customs  of  the  Mahommedans  with  every  possible  forbear- 
ance, and  showed  all  outward  respect  to  their  priests,  mosques,  cei'erao- 
nies,  and  customs,  fanaticism  w^as,  nevertheless,  raging  in  the  bosoms  of 
the  Mussulmans,  and  rendered  the  rule  of  the  Christians  detestable  to 
them.  This  hatred  w^as  increased  when  the  French  general  levied  taxes 
and  imposts ;  and  the  Porte,  which  would  not  allow  itself  to  be  deceived 
by  Napoleon's  false  shows  of  friendship  and  devotion,  called  upon  the 
Mahommedans  to  fight  against  the  Christians.  A  dreadful  insurrec- 
October2l  ^^^^  broke  out  in  Cairo,  which  could  only  be  su]:»pressed 
^'^^'  with  difficulty  by  the  superiority  of  European  tactics,  after 

nearly  6,000  Mahommedans  had  been  slain.  Napoleon  made  use  of  the 
February,  victory  to  extort  money,  and  then  marched  with  his  Turkish 
1799.  troops  against  Syria.     After  the  conquest  of  Jaffii,  where  he 

ordered  2,000  Arnauts,  whom  he  had  a  second  time  taken  prisoners,  to 
be  shot  as  perjured,  he  proceeded  to  the  siege  of  Jean  d'Acre.     It  was 

there  that  the  fortune  of  Napoleon  met  with  its  first  rebuff. 

The  Turks,  provided  with  artillery  by  the  English  admiral. 
Sir    Sidney   Smith,  repelled  the  assaults    of  the   enemy,  despite    their 


FRANCE  UXDER  THE  DIRECTORY.  43S 

v/onderful  valor.  At  the  same  time,  a  Turkish  army  threatened  the 
European  soldiers  m  the  mterior  of  the  country.  The  former  was,  in- 
deed, defeated  and  dispersed  by  Junot  at  Nazareth,  and  at  Mount  Tabor 
by  Kleber ;  nevertheless,  upon  the  plague  breaking  out  among  his  troops, 
Napoleon  found  himself  compelled  to  give  up  Acre  and  to  commence  a 
retreat.  The  horses  were  laden  with  the  sick ;  the  soldiers  suffered  the 
most  dreadful  privations ;  the  dangers  and  distresses  of  the  waf  were 
frightful.  Napoleon  shared  all  the  fatigues  with  the  meanest  of  his 
army  ;  he  is  even  said  to  have  visited  a  hospital  filled  with  those  sick  of 
the  plague.  He  again  reached  Cairo  in  June,  and  in  the  following 
month,  defeated  a  Turkish  army  of  three  times  his  number, 
at  Aboukir.  A  short  time  after  this,  he  learned  the  disasters 
of  the  French  in  Italy  from  some  newspapers ;  and  the  intelligence  pro- 
duced such  an  effect  upon  him,  that  he  determined  upon  returning  to 
France.  He  quietly  made  his  preparations  for  departure  with  the 
greatest  expedition.  After  transferring  the  command  of  the  Egyptian 
ai*my  to  Kleber,  Napoleon  sailed  from  the  harbor  of  Alexandria  with 
two  frigates  and  a  few  small  transports,  and  about  500  followers,  and, 
October  9  guided  by  the  star  of  his  fortunes,  reached  the  coast  of  France 
1799.  undiscovered  by  the  English,  and  landed  at  Frejus  amidst 

the  acclamations  of  the  people. 

§  567.  The  Eighteenth  Brtjmaire.  —  Upon  his  arrival  in  Paris, 
Napoleon  embraced  the  resolution  of  overthrowing  the  directoral  gov- 
ernment, which  had  lost  all  authority  and  consideration.  With  this  pur- 
pose, he  made  himself  secure  of  the  officers  and  troops  that  were  in 
Paris,  and  consulted  with  Sieyes,  one  of  the  directors,  and  his  own 
brother,  Lucien  Bonaparte,  who  had  been  elected  president  of  the  Five 
Hundred,  on  the  means  of  carrying  his  plan  into  execution.  Lucien 
transferred  the  sittings  of  the  council  to  St.  Cloud,  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing  the  members  within  the  power  of  the  soldiers.  There,  Napo- 
leon first  attempted  to  win  over  the  members  to  his  plans  by  persuasion; 
when  he  found  that  he  could  not  succeed  in  this,  but  rather,  that  he  was 
overwhelmed  with  threats  and  reproaches,  he  commanded  his  grenadiers 
to  clear  the  room  with  levelled  bayonets.  The  republicans,  who  pre- 
sented a  bold  front  to  the  danger,  were  at  length  compelled  to  yield  to 
Buperior  force,  and  sought  their  safety  through  the  doors  and  windows. 
November  9,  This  done,  a  commission  of  fifty  persons  was  appointed  to 
1799.  draw  up  a  fresh  constitution.     Thus  ended  the  violent  pro- 

cedure of  tlie  18th  Brumaire,  in  consequence  of  which  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte took  the  conduct  of  affairs  into  his  own  strong  hands. 


434  TIIE   LATEST   PERIOD. 


C.  GOVERNMENT  OF  NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE. 

I.    THE    CONSULATE    (1800-1804). 

§  568.  According  to  the  consular  constitution,  the  power  of  the  state 
was  divided  in  the  following  manner : —  1.  To  the  Senate,  which  consisted 
of  eighty  members,  belonged  the  privilege  of  selecting  from  the  list  of 
names  sent  in  by  the  departments  the  members  of  the  legislative  power, 
and  the  chief  officials  and  judges.  2.  The  legislative  power  was  d#ided 
(a)  into  the  Tribunate,  which  numbered  one  hundred  membeA^  apfMvhosojl 
office  it  was  to  examine  and  debate  upon  the  proposals  (tf  the  *^oi-«rn^ 
ment ;  and  (b)  the  legislative  bodies,  who  had  only  to  receive  or  reject 
these  proposals  unconditionally.  3.  The  government  consisted  of  three 
Consuls,  who  were  elected  for  ten  years.  Of  these  Consuls,  the  first, 
Bonaparte,  exercised  the  powers  of  government,  properly  so  called ; 
whilst  the  second  and  third  Consuls  (Cambaceres  and  Lebrun)  were 
merely  placed  at  his  side  as  advisers.  Bonaparte,  as  first  Consul,  sur- 
rounded himself  with  a  state  council  and  a  ministry,  for  which  he  se- 
lected the  most  talented  and  experienced  men.  Talleyrand,  the  dexter- 
ous diplomatist,  was  minister  of  the  exterior ;  the  astute  Fouche  super- 
intended the  police;  Berthier  held  the  staff  of  general.  The  Code 
Napoleon,  in  the  composition  of  which  the  most  renowned  lawyers  of 
France  were  employed,  is  an  illustrious  proof  of  the  sagacity  of  the 
state  council. 

§  569.  Marengo  and  Hoiienlinden.  —  After  the  arrangement  of 
the  new  constitution,  Bonaparte  wrote  a  letter  with  his  own  hand  to 
the  king  of  England,  in  which  he  made  an  offer  of  peace  ;  he  did  the 
same  to  the  emperor.  But  this  unusual  proceeding  found  little  sympa- 
thy. A  cold  answer,  in  measured  terms,  spoke  of  the  restoration  of  the 
Bourbons,  and  of  a  return  to  the  ancient  boundaries.  The  contrast  be- 
tween the  apparent  warmth,  openness,  and  magnanimity  of  Napoleon, 
and  the  repulsive  coldness  of  the  cabinets  of  London  and  Vienna,  ex- 
cited the  greatest  enthusiasm  and  military  ardor  among  the  fiery 
French.  Napoleon  was  more  successful  in  his  attempts  to  gain  over  the 
czar  of  Russia  to  his  cause.  Paul's  love  for  soldiers,  and  his  disgust  at 
the  Austrians  and  English,  who  would  not  exchange  the  captured  Rus- 
sians, were  dexterously  made  use  of  by  Napoleon.  He  sent  some 
thousands  of  these  prisoners,  fresh  armed  and  clothed,  back  to  their 
homes,  without  ransom.  By  this  means  he  won  the  heart  of  the  em- . 
peror,  who,  with  all  his  eccentricities,  possessed  a  chivalrous  spirit ;  so 
that  the  latter  entered  into  a  friendly  alliance  with  Bonaparte,  and 
withdrew  himself  entirely  from  his  former  allies. 

The  First  Consul  now  assembled  a  large  army,  with  all  secrecy,  in 


GOVERNMENT  OF  NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE.         435 

the  neighborhood  of  the  Lake  of  Geneva,  and  undertook  the  wonderful 
passage  of  the  great  St.  Bernard  with  the  main  body,  whilst 
*  other  divisions  penetrated  into  Italy  by  the  Simplon,  St. 
Gothard,  and  other  passes.  This  bold  undertaking,  with  its  difficulties 
and  dangers,  recalls  to  mind  the  heroic  age  of  Hannibal.  The  army 
marched  past  tlie  Hospice,  placed  in  the  midst  of  snow  and  icebergs, 
down  into  the  valley  of  the  Dora  Baltea,  where  the  fortress  of  Bard, 
which  was  occupied  by  the  Austrians,  appeared  to  present  insurmounta- 
ble difficulties.  But  Napoleon's  genius  discovered  an  escape.  The 
troops  surmounted  the  neighboring  heights  by  a  sheep-path,  whilst  the 
artillery  was  conveyed  secretly  under  the  guns  of  the  fort  by  an  artifice. 
In  this  way  the  French  descended,  quite  unexpectedly,  upon  Upper 
Italy,  at  the  very  moment  when  the  Austrians  had  compelled  Genoa  to 
surrender,  and  were  in  possession  of  the  whole  country.  But  the  posi- 
June  9.  tion  of  affairs  was  soon  changed.     Five  days  after  the  fall 

June  14.  of  Genoa,  the  Austrians  received  a  defeat  at  MontebelIo,and 
a  short  time  after,  the  battle  of  Marengo  was  fought  near  Alexandria, 
where  the  Austrians  under  Melas  were  completely  routed.  The  unex- 
pected arrival  of  the  brave  Desaix  from  Egypt  produced  this  change, 
and  snatched  the  victory  that  was  deemed  secure  from  the  hands  of  the 
Austrians.  Desaix,  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  noble  men  of  the  time 
of  the  Revolution,  died  the  death  of  a  hero  at  Marengo.  Milan  and 
Lombardy  were  the  prize  of  the  day.  At  the  same  time,  an  army 
under  Moreau  had  forced  its  way  into  Swabia  and  Bavaria,  driven  back 
the  Austrians  in  several  encounters,  and  compelled  them  to  a  truce  ;  but 
it  was  the  glorious  march  of  IMacdonald  and  Moncey  over 
J^^y-  the  icy  Grisons,  and  Moreau's  splendid  victory  in  the  bloody 

December  3.    field  of  Hohenlinden,  that  first  compelled  the  Austrians  to 

accept,  in  the  peace  of  Luneville,  the   conditions   that  had 
February  9.      ,        ^  ,  .  ^  t^         .  ,  ,  ,    -.         , 

been  entered  mto  at  Campo  lormio,  and  to  acknowledge  the 

valleys  of  the  Rhine  and  the  Adige  as  the  boundaries  of  the  French 
empire.  The  formation  of  an  Italian  republic  under  the  presidentship 
of  Bonaparte,  and  the  indemnification  of  the  losses  of  the  German 
princes  and  the  imperial  estates,  by  the  secularized  Church  property 
and  the  abolished  imperial  cities  on  the  right  side  of  the  Rhine,  were 
the  most  important  articles  in  the  peace  of  Luneville.  The  arrange- 
ment that  was  made,  two  years  later,  in  the  territories  of  the  German 
States,  by  the  so-called  decree  of  the  Imperial  Diet,  was  the  first  step 
February  25,  towards  the  dissolution  of  the  German  empire,  and  the  es- 
1803.  tablishment  of  sovereign  kingdoms  and  principalities. 

§  570.  The  I^ace  of  Amiens.  —  After  the  peace  of  Luneville, 
England  alone  retained  her  arms,  and  as  the  Russian  emperor,  Paul,  out 
of  hatred  to  the  selfish  and  insolent  islanders,  had  only  a  short  time  be- 
fore renewed  the  alliance  with  Prussia,  Sweden,  and  Denmark,  for  an 


436  THE   LATEST   PEEIOD. 

armed  neutrality,  and  by  this  means  stirred  up  enemies  again3t  the 
British  in  the  Baltic,  the  English  people  also  were  longing  for  rest  and 
refreshment.  Negotiations  for  peace  were  accordingly  entered  into,  but 
were  attended  for  a  long  time  by  no  result,  inasmuch  as  the  parties  could 
not  agree  respecting  Egypt.  For  Kleber,  angry  as  he  was  at  Napoleon's 
retreat,  had  successfully  maintained  himself  against  the  Turks  and  the 
English,  and  in  the  battle  near  Ileliopolis,  had  defeated  an 

'  army  of  six  times  his  numbers.  But  after  he  had  fallen  by 
the  dagger  of  a  fanatical  Mussulman,  in  the  garden  of  his  palace  at  Cairo, 
on  the  day  of  the  battle  of  Marengo,  the  French  army,  under  the  con- 
duct of  his  incompetent  successor,  Menou,  who  had  embraced  Islamism, 
fell  gradually  into  such  distress,  that  the  English  entertained  the  hope  of 
compelling  it  to  surrender,  and  consequently  delayed  the  negotiations  for 
peace.     It  was  not  until  the  gallant  English  general,  Aber- 

'  'crombie,  had  fallen  in  the  battle  of  Canopus,  that  they  were 
convinced  that  neither  their  own  land  force,  which  was  composed  of  re- 
cruits from  all  nations,  nor  the  undisciplined  Turkish  squadrons,  were  in 
September,  ^  condition  to  overcome  the  tactics  of  the  French  in  Egypt. 
1801.  A  treaty  was   concluded,  by  virtue  of  which  the   French 

army,  24,000  strong,  with  arms,  munitions,  and  all  the  treasures  of 
science  and  art,  were  conveyed  back  to  France  in  English  vessels.  This 
was  the  preliminary  to  the  peace  of  Amiens,  by  which   the  English 

promised  to  surrender  the  greater  part  of  their  foreij]fn  con- 
March  27, 1802.^  ,  ,.        .-,,.,-,,.,,-■,         ^     ■,  .  ,     , 

quests,  and  to  relmquish  the  island  oi  Malta,  or  which  they 

had  gained  possession,  to  the  knights  of  St.  John.  This  peace,  which 
was  concluded  with  great  precipitation  on  the  part  of  England,  met  with 
violent  opposition  in  the  country.  The  press  raised  its  voice  loudly 
against  it,  and  adopted  at  the  same  time  a  hostile  tone  towards  Napoleon. 
These  attacks  irritated  the  First  Consul,  who  could  bear  neither  censure 
nor  opposition  ;  he  replied  in  a  similar  stfain  by  the  French  government 
paper  (Moniteur).  This  occasioned  a  mutual  ill-temper,  which  promised 
a  speedy  renewal  of  hostilities ;  and  the  English  accordingly  delayed  the 
evacuation  of  Malta,  and  the  execution  of  the  disadvantageous  conditions 
of  the  peace.  The  dread  of  Russia  had  passed,  since  Paul  had  met  with 
a  violent  death.  The  cruelty,  the  arbitrary  measures,  and  the  gloomy 
suspicions  of  this  emperor,  had  increased  to  such  an  extent,  that  there 
could  be  no  longer  a  doubt  that  his  mind  was  incurably  affected.  A  con- 
spiracy was  therefore  formed  amongst  those  around  him,  the  threads  of 
which  were  guided  by  the  powerful  count  Pahlen.  The  result  of  this 
"vyas,  that  the  emperor  Paul  was  attacked  in  his  bed-chamber  by  SubofF, 
Benningsen,  and  others,  and  when  he  refused  the  required  abdication  of 

*c  o.  ,o«-.  t^^®  throne,  he  was  cruelly  stranded,  and  his  son  Alexander 
May  24,  1801.  i   •        ,        i  •  tt    ,        , 

proclaimed  as  his  successor.     Under  these  circumstances,  the 

May  18, 1803.  peace  of  Amiens  had  no  permanence.     At  the  expiration  o^ 


GOVERNMENT  OF  NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE.         437 

R  year,  the  Englisli  again  declared  war,  and  Pitt  reentered  the  ministry. 
A  short  time  before'^  Napoleon  had  reduced  Switzerland  to  the  same 
Btate  of  subjection  as  Holland  and  Italy.  By  the  so-called  Act  of 
Mediation,  he  had  effected  such  a  change  in  the  constitution 
'  of  the  Helvetic  republic,  that  the  cantons  had  again  become 
independent,  but  a  Landaraman  and  a  Diet  represented  the  confederation 
as  a  collective  state. 

§  571.  The  new  Court  and  the  Concordat.  —  Bonaparte  was 
at  first  engaged  in  reconciling  the  old  with  the  new,  in  combining  the 
results  of  the  Revolution  with  the  forms  and  manners  of  the  monarchical 
period.  But  he  very  soon  made  known  his  preference  for  the  ancient 
system,  by  the  restoration  of  all  the  former  arrangements  and  customs. 
The  times  and  fashions  of  a  previous  period,  the  forms  of  the  old 
etiquette,  the  elegance  of  the  kingly  period,  were  soon  to  be  seen  at  the 
court  of  the  First  Consul  in  the  Tnileries.  An  aristocratic  demeanor, 
a  dignified  bearing,  and  polished  manners,  were  again  held  in  estimation, 
as  the  advantages  of  good  society.  The  social  gifts  of  his  wife,  Josephine, 
the  beauty  and  amiability  of  his  step-children  (Eugene  and  Ilortense 
Beauharnais)  and  sitters  (Pauline,  Elise),  assisted  him  in  this  matter.* 
The  reductions  in  the  emigrant  lists  brought  back  many  royalists  to  their 
homes,  and  the  favor  shown  to  them  made  them  courteous  and  pliant  in 
the  service  of  the  new  court.  Madame  de  Stael  (daughter  of  Necker) 
collected,  as  in  the  old  time,  a  circle  of  accomplished  and  illustrious  men 
in  her  saloon.  The  vanity  of  the  French  favored  Napoleon's  efforts ; 
when  he  instituted  the  Order  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  republicans  and 
royalists  grasped  eagerly  at  the  new  plaything  of  human  weakness. 

One  of  the  first  cares  of  the  Consul  was  the  restoration  of  Christian 

worship  m  the  French  churches.     After  he  had  abolished  the  republican 

festivals  (10th  August,  21st  January),  and  introduced  the 

'       *  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  negotiations  were  opened  with 

the  Roman  court,  which  at  length  led  to  the  conclusion  of  the  Concordat. 

April  8.  By  this  Concordat,  the  French  clergy  lost  their  early  inde- 

*  Genealogical  Table  of  the  Bonaparte  ftimily  of  Ajaccio,  in  Corsica. 

Charles  Bonaparte,  =  Laetitia  n^e  Ramolini,  A.  D.  1736,  at  Rome. 

1.  Joseph  B.,  2.  Napoleon  B,,               3,  Lucien  B.,  4.  Eliza  Bacciochi, 

Count  Surv'illiers,  a.  d.  1769  -  1821.             Prince  Canino,  A.  D.  1777  - 1820. 

A.  D.  1767  - 1844.  A.  D.  1772  -  1841 . 

5.  Louis  B.,  6.  Pauline  Borghese,        7.  Caroline  Murat,  8.  Jerome  B., 

Duke  of  St.  Leu,  A.  d.  1781-1825.            a.  d.  1781-1839.  born  1784, 

A.  D.  1778-1846.  _^ Duke  of  Monfoit 

Napoleon  Bonaparte,  =  Josephine  Beauharn^,  n^e  Tascher  de  la  Pagcrie, 
A.  D.  1763-1814. 
A.  D.  1837. 
Eugene,  Duke  of  Leuchtenberg,  Hortense,  Duchess  of  St.  Leu,  =  Louis  B 

A.  D.  1781-1824.  Louis  Napoleon, 

President  of  the  French  Bepublic- 

37* 


438  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

vendence,  and  were  subjected  to  the  head  of  the  Church  as  well  as  t« 
the  ruler  of  the  state. 

No  less  attention  did  Napoleon  devote  to  the  affairs  of  education ;  but 
he  particularly  patronized  the  establishments  for  practical  science,  as  the 
Polytechnic  School  in  Paris.  An  arbitrary  and  power-loving  man, 
Napoleon  wished  to  guide  and  govern  every  thing  himself,  and  thus  be- 
came the  creator  of  the  pernicious  system  of  centralization,  by  which  the 
vital  circulation  was  suppressed,  and  the  seeds  of  death  were  planted  in 
the  whole  body  of  the  state. 

§  572.  Conspiracies.  —  Napoleon  possessed  a  despotic  nature,  that 
found  no  pleasure  in  a  life  of  freedom  ;  he  accordingly  curtailed  the 
liberty  and  political  rights  of  the  citizens,  persecuted  the  Jacobins  and 
Republicans,  whom  he  called  "  Ideologists,"  and  reposed  his  confidence 
in  his  guard,  and  in  a  vigorous  triple  police,  under  the  superintendence 
of  the  crafty  Fouche.  Repeated  conspiracies  against  the  life  of  the  First 
Consul,  sometimes  undertaken  by  the  republicans  and  sometimes  by  the 
royalists,  were  always  followed  by  fresh  restrictions  and  a  more  rigorous 
system  of  espionage.  The  most  desperate  undertaking  of  this  kind  was 
the  attempt,  by  means  of  the  so-called  infernal  machine,  —  a  cask  filled 
December  24  "^ith  gunpowder,  bullets,  and  inflammable  materials,  to  blow 
1800.  up  Bonaparte  on  his  way  to  the  opera-house,  —  an  attempt 

which  he  escaped  by  the  rapidity  with  which  his  coachman  was  driv- 
ing, but  which  destroyed  many  houses  and  killed  several  people.  In 
consequence  of  this  atrocious  deed,  a  great  number  of  Jacobins  were  con- 
demned to  deportation,  though  it  afterwards  turned  out  that  the  plot  was 
undertaken  by  the  royalists.  Still  more  dangerous  and  extensive  were 
the  conspiracies  against  I^poleon,  when  the  office  of  Consul  was  conferred 

.<.  .o.    ^von  him  for  life  by  the  voice  of  the  people,  with  the  privi- 
August  2, 1802. .  ^         .  .       ,  .  "^  t^      ,  . 

lege  ot  nammg  his  successor.     By  this  means,  the  Bourbons 

were  cut  off  from  the  last  hopes  of  a  return,  and  the  emigrants  accord- 
ingly left  no  means  untried  of  destroying  him.  The  desperate  George 
Cadoudal,  and  Pichegru,  who  was  residing  in  England,  and  who  was  as 
strong  as  a  giant,  allowed  themselves  to  be  employed  as  tools.  They 
conveyed  themselves  secretly  to  France,  but  were  discovered  and  arrest- 
ed, with  about  forty  confederates.  Before  their  fate  was  decided.  Napoleon 
allowed  himself  to  be  hurried  into  the  commission  of  a  revolting  crime. 
It  had  been  represented  to  him  that  the  duke  d'Enghien,  the  chivalrous 
grandson  of  the  prince  of  Conde,  was  the  soul  of  all  the  royalist  conspi- 
racies. Accordingly,  this  young  nobleman,  who  was  residing  at  Etten- 
heim,  a  small  town  of  Baden,  was  seized  at  Napoleon's  command,  by  a 
troop  of  armed  men,  conducted  with  the  greatest  haste  through  Stras- 
burg  to  Paris,  condemned  to  death  by  a  hurried  court-martial,  and, 
M  h  21  1804  ^^^P^*®  ^  magnanimous  defence,  shot  in  the  trenches  of 
Vincennes.     This  deed,  which  placed  Bonaparte  on  a  level 


NAPOLEON,   EMPEROR.  439 

with  the  men  of  the  reign  of  terror  in  1793,  revolted  all  Europe,  and 
put  an  end  to  the  praises  of  his  admirers.  The  poet  Chateaubriand,  the 
author  of  the  "  Genius  of  Christianity,"  resigned  the  official  situation 
tliat  had  been  conferred  upon  him  by  Bonaparte's  sister,  Eliza,  and 
retired  to  Switzerland.  The  fate  of  the  conspirators  was  shortly  after 
decided  upon.  Pichegru  had  already  died  a  violent  death  in  prison, 
whether  by  his  own  hand  or  that  of  another  is  uncertain.  George 
Cadoudal,  with  eleven  confederates,  ascended  the  guillotine.  General 
Moreau,  who  .wds  implicated,  retired  into  voluntary  banishment  in 
America.      J^ 

/^      II.  NAPOLEOX,  EMPEROR  (a.  D.  1804-1814). 
1.  THE  EMPIRE. 

§  573.  The  royalist  conspiracies  were  made  use  of  by  Bonaparte  to 

establish  an  hereditary  monarchy.     At  the  instigation  of  his  adherents, 

the  making  over  the   herediftiry  dignity  of  emperor  to  Napoleon  was 

proposed  to  the  Tribunat,  sanctioned  by  the  Senate,  and  confirmed  by  the 

whole  people  by  the  subscription  of  their  names.     Whilst  the  minds  of 

,,  ,o  ,o..  °^6"  were  still  painfully  excited  by  the  late  bloody  execu- 
May  18,  1804.     .  t.,        ,  ,.-,  /,,-r^ 

tions,  iSapoleon  was  proclamied  emperor  of  the  French,  and 

at  the  end  of  the  year,  solemnly  anointed  by  the  pope  in  the  church  of 
Notre  Dame.  The  crown,  however,  he  placed  on  his  own  head,  as  well 
as  on  that  of  his  wife,  Josephine,  who  knelt  before  him.  This  magnifi- 
cent coronation  appeared  to  be  the  conclusion  of  the  Revolution,  since 
the  whole  ancient  system,  for  the  extinction  of  which  thousands  of  humaij 
lives  had  been  sacrificed,  gradually  returned.  The  new  emperor  sur- 
rounded his  throne  with  a  brilliant  court,  in  which  the  fortner  titles, 
orders,  and  gradations  of  rank  were  revived^under  different  names.  lie 
himself  certainly  retained  his  old  military  *mplicity,  but  the  members 
of  his  fiimily  were  made  princes  and  princesses ;  his  generals  became 
marshals ;  the  devoted  servants  and  promoters  of  his  plans  were  con- 
nected with  the  throne  as  the  great  officers  of  the  crown,  or  as  senators 
with  large  incomes.  The  establishment  of  a  new  feudal  nobility,  with 
the  old  titles  of  princes,  dukes,  counts,  barons,  completed  the  splendid 
edifice  of  a  magnificent  imperial  court,  which  soon  outshone  the  courts 
of  princes.  The  republican  arrangement  gradually  disappeared.  The 
old  calendar  was  again  restored ;  the  new  nobility  were  at  liberty  to 
establish  the  right  of  primogeniture,  the  press  was  placed  under  a  censor- 
ship, and  civil  freedom  was  more  and  more  restricted.  Any  opposition 
was  intolerable  to  the  ruler ;  for  this  reason,  he  first  reduced  the  number 
A  D  1807  ^^  Tribunes  to  fifty,  and  then  abolished  the  whole  Tribunat, 
Obedience  was  henceforth  the  only  thing ;  and  France  was 
placed  under  a  tyranny  more  severe  than  that  of  the  ancient  monarchy. 
But  then  the  tyrant  was  a  great  man,  and  therefore  the  people  willingly 


440  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

Bubmitted  to  liim  ;  and  liardly  as  the  rigorous  conscription,  the  severe 
restrictions  upon  trade,  and  the  heavy  taxation  might  press  upon  them, 
the  burden  was  the  more  lightly  borne,  inasmuch  as  the  great  ends  at- 
tained by  the  Revolution —  equality  before  the  law,  the  peasants' right 
of  property  in  the  soil  and  other  possessions,  remained  untouched.  In- 
dustry made  great  progress,  civil  arts  and  trades  received  a  vast  impulse  ; 
and  an  unaccustomed  prosperity  made  itself  everywhere  visible.  Mag- 
nificent roads,  like  those  over  the  Alps,  canals,  bridges,  and  improve- 
ments of  all  kinds,  are,  to  the  present  day,  eloquent  memorials  of  the 
restless  activity  of  this  remarkable  man.  Splendid  palaces,  majestic 
bridges,  and  noble  streets,  arose  in  Paris,  every  thing  great  or  magnifi- 
cent that  art  had  produced  was  united  in  the  Louvre  ;  the  capital  of 
France  glittered  with  a  splendor  that  had  never  before  been  witnessed. 
The  university  was  arranged  upon  a  most  magnificent  footing,  and  ap- 
pointed the  supreme  court  of  supervision  and  control  over  the  whole  sys- 
tem of  schools  and  education.  The  glory  that  was  conferred  by  the  em- 
peror upon  the  nation  rendered  every  yoke  light  to  the  latter ;  she  forgot 
that  the  voice  of  freedom  was  dying  away  amidst  the  clash  of  arms  and 
the  clang  of  trumpets,  and  that  the  high-flown  tone  of  bulletins,  and  the 
ornate  language  of  the  senate  and  legislative  body,  were  destructive  of 
truth  and  justice. 

2.    AUSTERLITZ,    PRESBURG.       CONFEDERATION    OF    THE    RHINE. 

§  574.  Tlie  English  took  advantage  of  the  renewal  of  the  war  with 
France  to  make  an  unexpected  seizui-e  of  Dutch  and  French  ships,  and 
then  sought  to  unite  Russia  and  Austria  in  a  new  coalition.  Napoleon, 
on  the  other  hand,  ordered  his  troops  to  advance  upon  the 
Weser,  and  to  occupy  the  electorate  of  Hanover,  which  be- 
longed to  the  king  of  England.  The  Hanoverian  people  and  army  were 
resolved  to  liazard  life  and  property  in  defence  of  their  country  ;  but  the 
selfish  aristocracy  and  officials  preferred  a  disgraceful  capitulation,  which 
surrendered  the  whole  country  to  the  French,  to  fighting.  The  gallant 
army  was  forced  to  retreat  across  the  Elbe,  and  there  to  disband.  Arms, 
munitions  of  war,  and  splendid  horses,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  French, 
who  forthwith  occupied  the  country  with  their  troops,  and  exhausted  it 
by  military  levies  and  exactions.  Tlie  threatening  attitude  assumed  by 
Napoleon  in  Hanover  against  the  whole  north,  as  well  as  his  arbitrary 
proceedings  in  Holland,  Italy,  and  other  countries,  were  sources  of  anxi- 
ety to  other  powers.  In  Italy,  not  only  was  the  Italian  republic  changed 
March  17,  i'^to  the  kingdom  of  Italy,  and  Eugene  Beauharnais,  the  step- 
1805.  son  of  the  emperor,  placed  there  as  viceroy,  but  Napoleon 

bIso  enlarged  it  by  the  addition  of  Parma,  and  gave  Lucca  to  his  sister 
Eliza,  the  wife  of  the  Corsican,  Bacciochi.  In  Spain  and  Germany,  also, 
Napoleon  acted  in  the  same  imperious  and  arbitrary  manner.     These, 


NAPOLEON,   EMPEROR.  441 

and  other  causes,  united  Russia,  Austria,  and  Sweden  with  England 
against  France,  and  renewed  the  war  w^ith  greater  vigor.  In  Prussia, 
also,  there  was  a  strong  party,  headed  by  the  high-spirited  queen  Louisa 
and  prince  Louis  Ferdinand,  in  favor  of  an  alliance  with  the  united 
powers  against  Bonaparte ;  but  the  three  ministers,  Ilaugwitz,  Lucche- 
sini,  and  Lombard,  who  were  inclined  to  France,  and  utterly  wanting  in 
any  feehng  of  patriotism,  still  possessed  the  confidence  of  the  irresolute 
and  peace-loving  king.  Thus  Prussia  remained  neutral,  to  its  own  de- 
struction. 

§  575.  Whilst  the  attention  of  all  Europe  was  directed  to  the  western 
coast  of  France,  where  Napoleon  was  fitting  out  ships  of  every  kind  with 
the  greatest  diligence,  and  assembling  a  vast  camp  at  Boulogne,  with  the 
purpose,  as  was  believed,  of  effecting  a  landing  on  the  English  coast,  he 
■was  making  preparations,  in  all  silence,  for  the  memorable  campaign  of 
1805.  Never  were  Napoleon's  talents  for  command  or  his  miUtary 
genius  displayed  in  a  more  brilliant  light  than  in  the  plan  of  this  cam- 
paign. Assured  of  the  assistance  of  most  of  the  princes  of  southern 
Germany,  Bonaparte  crossed  the  Rhine  in  the  autumn  with  seven  divi- 
sions, commanded  by  his  most  experienced  marshals,  Ney,  Lannes,  Mar- 
mont,  Soult,  Murat,  &c.,  and  marched  into  Swabia ;  whilst  Bernadotte, 
disregarding  Prussia's  neutrality,  pressed  forward  through  the  Branden- 
burg Margravate  of  Anspach-Bayreuth  upon  the  Isar.  Tliis  violation  of 
his  neutral  position  irritated  the  king,  Frederick  William  IIL,  to  such  a 
degree,  that  he  entered  into  closer  relationship  with  the  allies,  and  as- 
sumed a  threatening  aspect,  without,  however,  actually  declaring  war. 
The  Electors  of  Baden,  Wirtemberg,  and  Bavaria,  on  the  other  hand, 
strengthened  with  their  troops  the  army  of  the  too-powerful  enemy,  from 
whose  grace  they  had  as  much  to  hope  as  they  had  to  fear  from  his 
frowns.     The  dukes  of  Hesse,  Nassau,  &c.,  did  the  same.     After  Ney's 

successful  en^ajirement  at  Elchin<]jen,  the  Austrian  general, 
October  14.      ,_     ,  i     .         •     t-,  ^        .     iv  r  .i  • 

Mack,  "was  shut  up  in  ulm,  and  cut  ori  from  the  mam  army. 

Helpless,  and  despairing  of  deliverance,  the  incompetent  commander  com- 
menced negotiations  with  the   French,  which  terminated  in  the  disgrace- 
ful cjipitulation  of  Ulm.    By  this  arrangement,  33,000  Austri- 
ans,  including  thirteen  generals,  became  prisoners  cf  war.  Cov- 
ered with  shame,  the  once-brave  warriors  marched  before  Napoleon,  laid 
down  their  arms  before  the  victor,  placed  forty  banners  at  his  ieetj  and 
deliveied  up  sixty  cannon  with  their  horses.     When  too  late,  it  was  seen 
in  Vienna  that  Mack  was  not  equal  to  his  lofty  position,  and  he  was  de- 
prived of  his  honor,  his  dignities,  and  the  advantages  of  his  office,  by  a 
court-martial.     Napoleon's  joy  at  this   unexampled  good  fortune  was, 
however,  diminished  by  the  contemporaneous  maritime  victory  of  the 
English  at  Trafalgar,  which  annihilated  the  whole   French 
fleet,  but  which  also  cost  the  life  of  the  great  naval  hero, 
Nelson. 


442  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

§  57G.  The  war-jiarty  had  gained  the  upper  hand  in  Prussia  since  the 
violation  of  the  neutral  territory  by  Bernadotte.  The  king  renewed  the 
bond  of  perpetual  friendship  with  the  sensitive  emperor  Alexander,  in 
the  church  of  the  garrison  at  Potsdam,  over  the  coffin  of  Frederick  the 
Great,  at  night,  and  then  sent  Haugwitz  with  threatening  demands  to 
Kapoleon.  The  French  emperor,  in  the  meantime,  proceeded  along  the 
Danube  towards  the  Austrian  states,  not  without  many  bloody  engage- 
ments, of  which  the  battles  of  Dirnstein  and  Stein  against  the  Russians 
under  KutusofF  and  Bagration  were  of  especial  importance, 
overa  er  .  ^^  ^^^^  French  found  brave  and  circumspect  opponents  in  the 
Russians  in  these  encounters,  they  had  the  easier  game  in  Austria. 
Murat  took  possession  of  Vienna  without  the  slightest  trou- 
ble ;  and  the  prince  of  Auersburg,  who  had  orders  either  to 
defend  the  bridge  over  the  Danube,  which  was  fortified  and  filled  with 
gunpowder,  or  to  blow  it  into  the  air,  allowed  himself  to  be  so  completely 
deceived  by  the  bold  cunning  of  the  French  general,  and  by  pretended 
negotiations  of  peace,  that  he  surrendered  it  to  the  enemy  uninjured  and 
undefended.  The  irresolution  of  the  emperor  Francis,  and  the  divisions 
between  the  Austrians  and  Russians,  facilitated  the  victory  of  the  French, 
who,  laden  with  enormous  booty,  pursued  the  Austro-Russian  array,  in 
the  midst  of  perpetual  engagements,  into  Moravia.  In  Moravia,  the 
December  2  battle  of  Austerlitz,  in  which  three  emperors  were  present, 
1805.  was  fought  on  the  day  of  the  year  in  which  the  emperor  was 

crowned,  and  in  which  the  winter  sun  shone  upon  the  most  splendid  of  Napo- 
leon's victories.  The  emperor  Francis,  wishing  for  the  termination  of  the 
war,  suffered  himself  to  be  persuaded  to  pay  a  humble  visit  to  Napoleon 
in  the  French  camp,  and  then  consented  to  a  truce  which  stipulated  for 

the  retreat  of  the  Russians  from  the  Austrian  states.     Upon 
December  26.     ,  .  .     .  i       i  .  i  •      .    t  •      i 

this,  negotiations  were  commenced  which  terminated  m  tlie 

peace  of  Presburg. 

By  this  peace,  Austria  lost  the  territory  of  Venice,  which  was  united 
to  the  kingdom  of  Italy  ;  Tyrol,  which  fell  to  Bavaria  ;  and  a  portion  of 
Austria,  of  which  the  Briesgau  and  the  lands  of  the  Black  Forest  were 
allotted  to  Baden.  Bavaria  and  Wirtemberg  received  the  rank  of  king- 
doms ;  Baden,  that  of  an  archduchy ;  and  all  three  were  joined  to  the 
imperial  house  of  Napoleon  by  the  ties  of  relationship.  The  daughter  of 
the  new  king,  Max  Joseph  of  Bavaria,  was  married  to  the  emperor's 
adopted  son-in-law,  Eugene  Beauharnois,  in  Wirtemberg;  Catherine, 
the  noble  daughter  of  a  princely  house,  was  obliged  to  consent  to  a  mar- 
riage with  Napoleon's  frivolous  brother,  Jerome,  who  had  shortly  before 
been  separated  from  his  citizen  wife ;  and  in  Baden,  Charles,  the  grand- 
son of  the  excellent  archduke  Frederick,  w^as  united  to  Stephanie  Beau- 
harnois, a  niece  of  the  empress  Josephine,  -(vho  had  been  adopted  by 
Napoleon.     The  lands  on  the  Lower  Rhine  were  united  into  the  arch- 


NAPOLEON,   EMPEROR.  443 

duchy  of  Cleve-Berg,  with  the  capital,  Dusseldorf,  and  presented  to  the 
emperor's  brother-in-law,  Joachim  Murat.  Holland  also  was  compelled 
to  exchange  her  republican  constitution  for  a  monarchy,  and  to  beg  a 
creature  of  Napoleon's  for  a  ruler ;  upon  which,  the  French  emperor 
named  his  brother  Louis  king  of  Holland.  The  royal  family  of  Naples 
experienced  the  wrath  of  the  potentate  beyond  all  others.  During  the 
war,  an  Anglo-Russian  fleet  had  landed  at  Naples,  and  been  received  by 
Ferdinand  and  Caroline  with  joy.  Hereupon,  Napoleon,  the  day  after 
the  conclusion  of  the  peace  of  Presburg  at  Schonbrunn,  subscribed  the 
decree  which  contained  the  notorious  decision,  "  The  dynasty  of  the  Bour- 
bons  has  ceased  to  reign  in  Naples."  Upon-  this,  Joseph 
Bonaparte  was  named  king  of  Naples,  and  installed  in  his 
new  dignity  by  a  French  army.  The  royal  family,  who  vainly  strove  to 
avert  the  loss  of  the  beautiful  land,  at  first  by  entreaties,  and  afterwards 
by  stirring  up  the  lazzaroni  and  Calabrese,  fled  with  their  friends  and 
treasures  to  §icily,  where  they  lived  under  the  protection  of  the  English 
till  Napoleon's  downfall.  A  number  of  imperial  fiefs,  with  considerable 
revenues,  were  established  in  the  conquered  and  surrendered  provinces 
of  Italy,  and  conferred  upon  French  marshals  and  statesmen,  together 
with  the  title  of  duke. 

After  the  battle  of  Austerlitz,  the  Prussian  ambassador,  Haugwitz,  did 
not  venture  to  convey  the  charge  of  his  court  to  the  victorious  emperor; 
without  asking  permission  in  Berlin,  he  allowed  himself  to  be  induced, 
partly  by  threats,  and  partly  by  the  engaging  afl*ability  of  Napoleon,  to 
subscribe  an  unfavorable  contract,  by  which  Prussia  exchanged  the  Fran- 
conian  principality  of  Anspach,  some  lands  on  the  Lower  Rhine,  and  the 
principality  of  Neuremberg  in  Switzerland,  for  Hanover.  It  was  in 
vain  that  the  king  resisted  the  exchange,  which  threatened  to  involve 
him  in  hostilities  with  England ;  separated  from  Austria  by  the  hasty 
conclusion  of  the  peace  of  Presburg,  nothing  was  left  to  the  king  but  to 
submit  to  the  dictation  of  the  victor.  The  news  of  the  sudden  change  in 
affiiirs  produced  by  the  battle  of  Austerlitz  produced  such  an 
effect  upon  the  English  minister,  Pitt,  that  he  shortly  after 
4Jed. 
/  §  577.  The  constitution  of  the  German  empire  was  already  dissolved 
by  the  elevation  of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  and  of  the  duke  of  Wirtemberg 
into  independent  monarchs.  Napoleon,  in  consequence,  entertained  the 
project  of  entirely  removing  the  south  and  west  of  Germany  from  the 
influence  of  Austria,  and  of  uniting  them  to  himself  by  the  formation  of 
•the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine.  A  prospect  of  enlarging  their  territo- 
ries and  increasing  their  power,  and  fear  of  the  mighty  ruler  from  whose 
side  victory  appeared  inseparable,  induced  a  great  number  of  princea 
and  estates  of  the  empire  to  separate  themselves  from  the  German  em- 
pire and  to  join  France.     Self-interest  was  more  powerful  than  patriot- 


444  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

ism.  On  the  12tli  of  July,  the  treaty  was  signed  in  Paris,  by  virtue  of 
which  Napoleon,  as  protector  of  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine,  recog- 
nized  the  full  sovereignty  of  the  individual  members,  upon  condition  of 
their  maintaining  a  certain  contingent  of  troops  ready  at  the  emperor's 
disposal.  Bavaria,  Wirtemberg,  Baden,  Hesse-Darmstadt,  Nassau,  and 
several  otliers,  formed  the  kernel  around  which  the  lesser  principalities,  as 
Hohenzollern,  Leichtensten,  Solms,  &;c.,  collected  themselves,  till  at  length 
almost  all  the  German  confederate  states  of  the  second  and  third  rank  gave 
in  their  adhesion.  The  Elector  arch-chancellor  Dalberg,  who  had  been 
made  pi-ince-primate,  and  who  had  received  Frankfort,  together  with 
Ilanau  and  Fulda  as  a  principality,  was  chosen  Napoleon's  representa- 
tive in  tlie  Confederation  of  the  Rhine.  By  the  subjection  of  many 
small  and  formerly  independent  states  of  the  empire  under  the  govern- 
ment of  the  great  princQ,  the  power  of  the  larger  number  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  confederation  was  considerably  increased.  Francis  II.  now 
abdicated  the  title  of  emperor  of  Germany,  and  called  himself  Francis  I., 
emperor  of  Austria,  and  withdrew  the  whole  of  his  states  from  the  Ger- 
man Union.  By  this  proceeding,  the  "  Holy  Roman  empire  of  the  Ger- 
man nation  "  was  dissolved.  It  had  been  long  since  reduced  to  a  shadow 
by  internal  dissensions  and  a  powerless  supreme  government.  Its  might- 
iest limbs  were  now  the  vassals  of  a  foreign  tyrant.  The  sense  of  degra- 
dation pressed  heavily  upon  many  a  German  breast ;  but  who  w^ould 
dare  to  utter  his  thoughts  after  the  bold  bookseller.  Palm,  of  Nuremberg, 
had  become  the  victim  of  a  diso-raceful  judicial  murder,  for 

August  26.  ^       .  .  ,  ^  n  ,   ,  ,  ,.    ,        1      1 

refusing  to  give  up  the  author  or  a  pamphlet  published   by 
liim  on  the  abasement  of  Germany? 

■"^  3.      JENA.      TILSIT.       ERFURT. 

§  578.  The  wavering  conduct  of  Prussia  had  filled  Napoleon  with  the 
deepest  anger,  and  convinced  him  that  the  king  would  be  untrustworthy 
as  a  friend,  and  cowardly  and  innocuous  as  an  enemy.  He  accordingly 
flung  aside  all  respect  and  forbearance,  and  purposely  inflicted  mj*ny 
mortifications  upon  the  Prussian  government.  The  irritation  produced 
by  this  was  soon  aggravated  into  a  complete  rupture  by  two  causes. 
] .  The  formation  of  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine  appeared  to  indicate 
an  intention  of  gradually  rendering  Germany  as  dependent  upon  the 
French  empire  as  were  Italy  and  Holland.  Prussia  accordingly  at- 
tempted to  frustrate  this  plan  by  the  establishment  of  a  northern  confede- 
ration, to  which  all  the  estates  of  the  empire  which  had  not  yet  joined 
that  of  the  Rhine  might  connect  themselves ;  and  felt  herself  deeply 
aggrieved  when  Napoleon  prevented  the  execution  of  the  project.  2.  It 
v.-as  made  known  in  Berlin  that  the  French  emperor,  during  the  renewal 
of  the  negotiations  for  peace  with  the  English  government,  had  offered  to 
lestore  the  Electorate  of  Hanover,  that  had  been  surrendered  to  Prussia 


NAPOLEON,   EMPEROR.  415 

without  consulting  with  the  Prussian  government  on  the  subject.  This 
intelligence,  together  with  numerous  violations  of  territory,  convinced 
the  Prussian  government  that  thej  had  the  worst  to  expect  from  France. 
A  redress  of  all  grievances  was  demanded  in  the  so-called  Ultimatum, 
the  army  was  placed  upon  a  war-footing,  and  all  connection  with  France 
broken  off. 

§  579.  "Whilst  people  in  Berlin  were  expecting  the  final  answer  of 
France,  the  French  troops  under  Napoleon  and  his  experienced  marshals 
were  already  in  the  heart  of  Thuringia  and  Saxony,  the  Elector  of  which 
had  united  himself,  after  some  hesitation,  to  Prussia.     The  first  engage- 
ment at  Saalfeld,  where  the  gallant  prince  Louis  found  his 
death,  went  against  the  Prussians  ;  but  the  defeat  suffered 
by  the  aniiy  under  the  command  of  the  old  duke  of  Brunswick,  in  the 
great  double  battle  of  Jena  and  Auerstadt,  was  terrible  and 
fatal.     It  decided  the  fate  of  the  countries  between  the  Rhine 
and  the  Elbe.     The  former  presumption  of  the  officers  and  young  nobles 
was  suddenly  turned  into  despondency,  and  the  greatest  confusion  and 
helplessness  took  possession  of  the  leaders.     Hohenlohe,  with  17,000  men, 

laid  down  his  arms  at  Prenzlow :  the  fortresses  of  Erfurt, 
October  28.       _  ^      .  ,  _,         .         ^        .       »  -,        ,      .  ,  .         n 

Magdeburg,  bpondau,  btettm,  &c.,  surrendered  withm  a  few- 
days,  with  such  wonderful  celerity,  that  the  commandants  of  many  of 
them  were  suspected  of  treachery,  so  utterly  unaccountable,did  such  cow- 
ardice.and  such  entire  want  of  self-reliance  appear.  B18kj|ier  alone 
saved  the  honor  of  Prussia  by  the  bloody  combat  in  and  around  Lubeck, 
though  he  could  not  prevent  the  horrible  storming  of  this  slightly-forti- 
fied town  ;  in  Colberg,  also,  Gneisenau  and  Schill,  supported  by  the 
brave  citizen,  Nettlebeck,  courageously  resisted  the  superior  force  of  the 
enemy.  Thirteen  days  after  the  battle  of  Jena,  Napoleon  marched  into 
Berlin,  and  issued  his  mandates  from  thence.  The  elector  of  Hesse, 
who  wished  to  remain  neutral,  and  who  had  witiidrawn  his  forces  from  the 
contest,  was  obliged  to  surrender  both  land  and  army  to  the  enemy,  and 
to  seek  for  protection  as  a  fugitive  in  a  foreign  land.  He  took  if^  his 
residence  in  Prague.  The  duke  of  Brunswick,  who  had  been  severely 
wounded,  and  who  was  carried  into  his  capital  on  a  litter  after  the  battle 
of  Jena,  was  compelled  to  seek  for  refuge  in  Denmark  to  die  in  peace. 
Jena  and  East  Friesland  were  united  to  Holland ;  the  Hanse  towns,  as 
well  as  Leipsic,  were  oppressed  by  the  deprivation  of  all  English  wares, 
and  by  severe  military  taxes  ;  and  treasures  of  art  and  science,  and  the 
trophies  of  former  victories,  were  carried  away  from  all  quarters.  It 
was  only  to  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  whose  troops  had  fought  at  Jena,  that 
Napoleon  showed  any  favor.     He  set  the  Saxon  prisoners  at  liberty,  and 

granted  the  Elector  a  favorable  peace  ;  upon  which  the  latter, 

dignified  with  the  title  of  king,  joined  the  Confederation  of 
the  Rhine,  like  the  other  Saxon  dukes.  From  this  time,  Frederick 
38 


446  TUB   LATEST   PERIOD. 

Augustus,  to  the  misfortune  of  himself  and  his  people,  felt  himself  bound 
bj  the  ties  of  gratitude  to  the  French  emperor. 

§  580.  The  king  of  Prussia  had  fled  to  Konigsberg,  where  he  vainly 
attempted  to  obtain  peace.  Napoleon's  demands  rose  with  his  fortunes. 
In  his  necessity,  Frederick  William  turned  to  his  friend  Alexander,  who 
immediately  despatched  a  Russian  army  under  Benningsen  and  others 
into  East  Prussia,  to  prevent  the  French  passing  the  Vistula.  Upon  this, 
Napoleon  issued  a  proclamation  to  the  Poles,  pretendedly  in  the  name  of 
Kosciusko,  by  which  these  misused  people  were  summoned  to  fight  for 
liberty  and  independence.  The  Poles  willingly  made  the  greatest  sacri- 
fices, and  strengthened  the  ranks  of  the  French  by  their  brave  soldiers 
under  the  command  of  Dombrowski.  Napoleon  marched  into  Warsaw 
amidst  the  rejoicings  of  the  people ;  but  the  Poles  discovered,  only  too 
soon,  that  the  foreign  potentate  was  more  intent  upon  the  gratification  of 
his  own  ambition  and  love  of  power,  than  upon  the  restoration  of  their 
empire.  Murderous  battles  were  now  fought  on  the  banks  of  the  Vistula, 
and  torrents  of  blood  shed  at  Pultusk  and  Morungen.  But  the  great 
February  8  blow  was  Struck  in  the  battle  of  Preuss-Eylau,  where  the 
1807.  martial  spirit  of  the   French  and   Russians  gave  rise  to  a 

contest  which  in  loss  of  men  equals  any  event  of  the  sort  in  the  w^orld's 
history.  Both  parties  claimed  the  victory,  and  their  efforts  and  exhaustion 
were  so  great,  that  the  war  suffered  an  interruption  of  four  months. 
During  this  interval,  negotiations  w^ere  again  renewed ;  but  much  as  the 
king,  who  was  waiting  with  his  family  in  Memel,  might  desire  the  ter- 
mination of  the  war,  that  he  might  free  his  subjects  from  the  dreadful  ex- 
actions of  the  French,  he  was  too  honest  to  dissever  his  own  cause  from 
that  of  his  ally.  But  when  the  Silesian  fortresses  on  the  Oder,  Glogau, 
Brieg,  Schweidnitz,  and  Breslau,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  French  by  the 
cowardice  of  their  commandants,  and  even  Dantzic  was  sur- 

May  24. 

rendered  to  the  marshal  Lefebvre  by  the  gallant  governor 
Kalkreuth,  the  king  lost  all  confidence  in  a  successful  issue.  When, 
after  tlie  recommencement  of  hostilities,  the  French  gained  a  brilliant 
victory  over  the  Russians  in  the  battle  of  Friedland,  on  the  anniversary 
of  the  battle  of  Marengo,  and  took  possession  of  Konigsberg,  the  allied 
monarchs,  after  a  personal  interview  with  Bonaparte  on  the  Niemen, 
^_  thought  it  prudent  to  consent  to  the  peace  of  Tilsit,  oppressive 

as  w^ere  the  conditions.  By  this  peace,  Frederick  William 
lost  half  his  states ;  he  was  compelled  to  surrender  all  the  lands  between 
the  Rhine  and  the  Elbe,  to  consent  to  the  establishment  of  a  dukedom 
of  Warsaw  under  the  supremacy  of  the  king  of  Saxony,  to  the  elevation 
of  Dantzic  into  a  free  state,  and  to  the  payment  of  the  unheard  sum  of 
150  millions  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  war.  Napoleon  formed  the 
Btates  ceded  by  Prussia,  along  with  electoral  Hesse,  Brunswick,  and 
South  Hanover,  into  the  new  kingdom  of  Westphalia,  with  the  capital. 


NAPOLEOJf,   EMPEROR.  447 

Cassel,  and  placed  there  his  youngest  brother  Jerome  as  king,  under  con^ 
dition,  that,  as  a  member  of  the  Rhine  Confederation,  he  should  supply 
tlie  emperor  with  Westphalian  troops,  and  make  over  to  him  one-half 
the  receipts  of  his  treasury. 

§  581.  Austerlitz  and  Jena  had  broken  the  power  of  Austria  and 
Prussia,  so  that  the  destinies  of  Europe  were  now  guided  by  France, 
England,  and  Russia.  These  three  great  powers  were  unanimous  in 
this,  that  they  paid  no  regard  to  right  except  where  there  existed  the 
power  of  self-defence,  as  .was  shown  by  the  proceedings  in  Sweden  and 
Denmark.  Gustavus  IV.  of  Sweden  would  not  accede  to  the  peace  of 
Tilsit;  but,  supported  by  England,  continued  the  war  alone  against  Na- 
poleon. Although  his  conduct  at  first  displayed  strength  of  character 
and  magnanimity,  his  boundless  conceit,  and  his  total  misapprehension  of 
his  position  and  powers,  soon  showed  that  his  mind  must  be  in  a  deranged 
state.  Strongly  impressed  with  the  sanctity  of  the  kingly  dignity,  he  re- 
fused the  title  of  emperor  to  the  ruler  of  France,  and  only  addressed 
him  as  General  Bonaparte ;  involved  in  the  meshes  of  religious  fanati- 
cism, .he  believed  himself  ordained  by  Providence  to  re-instate  the 
Bourbons,  and  to  overthrow  the  "  beast  of  the  Revelations"  (Napoleon). 
lie  carried  his  hatred  against  Bonaparte  so  far  as  mortally  to  offend 
Russia  and  Prussia  by  sending  back  their  orders,  and  banishing  their 
ambassadors  from  Stockholm,  because  these  powers  had  concluded  a 
peace  with  the  usurper.  The  French  conquered  Stralsund  and  the 
island  of  Rugen,  whilst  the  Russian  army  penetrated  into  Finland  and 
made  themselves  masters  of  the  country.  The  attempts  of  the  French 
emperor  to  destroy  the  trade  of  Great  Britain  by  a  continental  blockade 
made  the  Swedish  war  a  matter  of  importance  to  the  English.  They 
feared  lest  the  French  should  establish  a  firm  footing  on  the  Baltic,  and 
exclude  their  ships  from  its  shores  by  shutting  up  the  Sound.  They  ac- 
cordingly made  a  proposal  to  Denmark  to  enter  into  an  alliance  with 
them,  and  to  yield  up  her  noble  fleet  to  their  keeping.  This  proposal 
was  rejected  with  indignation ;  whereupon  the  English  fleet  appeared  in 
September  the  Sound,  bombarded  Copenhagen,  laid  a  part  of  the  town 
2-5,  1807.  in  ashes,  and  carried  off  the  whole  Danish  fleet  as  their  prey. 
This  breach  of  the  rights  of  nations  enraged  the  king  of  Denmark  to 
such  a  degree,  that  he  united  himself  closely  to  France,  and  declared  war 
against  the  English  and  their  ally,  the  king  of  Sweden.  At  this  time, 
Napoleon  and  Alexander  were  allies.  They  held  the  celebrated  meeting 
September  27,  ^^  Erfurt,  where  the  whole  splendor  of  European  magnifi- 
1808.  cence  was  displayed,  and  where  four  kings  and  thirty-four 

princes  were  assembled  together  out  of  Germany,  for  the  purpose  of 
paying  their  homage  to  the  mighty  potentate.  Here  the  two  emperors 
promised  not  to  interrupt  each  other  in  their  plans  of  conquest,  so 
that  Napoleon  was   to  be  left  unfettered  in  Spain,  and  Alexander  in 


448  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

Finland,  Moldavia,  and  Wallachia.  The  kingdom  of  Sweden  was  now 
threatened  on  all  sides.  The  Russians  were  already  approaching  the 
capital,  the  Danes,  and  the  Spanish  troops,  who,  under  the  command  of 
La  Ivoraana,  were  serving  Napoleon,  were  upon  the  frontiers  ;  the  army 
and  military  aifairs  of  Sweden  were  in  the  most  wretched  condition  ;  the 
heavy  taxes  could  not  be  raised  from  the  exhausted  land ;  and  yet  the 
king  obstinately  refused  all  proposals  of  peace.  At  this  crisis,  a  conspi- 
racy was  formed  in  the  army  and  capital,  in  consequence  of  which  Gus- 
tavus  IV.  was  violently  seized  in  his  palace,  compelled  to  abdicate  his 
throne,  and  then  conducted  to  an  old  insular  castle.  Hereupon  the 
Diet  declared  Gustavus  IV.  and  all  his  posterity  to  have 
'  forfeited  the  crown,  invited  his  uncle,  Charles  XIII.,  to  the 
throne,  and  restricted  the  monarchical  power.  This  revolution  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  peace,  by  which  Finland  and  the  Aaland  islands  remained 
with  Russia.  The  election  of  a  successor  to  the  throne,  which  was  ren- 
dered necessary  by  the  childless  old  age  of  the  king,  fell  upon  the  mar- 
shal Bernadotte  (Ponte-Corvo),  w^ho,  by  his  friendly  treatment  of  the 
Swedish  troops  during  the  Prussian  war,  had  gained  many  friends  among 
the  officers.  Bernadotte  was,  with  the  unwillingly  yielded  consent  of 
August  21,  Napoleon,  declared  successor  to  the  Swedish  throne,  and, 
1810.  after   his   accession   to   the    Lutheran    church,  adopted  by 

Charles  XIII. 

4.    THE    EVENTS    IN    THE    PYRENEAN    PENINSULA. 

§  582.  Led  astray  by  the  success  of  his  arms,  Napoleon  now  proceeded 
from  one  enterprise  to  another.  Like  Charlemagne,  whom  he  adopted  as 
his  model,  he  wished  to  unite  the  Southern  and  Western  states  of  Europe 
into  a  vast  empire  under  the  supremacy  of  France.  With  this  object, 
he  sought  to  gain  possession  of  the  Spanish  peninsula,  and  to  make  him- 
self master  of  the  provinces  still  left  unconquered  in  Italy.  In  the  first 
place,  he  demanded  of  the  Portuguese  government  to  renounce  the  alli- 
ance with  England,  and  to  close  their  harbors  against  English  vessels. 
When  the  court  of  Lisbon  refused  to  yield  submission  to  this  mandate. 
Napoleon  bought  over  the  all-powerful  favorite  of  the  royal  pair  of 
Spain,  the  "  prince  of  peace,"  Godoy,  by  the  prospect  of  a  principality 
in  Portugal,  and  sent  marshal  Junot  with  an  army  directly  through  Spain 
into  that  country.  The  dastardly  court  of  Lisbon  did  not  await  the 
Xoveraber,       coming  of  the    French,   but  fled,  with  all   its   treasures,  in 

1807.  English  ships,  to  the  Brazils;  upon  which  Junot,  who  had 
been  created  duke  of  Abrantes,  took  possession  of  the  capital  and  the 
whole  country,  and  then  declared,  in  the  name  of  his  commander,  ''that 
the  house  of  Braganza  had  ceased  to  reign."  Godoy,  who,  without 
February  1,     either  virtue,  talent,  or  merit,  had  become  the  absolute  ruler 

1808.  of  Spain  by  the  mere  favor  of  the  profligate  queen  and  the 


NAPOLEON,  EMPEROR.  449 

boundless  weakness  of  Charles  IV.,  now  delivered  up  his  country  into 
the  hands  of  Napoleon.  Spanish  troops  under  La  Romana  entered  into 
the  service  of  the  emperor,  and  fought  on  the  Danish  islands  against  the 
Swedes,  whilst  the  soldiers  of  France  were  occupying  Spain  in  great 
numbers.  This  caused  commotions  amongst  the  Spanish  people  ;  dis- 
turbances broke  out  in  Aranjuez  and  Madrid,  in  which  the  palace  of  the 
detested  favorite  was  plundered  and  destroyed,  and  he  himself  roughly 
handled  ac.d  threatened  with  death.  Terrified  by  these  occurrences,  the 
weak  Charles  abdicated  his  throne  in  favor  of  his  eldest  son 
'  *  Ferdinand,  who,  as  the  enemy  of  Godoy,  was  loved  by  the 
people,  but,  for  the  same  reason,  mortally  hated  by  his  parents.  But 
notwithstanding  the  humility  with  which  Ferdinand  attempted  to  gain 
Napoleon's  consent  to  this  change  of  the  crown,  and  at  the  same  time  be- 
came a  suitor  for  the  hand  of  one  of  his  relatives  —  the  French  emperor 
concealed  his  sentiments,  ordered  Murat  to  take  possession  of  Madrid, 
and  then  invited  the  royal  })air,  along  with  the  "prince  of  peace"  and 
Ferdinand,  to  a  personal  conference  with  him  in  Bayonne.  Ferdinand 
did  not  dare  to  resist  the  summons  of  the  potentate,  although  warned  by 
his  friends,  and  though  the  people  sought  to  restrain  him  from  undertak- 
ing this  fatal  journey.  Once  in  Bayonne,  the  royal  family  of  Spain  was 
entangled  by  Napoleon  in  the  meshes  of  a  false  and  insidious  state  policy. 
Charles  was  prevailed  upoi^to  revoke  his  abdication,  and  to  transfer  the 
regained  crown  to  Napoleon  and  his  family.  Ferdinand,  incapable  of  a 
vigorous  resolution,  allowed  himself  to  be  induced  by  the  emperor's 
threats  and  intrigues  to  acknowledge  this  arbitrary  act.  He  resided 
henceforth  in  France,  in  the  enjoyment  of  an  annuity;  whilst  Charles* 
IV.  and  his  family  settled  in  Rome.     Napoleon  then  named  his  brother 

Joseph  kinp;  of  Spain,  and  sought  to  win  over  the  people  to 
June  6,  1808.  i  o  i        '  o  i      i 

the  new  system  by  the  restoration  of  the  Cortes  Constitu- 
tion, and  by  improving  the  affairs  of  government,  and  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice.     But   the  frightful  insurrection  in  Madrid,  by  which 

1200  French  soldiers  of  Murat's  army  were  killed,  whilst 

the  intrigues  in  Bayonne  were  yet  pending,  showed  that  the 
nation  would  not  submit  so  easily  to  the  foreign  yoke  as  the  imbecile  royal 
family. 

§  583.  Even  before  Joseph,  after  the  surrender  of  the  kingdom  of 
Naples  to  his  brother-in-law,  Murat,  held  his  solemn  entry  into  ^Madrid, 
juntas  were  formed  in  several  towns,  which,  as  provisional  governments, 
took  the  regulation  of  affairs  into  their  own  hands,  and  refused  obedience 
to  the  new  king.  Armed  bands  under  daring  leaders,  served  them  for 
defence ;  and,  favored  by  the  ravines  and  mountain  heights  of  their  coun- 
try, began  a  guerilla  war  against  the  French  soldiers.  Whilst  the  edu- 
cated and  enlightened  were  more  attached  to  the  new  system,  which 
afforded  a  life  of  political  freedom,  than  to  the  kingly  absolutism  and 

38* 


450  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

priestly  rule  of  the  former  period,  and  were  consequently  nicknamed 
"  Josepliinos,"  the  great  mass  of  the  people  blindly  followed  the  exhorta- 
tions of  fanatical  monks  and  priests,  who  held  the  sacrilegious  French  in 
horror.  It  is  true  that  Napoleon's  army  possessed  sufficient  power  to 
maintain  the  king  and  his  minister  in  Madrid,  but  their  laws  were  re- 
spected no  further  than  they  could  be  supported  by  French  bayonets. 
The  more  remote  towns  and  provinces  followed  partly  the  juntas,  which 
had  their  central  point  in  the  grand  junta  of  Seville,  and  partly  their 
own  will,  without  recognizing  any  government  whatever.  But  anarchy 
was  the  very  thing  that  saved  Spain  in  this  stormy  period.  Europe 
gazed  in  astonishment  upon  a  people  who  courageously  faced  death  for 
their  nationality  and  independence,  for  their  ancient  manners  and  reli- 
gious usages,  for  their  superstitions  and  customary  arrangements.  The 
leaders  of  the  bands,  with  their  brave  but  undisciplined  followers,  avoided 
open  battles ;  their  strength  consisted  in  unexpected  attacks  and  petty 
warfare.  And  whilst  the  French  dissipated  their  strength  in  these  single 
encounters,  and  in  the  seige  of  well-defended  towns,  the  English,  sup- 
ported by  the  natives,  began  the  first  successful  war  by  land  against  Na- 
poleon. At  first,  the  French  arms  were  successful.  Bessieres  drove 
back  the  unpractised  troops  of  Spain  at  Rio  Secco,  and  it 

July  14,  1808.  .  ,  .  . 

seemed  as  if  the  assumption  of  arms  by  the  Spanish  people 
was  only  to  increase  the  triumph  of  the  military  emperor,  —  when  sud- 
denly the  report  spread  abroad  of  Du pout's  capitulation  at  Baylen,  in 
Andalusia,  by  which  20,000  Frenchmen  were  made  prisoners 
of  war,  and  perished  miserably.  This  blow  filled  the  nation 
with  enthusiasm  and  military  ardor.  Joseph  left  Madrid,  the  French 
army  retreated  beyond  the  Ebro,  and  intelligence  was  shortly  after 
brought  that,  in  Portugal  also,  the  French  were  obliged  to  retreat  before 
the  English,  under  AVellington,  Moore,  and  others,  and  that  they  would 
have  experienced  a  fate  similar  to  that  of  Dupont's  army,  if  the  English, 
August  30,  by  the  over-hasty  capitulation  of  Cintra,  had  not  allowed 
1808.  Junot's  troops  a  free  passage  to  France.     The  aifairs  of  the 

French  in  the  Spanish  peninsula  seemed  ruined. 

§  584.  Napoleon  himself  now  marched  at  the  head  of  a  mighty  army 
into  Spain.  The  unpractised  troops  of  the  insurgents,  who  opposed 
themselves  without  any  regular  plan  to  the  great  winner  of  battles,  were 
defeated  in  several  engagements,  so  that  the  emperor,  in  four  weeks,  was 
December  4,    ^^le  to   enter  Madrid  and   to   give   back    the  crown  to  his 

1808.  brother  Joseph.  Whilst  Napoleon  was  making  fresh  arrange- 
ments in  the  capital,  attempting  by  kindness  and  threats  to  induce  the 
Spaniards  to  acknowledge  Joseph,  and  inflicting  severe  punishments  upon 
«orae  of  the  most  refractory,  his  marshals  were  sustaining  bloody  en- 
Februaiy  20,    Counters  with  the  guerilla  chiefs  and  the  English.     Saragossa 

1809.  was  taken  after  the  most  desperate  resistance,  and  the  gallant 


NAPOLEOXj   EMPEROR.  451 

defender    of   the  city,  Palafox,    conveyed    to    France ;  the 
brave  general  Moore  was  killed  whilst  embarking  his  troops 
at  Corunna ;  and  although  Wellington  obtained  the  advantage  in  the 
battle   of  Talavera,  yet  the  English  army  restricted  itself 
for  some  time  to  the  defence  of  Portugal.     Seville,  also,  and 
the  whole  of  Andalusia  and  Granada,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  French. 
S2)ain,  nevertheless,  held  herself  erect.     The  national  government  re- 
moved to  Cadiz,  which  bade  defiance  to  every  storm ;  and  the  Spanish 
general,  La  Romana,   who,  upon  the  news  of  his  country's  rise,  had 
escaped  with  his  troops  from  Denmark  in  English  ships  to  his  native  soil, 
brought  system  and  order  to  the  guerilla  warfare. 

When,  in  the  year  1809,  the  new  war  with  Austria  called  the  emperor 
from  Spain,  he  left  behind  him  a  large  army,  consisting  for  the  most  part  of 
Germans.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  Austrian  war,  this  force  was  increased 
to  nearly  300,000  men,  who,  under  the  command  of  his  most  experienced 
marshals,  (Soult,  Massena,  Suchet,  Ney,  St.  Cyr,  Marmont,  Macdonald, 
&c.),  traversed  the  peninsula  in  every  direction,  and  raised  the  renown 
of  the  French  arms.  But  victories  only  increased  the  hatred  towards 
the  French ;  the  petty  war,  under  the  daring  leaders,  Ballasteros, 
Empecinado,  jMorillo,  O'Donnel,  Mina,  Moreto,  assumed  a  more  sangui- 
nary character,  and  no  courage  was  of  avail  against  the  assassinations  to 
which  the  revengeful  Spaniards  were  driven  by  rage  and  fanaticism. 
The  most  heroic  deeds  that  were  performed  by  Napoleon's  warriors, 
under  the  fervid  sun  of  Spain,  now  in  th^  battle-field,  and  now  in  toil- 
some marches,  through  mountains  and  ravines,  and  again  in  sieges  and 
storms  (Valencia,  Gerona),  contributed  nothing  to  the  quiet  possession 
of  the  country.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  Cortes  Assembly  in  Cadiz  pro- 
jected the  liberal  constitution,  which  is  known  as  the  Constitution  of 
the  year  '12,  and  which  was  to  have  destroyed  absolute  monarchy 
and  the  power  of  the  priests  in  Spain  for  ever.  But  this  Constitution, 
owing  to  the  hatred  of  the  priests,  remained  unknown  and  detested  by 
the  people. 

§  585.  The  Russian  campaign  of  1812  compelled  the  emperor  to 
diminish  the  Spanish  army.  Wellington  took  advantage  of  this  to  march 
into  Spain  with  a  larger  force.  Supported  by  the  guerilla  bands,  the 
British  army  soon  obtained  advantages  over  their  opponents,  who  were 
suffering  from  every  kind  of  want.  After  Marmont's  defeat 
at  Salamanca  by  Wellington,  the  English  took  possession  of 
Madrid  and  drove  out  the  French  king.  Suchet,  duke  of  Albufera,  and 
Soult,  both  alike  brave  and  rapacious,  held  fortune  firm  to  their  standards, 
and  Joseph  was  once  more  able  to  take  possession  of  his  tottering  throne ; 
but  the  frightful  catastrophe  produced  by  the  Russian  campaign  com- 
pelled the  French  army  in  the  western  peninsula  also  to  retreat,  and 
obliged  Joseph  to   quit    the  Spanish  territory.     After  the   victory  of 


452  THE  LATEST   PERIOD. 

Vittoria,  Wellington  followed  the  retreating  forces  over  the  Pyrenees, 
but  found  a  brave  opponent  in  Soult,  even  on  French  ground. 
"  '  'So  late  as  the  10th  of  April,  1814,  when  the  allies  v/ere  en- 
camped on  the  Eljsian  fields  of  Paris,  the  marshal  still  resisted  the  ad- 
vancing enemy  at  Toulouse,  although  compelled  to  yield  the  field  to  the 
superior  enemy. 

§  586.  Imprisonment  of  the  Pope.  —  The  hatred  against  the 
French,  and  the  fanatical  fury  of  the  Spaniards,  were  the  work  of  the 
priests.  Napoleon  might  have  learned  from  this  what  power  the  religion 
he  denied,  and  its  venerable  usages,  were  capable  of  exerting  upon  the 
minds  of  believers ;  but  in  his  pride  he  refused  to  recognize  any  bonds 
that  could  limit  his  ambition.  When  the  pope  refused  to  lay  an  embargo 
upon  the  English  ships  in  the  ports  of  the  States  of  the  Church,  and  to 
enter  into  an  offensive  and  defensive  alliance  with  France,  Napoleon  in- 
flicted upon  him  a  succession  of  injuries,  and  united  some  portions  of  the 
ecclesiastical  States  to  the  kingdom  of  Italy.  This,  however,  in  no  ways 
subdued  the  resolution  of  the  inflexible  prince  of  the  Church ;  on  the 
contrary,  he  was  thereby  induced,  in  the  second  war  with  Austria,  to 
make  common  cause  with  the  opponents  of  the  emperor,  against  the 
supremacy  of  France.  Hereupon,  Napoleon,  in  a  decree 
published  at  Schonbrunn,  declared  that  the  temporal  power 
of  the  pope  had  ceased ;  and  when  the  holy  father,  irritated  at  this,  ful- 
June  IG.  minated  an  excommunication  against  the  emperor.  Napoleon 

Jul   6  ordered  him  to  be  carried  off  from   Pome  by  violence,  ba- 

nished the  cardinals,  and  united  the  States  of  the  Church  with 
the  French  territory.  Pius  YII.  lived  in  several  towns,  till  at  length  a 
residence  was  allotted  him  in  Fontainbleau.  As  he  obstinately  refused, 
whilst  in  a  state  of  captivity  and  deprived  of  his  council  of  cardinals,  to 
fill  up  the  vacant  bishoprics,  or  io  arrange  any  ecclesiastical  affairs,  Na- 
poleon found  himself  again  compelled  to  arbitrary  and  despotic  measures. 
The  pope,  how^ever,  at  length  allowed  himself,  in  an  unguarded  mo- 
ment, to  be  persuaded  to  an  arrangement  by  which  his  authority  was 
diminished. 

5.   THE    second    AUSTRIAN   WAR.      HOFER.      SCHILL.     (1809.) 

§  587.  Napoleon's  arbitrary  proceedings  in  Italy,  and  his  increasing 
influence  in  Germany,  awakened  the  anxiety  of  Austria.  The  cabinet 
of  Vienna,  therefore,  resolved  once  more  to  try  the  fortune  of  war.  The 
popular  war  in  Spain,  in  which  the  French  emperor  w^as  obliged  to  em- 
ploy a  considerable  portion  of  his  forces,  the  universal  discontent  at  the 
restrictions  upon  commerce,  the  deep  movement  in  Northern  Germany, 
all  this  seemed  to  point  out  that  the  fiivorable  moment  was  arrived  for 
Austria  to  regain  the  power  she  had  lost,  and  to  break  to  pieces  the 
foreign  despotism.     The  landsturm  was  called  out,  and  an  attempt  was 


JTAPOLEOX,   EMPEROR.  453 

made,  by  means  of  vehement  proclamations,  full  of  fine  promises,  to 
awaken  enthusiasm  and  patriotic  feeling.  But  the  magic  of  the  imperial 
name  was  still  too  powerful.  The  princes  of  the  Rhine  Confederation 
strengthened  the  I^rench  army  with  their  brave  troops,  and  the  soldiers 
of  South  Germany  poured  forth  their  blood  for  a  foreign  despot  against 
the  warriors  of  their  own  race. 

In  April,  Austria  ordered  its  army,  which  was  placed  under 

the  command  of  the  archduke  Charles,  to  march  into  Bavaria 
and  Italy.  But  the  first  encounters  decided  the  fate  of  the  war.  Napo- 
leon, supported  by  AVirtemberg  and  Bavaria,  marched  down  tlie  Danube 
with  a  considerable  force,  drove  the  enemy  over  tlie  Inn  by  a  succession 
April  20—22,  of  victorious  encounters  (Abensberg,  Eckmuhl),  and  marched 
1S09.  for  the  second  time  into  the  heart  of  the  Austrian  dominions. 

On  the  10th  of  May,  the  emperor  stood  before  the  walls  of  the  capital, 
which,  three  days  after,  he  entered  as  a  conquerer.  Below  Vienna,  the 
north  bank  of  the  Danube,  which  is  there  crossed  by  numerous  bridges, 
was  defended  by  the  archduke  Charles.  Upon  the  French  army  attempt- 
ing to  cross  the  river  from  Lobau,  an  island  in  the  stream,  they  met  with 

such  opi^sition  in  the  two  days'  combat  of  Aspern  and  Es- 

lingen,  that  they  were  obliged  to  relinquish  the  attempt. 
This  bloody,  though  indecisive  battle,  where  12,000  French  soldiers,  in- 
eluding  marshal  Lannes,  were  left  upon  (he  field,  gave  the  first  shock  to 
the  belief  in  Napoleon's  invincibility,  and  increased  the  confidence  of  the 
oppressed  people.  It  was  only  when  the  emperor  had  received  recnforce- 
ments,  and  Eugene  Beauharnais  had  united  himself  to  the  grand  army, 
after  the  victory  at  Raab,  that  the   French  again,  and  this  time   with 

more  success,  attempted  the  passage  of  the  river,  and  defeated 


July  6, 6. 


the  archduke  in  the  jrreat  battle  of  "VVafjrram.     The  loss  on 


both  sides  was  tolerably  equal,  and  it  was  not  to  be  disputed  that  the  French 
no  longer  retained  their  former  superiority  in  the  field.     Austria,  a  few 
d'dys  later,  concluded,  over  hastily,  the  truce  of  Zuaym,  that 
*"  she  might  open  negotiations  for  a  fresh  peace. 

§  588.  This  truce  was  fatal  to  the  Tyrolese.  The  warlike  inhabitants 
of  the  mountainous  region  of  the  Tyrol,  who  were  attached  with  the 
truest  devotion  to  Austria,  had  risen  at  the  commencement  of  the  war  to 
free  themselves  from  the  detested  government  of  Bavaria,  under  which 
they  had  been  placed  by  the  peace  of  Presbqrg.  Tlie  stimulating  exhor- 
tations of  their  priests,  who  possessed  great  influence  over  these  simple 
mountaineers,  and  the  enticements  and  promises  of  Austria,  produced  a 
general  insurrection.  Trusting  to  the  assistance  of  Austria,  the  Tyrolese 
Beized  the  familiar  rifle,  and,  like  the  Spaniards,  directed  from  the  moun- 
tain heights  and  gullies  the  unerring  tube  against  the  French  and  Bava- 
rians, hazarding  life  and  property  in  defence  of  the  customs  of  their  fathers. 
At  their  head  stood  Andreas  Hofer,  a  publican  in  the  Passeyrthal,  a  man 


454  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

of  great  consideration  among  his  countrymen  both  on  account  of  his  bodily 
strength  and  Courage,  as  well  as  his  piety,  his  patriotism,  and  his  honor- 
able character.  Shrewder  and  more  far-sighted  men,  as  Hormayr,  the 
historian  of  the  Tyrol  and  of  this  war,  made  use  of  Hofer's  influence  with 
the  people  to  carry  the  movement  through  the  whole  land.  By  the  side 
of  Hofer  stood  Speckbacher,  the  soul  of  the  confederation.  A  frightful 
war  broke  out ;  the  Bavarians  were  compelled  to  evacuate  the  German 
Tyrol,  and  Hofer  took  possession  of  Innspruck  as  the  Austrian  com- 
mandant. The  truce  of  Znaym  produced  discouragement  and  irresolution 
among  the  insurgents,  without,  however,  putting  an  end  to  the  war.  But 
when  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  of  Vienna  or  Schonbrunn,  by  which 
Austria  again  lost  2000  square  (German)  miles  and  three  millions  of 
subjects,  deprived  the  Tyrolese  of  all  hopes  of  assistance,  and  the  Bava- 
rians and  French,  with  increased  forces,  marched  into  the  land  from  three 
different  quarters,  the  insurrection  was  quelled.  Innspruck  again  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Bavarians.  Speckbacher  and  other  leaders  sought 
their  safety  in  flight ;  but  Hofer,  who,  led  astray  by  bad  counsel,  had 
again  taken  up  arms,  was  discovered  in  a  cave  where  he  had  concealed 
Februaiy  18,  himself  for  two  months  with  his  family,  and  shot  in  Mantua. 
1810.  He  died  with  the  courage  of  a  hero,  and  highly  reverenced 

by  his  countrymen.     Tyrol  was  divided  into  three  portions. 

§  589.  During  the  second  Austrian  war,  attempts  were  made  in  various 
parts  of  Germany  to  shake  off  the  foreign  yoke.  In  Kurhessen,  the 
colonel.  Yon  Dorenberg,  attempted  to  overthrow  the  king  of  Westphalia  by 
an  insurrection.  The  failure  of  this  attempt  did  not  deter  the  brave  major 
Von  Schill  from  hazarding  a  similar  one  in  Prussia.  With  a  troop  of 
bold  volunteers,  he  hoped,  to  arouse  the  North  of  Germany  against  the 
foreign  despotism.  But  fear  of  the  great  emperor  of  battles  paralyzed 
the  arms  of  the  people.  Pursued  by  the  enemy,  Schill  threw  himself 
May  31,  into  the  strong  towti  of  Stralsund,  in  the  hope  of  being  able 

1809.  to  take  ship  fix)m  thence  to  England.     But  he  fell  during  an 

assault,  together  with  most  of  his  companions  in  arms,  beneath  the  sabres 
of  the  enemy's  cavalry  ;  the  rest  were  made  prisoners  of  war,  the  officers 
shot  in  Wfisel  and  Brunswick,  and  the  privates  condemned  to  the  French 
galleys. 

Duke  William  of  Brunswick,  the  heroic  son  of  the  field-marshal,  was 
more  fortunate.  He  had  marched  to  the  aid  of  Austria  with  his  "  black 
band ; "  but  treating  the  truce  of  Znaym  with  contempt,  because  in  it  he 
had  only  been  regarded  as  an  Austrian  marshal,  and  not  as  an  independent 
princeof  the  empire,  he  fought  his  way  with  incredible  bravery  through 
hostile  lands  and  armies  to  the  North  Sea,  whence  he  escaped  with  his 
October  12,  followers  to  England.  The  intense  excitement  of  men's  minds 
1809.  was  evinced  by  the  attempted  assassination  of  Napoleon  by  a 

young  man  of  Hamburg  named  Staps.  Being  seized  by  General  Rapp, 
and  confessing  his  intention,  he  was  lead  to  death. 


NAPOLEON,    EMPEROR.  455 


If  the  enterprises  of  Schill  and  Dorenberg  were  foolhardy  and  incon- 
Eiderate,  they  were  nevertheless  of  importance  as  proofs  of  the  sentiments 
prevailing  among  the  people,  and  of  the  newly-aroused  patriotism.  These 
sentiments  were  encouraged  and  fostered  chiefly  in  Prussia.  It  was  here 
that  patriotically  disposed  men  had  assumed  the  conduct  of  affairs  after 
the  disastrous  days  of  Jena  and  Tilsit,  and  driven  the  characterless  old 
Prussian  party  from  the  councils  of  the  king.  The  high-minded  baron 
Von  Stein  attempted  to  elevate  the  citizen  and  peasant  class  by  introduc- 
ing a  liberal  municipal  government,  rendering  the  possession  of  landed 
property  attainable  by  every  one,  and  limiting  the  class  privileges  of  the 
middle  ages.  Scharnhorst  completely  revolutionized  the  affairs  of  the 
army :  the  employment  of  mercenary  troops  was  superseded  by  the 
universal  obligation  to  bear  arms,  the  feelings  of  honor  were  excited 
among  the  privates  by  throwing  open  the  rank  of  officer  to  all,  and  by  (he 
abolition  of  degrading  punishments.  It  is  true  that  the  king,  in  a  short 
time,  found  himself  compelled  to  remove  his  patriotic  advisers,  when  the 
mandate  of  Napoleon  outlawed  the  baron  Von  Stein,  and  compelled  him 
to  take  refuge  in  Kussia.  But  their  works,  nevertheless,  remained,  and 
formed  the  groundwork  of  a  system  of  government  which  was  founded 
upon  the  legal  equality  of  the  whole  of  the  citizens.  Stein's  successor, 
the  astute  chancellor  Von  Hardenberg,  proceeded,  as  much  as  possible, 
upon  the  same  principles ;  and  the  Tugendbund,  which  was  joined  by  some 
of  the  noblest  men  of  the  country,  aroused  and  encouraged  patriotism  and 
love  of  freedom  among  the  people  and  the  ardent  youth. 

§  590.  The  French  Empire  at  its  height.  —  Napoleon  stood  at 
the  summit  of  his  power  and  greatness  after  the  peace  of  Vienna.  It 
was  only  the  reflection  that  he  had  no  heir  that  occasioned  him  any  dis- 
quiet; he  accordingly  got  himself  divorced  from  Josephine,  upon  the 
December  15  gi'ound  of  some  informality  in  their  nuptials,  and  married 
1809.  Maria  Louisa,  daughter  of  the  emperor  of  Austria.     It  was 

on  the  1st  of  April,  1810,  that  he  celebrated  his  nuptials  with  the  "daughter 
of  the  Caisars."  Five  queens  supported  the  train  of  the  bride,  and  an 
unexampled  magnificence  was  displayed.  But  a  fire  during  the  ball  that 
was  given  by  the  Austrian  ambassador,  Schwarzenberg,  in  honor  of  tlie 
newly-married  pair,  and  in  which  his  sister  perished  in  the  flames,  was 
regarded  as  an  omen  of  evil  promise.  When  a  son  was  born  to  the  em- 
March  20,  peror  in  the  following  year,  who  received  the  pompous  title 
1811.  of  king  of  Rome,  Napoleon's  fortune  seemed  to  be  complete 

and  the  future  of  France  secured.  But  pride  and  ambition  drove  him  on 
from  one  act  of  violence  to  another ;  there  was  no  end  of  the  alliances, 
separations,  and  interchanges  of  lands  and  territories :  what  the  despot 
created  to-day,  he  destroyed  on  the  morrow ;  him  whom  he  made  a  great 
man  one  year  he  humbled  in  the  following.  The  blockade  of  the  continent 
became  daily  more  rigid,  to  the  despair  of  merchants  and  traders.    When 


456  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

king  Louis  of  Holland  resisted  this,  and  permitted  his  people  some  relax^ 
ation,  he  was  so  unkindly  and  unworthily  treated  by  his  imperial  brother 
that  he  renounced  the  throne,  upon  which  Napoleon  united  the  kingdom 
of  Holland  with  France.  A  few  months  later,  he  also  added  the  Hanse 
towns,  Hamburg,  Bremen,  Lubeck,  and,  besides  these,  the  dukedom  of 
Oldenburg  and  the  provinces  between  the  Rhine  and  the  Elbe,  to  the 
French  empire,  which  now  ruled  the  whole  coast  of  the  North  Sea,  and 
numbered  130  departments.  Hamburg  was  made  the  capital  of  the  new 
territory,  and  the  cruel  Davoust  placed  there  as  ruler.  The  slavery 
within  increased  with  the  extension  without.  A  formidable  state-police  sup- 
pressed the  last  remains  of  freedom,  and  threatened  every  suspected  person 
with  persecution  and  imprisonment.  Arbitrariness,  passion,  and  despotism, 
usurped  the  place  of  popular  rights  ;  restrictions  on  trade,  oppressive  tax- 
ation, and  military  conscriptions  were  the  burdens  imposed  upon  friendly 
states  ;  the  calamities  of  war,  exactions,  and  the  quarterings  of  troops,  were 
the  miseries  of  the  hostile. 

6.    THE    WAR    AGAINST    RUSSIA. 

§  591.  The  extension  of  the  empire  of  France  even  to  the  shores  of  the 
Baltic,  by  which  means  the  duke  of  Oldenburg,  a  near  relation  of  the  im- 
perial family  of  Russia,  was  deprived  of  his  lands,  completely  destroyed 
the  friendship  between  Alexander  and  Napoleon,  which  had  already 
grown  cold  since  the  increase  of  the  dukedom  of  Warsaw  by  the  peace 
of  Vienna.  This  hostile  feeling,  which  was  first  displayed  in  the  angry 
language  of  diplomatists  and  in  newspaper  articles,  v/as  increased  when 
the  Russian  government  proclaimed  a  new  tarliF  unfiivorable  to  the  im- 
portation of  French  goods.  Both  parties  prepared  themselves  for  a  des- 
perate struggle.  The  emperor  of  Russia  concluded  a  peace  with  the 
Turks  by  the  mediation  of  the  English,  and  brought  over  to  his  side 
Bernadotte  of  Sweden,  whom  Napoleon  had  greatly  injured  ;  the  P^rench 
emperor,  on  the  other  hand,  arranged  a  treaty  with  Prussia  and  Austria, 
by  which  he  obtained  a  considerable  increase  of  his  forces.  Alexander's 
defiant  demand,  that  the  French  garrisons  should  at  once  evacuate  Pome- 
van  ia  and  Russia,  produced  a  declaration  of  war. 

§  592.  In  May,  Napoleon,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  made  his  appear- 
ance in  Dresden,  where  the  princes  of  th«  Rhine  Confederation,  the  em- 
j)eror  of  Austria,  and  the  king  of  Prussia,  were  likewise  present  to  pay 
their  homage  to  the  potentate  who  was  now  summoning  half  Europe  to 
arms  against  Russia.  After  a  residence  of  ten  days  among  this  brilliant 
assemblage  of  princes.  Napoleon  hastened  to  his  army,  nearly  half  a 
million  strong,  and  which,  with  more  than  a  thousand  cannon  and  20,000 
baggage  waggons,  was  lying  scattered  along  between  the  Vistula  and  tha 
Niemen.  The  left  wing,  consisting  for  the  most  part  of  Poles  and  Prus- 
sians, under  the  command  of  Macdonald,  was  placed  upon  the  banks  of 


NAPOLEOX,   EMPEROR.  46^ 

the  Baltic  ;  the  right,  formed  by  the  Austrian  auxiliaries  led  by  Scliwar- 
zenberg,  with  a  division  of  French  and  Saxons  under  Eegnier,  stood  on 
the  Lower  Bug,  opposite  the  southern  army  of  the  Russians ;  the  body, 
commanded  by  Napoleon  himself,  and  under  him  by  the  most  experienced 
marshals  of  his  school,  crossed  the  Niemen  in  June  and  marched  into 
"Wilna.  Tlie  appearance  of  the  French  awakened  the  mo.^t  sanguine  ex- 
pectations and  warlike  enthusiasm  among  the  Pok>s.  The  diet  of  YN'ar- 
saw  declared  the  restoration  of  the  kingdom  of  Poland,  and  determined 
upon  the  formation  of  a  general  confederation.  But  popular  n^iovenients 
were  not  to  Napoleon's  taste;  he  forbade  a  rise  e;i  w?r/,?.sv,  and  damped 
the  enthusiasm  by  declaring,  that,  out  of  regard  to  Aust;i;;.  !,  ■  ci.uld  iK)t 
consent  to  the  restoration  of  the  Polish  republic  in  its  whole  extent. 
Nevertheless,  Polish  warriors  under  Poniatowski  and  others  fought  with 
their  accustomed  valor  beneath  the  eagles  of  Napoleon,  and  the  Polish 
people  supported,  to  the  best  of  their  power,  the  foreign  troojis  that  were 
now  marching  in  the  midst  of  dreadful  rains  from  Wilna  to  AVitep.-k. 
Moscow,  "the  heart  of  Russia,"  was  Napoleon's  aim;  but  he  soon  dis- 
covered what  powerful  allies  the  Russians  were  possessed  of  in  the  nature 
of  their  country.  The  roads  wrva  impassable,  supplies  did  not  arrive, 
the  poor  and  badly  cultivated  soil  afforded  little  means  of  subsistence ; 
diseases  diminished  the  number  of  troops  and  filled  the  hospitals. 

§  593.  The  Russian  generals,  Barclay  de  Tolly  and  Bagration,  avoided 
a  fixed  battle,  and  lured  the  emperor  onwards  deeper  into  the  country. 
August  17,  'i'^ie  fir.-t  hatth,'  was  fought  at  Smolensk  ;  hut  after  fij'itinL''  a 
1812.  whole  day  without  any  decisive  result,   the   Russians,  in   the 

night,  left  the  town,  which  was  in  flames.  On  the  following  morning, 
the  French  found  the  site  of  the  town  drenched  with  hloed  aiid  covered 
with  corpses.  A  council  of  war  was  held  in  Smolensk,  but,  despite  the 
number  of  voices  that  were  raised  against  the  continuance  of  the  cam- 
paign, Napoleon  insisted  upon  the  conquest  of  Moscow,  where  he  intended 
to  pass  the  winter,  and  to  force  Alexander  to  a  peace.  The  Russians 
murmured  at  Barclay's  mode  of  conducting  the  war,  as  the  Romans  had 
once  done  at  the  delay  of  Fabius;  for  which  reason,  Alexander  appointed 
General  Kutusoif  to  the  command,  who,  as  a  native  of  the  comitry,  was 
nearer  to  the  people,  and  who  was  much  beloved  by  the  lower  class  of 
Russians  for  his  attachment  to  the  religious  customs,  and  to  the  old  Rus- 
sian manners  and  usages.  Kutusoff  dared  not  allow  the  holy  city  of 
Moscow,  with  its  innumerable  towers  and  golden  cupolas,  to  fidl  into 
the  hands  of  the  French,  unless  he  wished  to  forfeit  all  the  affections  of 
the  people.     He  halted  his  troops,  and  by  this  means  brought  about  the 

murderous  battle  of  Borodino,  on  the  Moskwa,  in  which  the 
beptember '  •    t^         ,    .    ,      , 

i^rench  mdeed  remamed  in   possession  of  the  field,  but  were 

obliged  to  allow  the  Russians  to  retire  in  good  order.     Upwards  of  70,- 

000  bodies  covered  the  field  ;  Ney,  "  the  prince  of  the  Moskwa,"  was  the 

39 


458  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

hero  of  the  day.  On  the  14th  of  September,  the  French  entered  Mos- 
cow.  The  nobility  and  the  better  class  of  citizens  had  left  the  place. 
A  secret  horror  fell  upon  the  soldiers  as  they  entered  tlie  town,  and  saAV 
nothing  but  a  few  of  the  rabble  creeping  about;  but  who  can  describe 
their  terror  when  the  four  days'  conflagration  of  Moscow,  which,  in  the 
absence  of  all  means  of  extinguishing  it,  soon  became  a  sea  of  flame,  re- 
duced the  city,  which  was  built  of  wood,  and  the  ancient  Kremlin,  which 
Kapoleon  himself  had  chosen  for  a  residence,  to  ashes  ?  The  governor 
of  Moscow,  Rostopschin,  had  given  orders  for  this  horrible  deed,  without 
the  command  of  the  Tzar,  for  the  purpose  of  depriving  the  grand  army 
of  its  winter  quarters,  and  of  compelling  it  to  a  disastrous  retreat.  For- 
getful of  all  order  and  discipline,  the  soldiers  rushed  into  the  burning 
houses  to  gratify  their  passions  and  love  of  plunder. 

§  594.  From  all  this  it  was  apparent  that  the  Russians  were  waging 
a  war  of  extermination ;  and  yet  Napoleon,  from  some  unaccountable 
delusion,  suffered  himself  to  be  decoyed,  by  the  artfully  sustained  hopes 
of  a  peace,  into  remaining  thirty-four  days  in  Moscow  without  perceiving 
that  KutusofF  was  seeking  to  detain  him  till  the  commencement  of  winter, 
that  during  the  retreat  the  cold  might  destroy  the  half-clad  soldiers,  who 
were  suffering  from  want  of  the  necessaries  of  life.  At  length,  late  in 
October,  was  commenced  that  fatal  retreat  of  the  grand  army,  which  has 
no  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  sufferings  of  war.  The  plan  at  first 
contemplated,  of  marching  upon  Kaluga,  was  given  up  after 
the  dreadful  battle  of  Malo-Jaroslowetz,  and  the  road  towards 
Smolensk  over  the  corpse-covered  battle  field  of  Borodino  was  entered 
upon.  In  November,  the  cold  reached  18,  and  afterwards  became  27 
degrees  below  zero.  Who  can  describe  all  the  sufferings,  battles,  and 
fatigues,  by  which  the  grand  army  was  gradually  destroyed  in  the  midst 
of  the  stern  winter?  Hunger,  cold,  and  exhaustion  produced  greater 
ravages  than  the  bullets  of  the  Russians  or  the  lances  of  the  Cossacks. 
It  was  a  horrible  sight  to  see  thousands  of  starved  or  frozen  soldiers  lying 
in  the  public  roads,  or  on  the  desolate  steppes  covered  with  snow  and  ice, 
intermingled  with  fallen  horses,  abandoned  arms,  and  rich  articles  of 
plunder.  Kutusoff,  who,  in  a  proclamation,  ascribed  the  burning  of 
Moscow  to  the  French,  to  inflame  the  hatred  of  the  people  still  more 
against  them,  never  left  their  flank,  and  forced  them  to  contest  every 
yard  of  ground.  When  Smolensk  was  reached,  about  the  middle  of  No- 
vember, the  army  still  numbered  about  40,000  men,  fit  for  service ;  these 
were  followed  by  upwards  of  of  30,000  unarmed  stragglers,  without  dis- 
ciphne,  order,  or  leaders  ;  a  picture  of  wretchedness  and  horror.  And 
yet  it  was  here  that  the  greatest  misery  began,  inasmuch  as,  by  some 
error  in  the  orders,  the  expected  supplies  of  arms,  clothes,  and  necessaries 
were  not  forthcoming  in  the  town,  and  the  enemy  with  increased  forces 
were  obstructing  the  path  of  march.     The  hero  of  the  retreat  was  Nej, 


GERMAN   WAR   OF   LIBERATION.  459 

the  commander  of  the  rear,  the  "  bravest  of  the  brave."  His  passage 
over  the  frozen  but  partly  thawed  Dnieper,  during  the  night,  was  one  of 
the  most  daring  feats  recorded  in  history.  On  the  25th  of  November, 
the  army  arrived  at  the  ever-memorable  river  Beresina.  Two  bridges 
were  thrown  across  the  stream  in  the  presence  of  the  hostile  army,  and 
the  small  remnant  that  still  preserved  its  discipline  passed  over  in  the 
midst  of  innumerable  dangers  ;  but  nearly  18,000  stragglers,  that  did  not 
arrive  in  time,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  How  many  were 
drowned  between  the  masses  of  ice  in  the  cold  waves  of  the  river,  or  were 
trampled  down  and  destroyed  in  the  dreadful  press,  no  one  can  tell.  Af- 
November  ter  the  passage  of  the  Beresina,  Napoleon  had  still  8,000 
26  -  29.  soldiers  fit  for  service.     Ney  w^as  the  last  man  of  the  rear- 

guard. According  to  the  official  account,  243,000  enemies*  bodies  were 
buried  in  Russia.  Half  of  Europe  had  cause  to  mourn.  On  the  3d  of 
December,  Napoleon  published  the  celebrated  29th  bulletin,  which  in- 
formed the  expectant  people,  who  had  been  without  intelligence  for 
months,  that  the  emperor  was  safe  and  the  grand  army  destroyed.  Two 
days  afterwards,  he  made  over  the  command  to  Murat,  and  hastened  to 
Paris  to  arranjje  fresh  armaments. 


D.  DISSOLUTION  OF  THE  FRENCH  EMPIRE,  AND 
ESTABLISHMENT  OF  A  FRESH  SYSTEM. 

1.    THE  GERMAN   WAR  OF  LIBERATION,  AND  THE  FALL  OF 
NArOLEON. 

§  595.  The  saying  attributed  to  Talleyrand,  that  the  Russian  cam- 
paign was  "  the  beginning  of  the  end,"  soon  proved  true.  No  doubt, 
oppressive  conscriptions  soon  filled  up  tlie  chasms  in  the  French  army, 
but  the  faith  in  Napoleon's  invincibility  was  gone ;  and  fresh  armies 
formed  from  young  and  inexperienced  men  were  opposed  to  an  enemy 
inspired  to  great  actions  both  by  the  victory  they  had  attained,  and  by 
the  newly-awakened  feeling  of 'patriotism.  So  early  as  the  30th  of  De- 
cember, the  Prussian  general,  York,  who  commanded  under  Macdonald, 
on  the  east  coast,  had  entered  into  an  understanding  with  the  Russian 
marshal,  Diebitsch,  and  had  desisted,  together  with  his  troops,  from  any 
further  hostilities.  It  is  true  that  this  proceeding  was  publicly  censured 
in  Berljn ;  but  the  king's  journey  to  Breslau,  where  many  patriotic  men 
assembled  themselves  around  him,  was  the  first  step  towards  the  alliance 
with  Russia,  which  was  completed  in  the  following  February.  The 
Febraary  3,  boundless  ill-usage  experienced  by  Prussia  had  excited  such 
1813.  a  detestation  of  the  foreign  despotism,  that  the  king's  "  Call 

to  his  people"  to  take  up  arms  awakened  an  incredible  ardor  for  war. 


460  THE   LATEST   PEEIOD. 

Tlie  enthusiasm  seized  upon  all  ages  and  conditions.  Youths  and  men 
withdrew  themselves  from  their  wonted  occupations,  and  from  the  circles 
of  affection,  that  they  might  dedicate  their  strength  to  the  liberation  of 
their  fatherland.  Students  and  teachers  left  the  lecture-room,  officials 
left  their  posts,  young  nobles  the  homes  of  their  fathers  ;  they  seized  the 
musket  and  knapsack,  and  placed  themselves  in  the  ranks  as  common 
soldiers,  along  with  the  mechanic  Avho  had  come  forth  from  his  workshop, 
and  the  peasant  who  had  exchanged  the  ploughshare  for  the  sword. 

§  596.  The  allied  monarchs  attempted  to  win  over  the  king  of  Saxony 
to  their  cause.  But  Frederick  Augustus  resisted  the  invitation.  Grati- 
tude for  the  many  proofs  of  favor  and  confidence  which  had  been  shown 
him.by  Napoleon,  and  fear  of  the  anger  of  that  potentate,  bound  him  fast 
to  his  alliance  with  the  French  emperor.  He  placed  his  lands,  his  for- 
tresses, and  his  troops  at  his  disposal,  and  Saxony  accordingly  became  the 
Beat  of  the  war.  In  the  first  battles  at  Lutzen,  the  French  indeed  re- 
tained possession  of  the  field,  and  drove  back  their  opponents 
as  far  as  the  Oder ;  but  the  heroism  of  the  young  German 
May  20.  warriors,  who  fearlessly  presented  tlieir  breasts  to  the  storm 

of  balls,  showed  the  enemy  that  a  different  spirit  had  taken  possession  of 
the  Prussians  from  that  displayed  at  Jena.  Scharnhorst  breathed  forth 
his  heroic  soul  at  Lutzen.  Among  the  thousands  who  strewed  the  field 
in  these  two  engagements  were  Bessieres  and  Duroc.  The  death  of  the 
latter,  whom  Napoleon  loved  and  esteemed  above  all  others  for  his  amia- 
bility, fidelity,  and  attachment,  was  a  great  shock  to  the  French  emperor. 
For  the  first  time,  a  dark  presentiment  of  the  mutabilities  of  life  seemed 
to  take  possession  of  his  breast.  But  pride  and  presumption  hurried 
him  onwards.  It  was  in  vain  that  Austria  endeavored,  during  a  short 
cessation  of  hostilities,  to  negotiate  a  peace  at  the  Congress  of  Prague  ; 
Napoleon  insolently  refused  to  surrender  any  of  the  con- 
quered countries.  This  was  followed  by  a  breaking  up  of 
August  12.      tlie  truce,  and  by  Austria's  declaration  of  war  against  France. 

^  It  is  true  that  Napoleon,  in  the  battle  of  Dresden,  once  more 
Au  "113120-27. 

chained  victory  to  his  eagles,  and  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 

his  opponent,  Moreau,  whom  Alexander  had  summoned  from  America, 

carried  from  the  field  mortally  wounded ;  but  the  fruits  of  the  Dresden 

victory  were  destroyed  (1)  by  Bliicher's  simultaneous  engagement  on  the 

Ivatzbach  in  Silesia,  ao;ainst  Macdonald,  a  battle  in  which 

Marshal  "  Forwards "   gained  the   title  of  a  prince  of  the 

battle-field  ;  (2)  by  the  French  general,  Vandamme,  being  defeated  and 

made   prisoner  with  his   whole  army,  in  the    hotly  contested  battle  of 

Cylm,  a  catastrophe  that  was  brought  about  by   Kleist's  daring  march 

A  <^  "9-30     ^^^'^•■'^  ^^^®  heights  of  Nollendorf,  and  by  the  pertinacious 

courage  of  the  Russian  guards  under  Ostermann  ;  and  (3) 

August  23.       by  the  splendid  feats  of  the  Prusso-Swedish  army  at  Gros- 

September  6.    Beeren  and  Dennewitz. 


GERMAN   WAR   OP  LIBERATION.  461 

§  597.  By  the  ai^tumn,  the  result  of  this  great  struggle  was  scarcely 
doubtful ;  the  princes  of  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine  gradually  fell 
off*  from  Napoleon,  and  joined  the  allies;  thus  Bavaria,  who 
concluded  the  treaty  of  Ried  with  Austria.  In  October,  the 
armies  united  themselves  together  in  the  broad  plain  of  Leipsic ;  the 
Austrians,  under  prince  Schwarzenberg,  in  whose  hands  the  management 
of  the  whole  was  placed  ;  the  Russians,  under  Barclay,  Benningsen,  and 
others  ;  tlie  Prussians,  under  Blucher ;  aod  the  Swedes,  under  Berna- 
dotte.  The  forces  of  the  allies  (300,000  men)  were  superior  to  the  array 
conducted  by  Napoleon  himself  by  100,000  men.  It  was  in  vain  that  the 
French  emperor,  to  whom  the  god  of  battles  had  so  often  been  propitious, 
unfolded  his  mighty  talents ;  it  was  in  vain  that  the  most  distinguished 
marshals  of  his  school,  Ney,  Murat,  Augereau,  Macdonald,  the  Pole 
Poniatoweki,  and  many  others,  exerted  their  strength  to  the  utmost.  The 
October  16-18.  ^^^^^  days'  battle  fought  in  Leipsic  and  the  neighboring  vil- 
lages was  the  grave  of  the  French  empire.  After  suffering 
an  enorrao-js  loss.  Napoleon,  in  the  night  of  the  10th  October,  quitted  the 
town,  which  was  immediately  taken  possession  of  i)y  the  allies.  The 
over-hasty  destruction  of  the  Elster  bridge  delivered  up  18,000  soldiers 
fit  for  battle  into  the  hands  of  the  victors,  to  say  nothing  of  the  sick  and 
the  wounded.  Poniatowski,  who  during  the  battle  had  been  made  mar- 
shal, found  his  death  in  the  waters.  The  French,  closely  pursued  by  the* 
enemy,  advanced  by  hasty  marches  by  Erfurt  to  the  Rhine.  Their  pas- 
sage was  opposed  at  Ilanau  by  "Wrede,  with  Bavarians  and  Austrians ; 
but  by  this  he  only  gave  the  "dying  lion"  an  opportunity  of  displaying 
October  30,  liis  mihtary  skill.  The  victory  that  was  gained  at  Ilanau 
21-  over  the  wounded  Wrede  opened  to*  the  French  the  passage 

to  the  Rhine  by  the  way  of  Frankfurt.  But  the  unfortunates  all  carried 
the  germs  of  mortal  disease  in  their  breasts,  and  half  of  them  died  before 
the  end  of  the  year  in  over-crowded  hospitals.  The  dissolution  of  the 
kingdom  of  Westphalia,  the  return  of  the  Elector  of  Hesse,  and  of  the 
dukes  of  Brunswick  and  Oldenberg,  to  their  own  dominions,  tlie  impri- 
sonment of  the  king  of  Saxony,  and  the  breaking  up  of  the  Confederation 
of  the  Rhine,  now  followed  in  quick  succession.  Dalberg  renounced  his 
archdukedom  of  Frankfurt ;  Wirtemberg,  Baden,  Hesse-Darmstadt,  con- 
cluded treaties  with  Austria,  and  arrayed  their  troops  beneath  the  stand- 
ard of  the  allies.  It  was  only  in  Hamburg  that  the  French  maintained 
themselves,  under  the  cruel  Davoust,  till  the  May  of  1814,  and  practised 
dreadful  exactions  and  oppressions.  The  king  of  Denmark  was  punished 
for  his  adherence  to  Napoleon  by  the  loss  of  Norway,  which  was  given 
January  14,  to  Sweden  by  the  peace  of  Kiel.  The  same  th.ing  happened 
1814.  in  Italy.    The  viceroy,  Eugene,  left  the  beautiful  lands  of  the 

Po  to  the  Austrians,  after  a  gallant  defence,  and  joined  his  father-in-law 
in   Bavaria.     The  archduke  Ferdinand  returned  to  Tuscany,  and  tho 
39* 


462  THE   LATEST   PEPJOD. 

States  of  tlie  Churcli  received  the  severely-tried  Pope  Plus  VII.  Naplea 
alone  remained  for  a  sliort  time  in  the  hands  of  the  cavalry  leader,  Murat, 
who,  having  quarrelled  with  his  brother-in-law,  joined  himself  to  Austria. 
§  598.  The  allied  monarchs  held  a  council  with  their  ministers  and 
generals  in  Frankfurt,  established  a  provisional  government  over  the  con- 
quered lands,  and  again  made  the  French  emperor  an  offer  of  peace,  if 
he  would  content  himself  with  the  Rhine  as  the  boundary  of  France.  As, 
however,  the  vast  preparations  that  Napoleon  was  making,  by  means  of 
a  severe  conscription,  convinced  the  allied  powers  that  their  adversary 
was  going  once  more  to  try  the  chances  of  battle,  it  was  determined  to 
January  1,  cross  the  Rhine.  It  was  on  new-year's  night  that  Bliicher 
1814.  crossed  the  German  river,  at  several  points  between  Mann- 

heim and  Coblentz,  with  the  Silesian  army,  whilst  Schwarzenberg  marched 
with  the  main  body  through  Switzerland  to  the  south-east  of  France,  and 
a  second  Prussian  army,  under  Bulo\v,  freed  Holland,  and  enabled  the 
Stadtholder  to  return  to  his  states.     In  Champagne,  the  armies  of  Bliicher 
and    Schwarzenberg   met   together,  and  won  the  battle  of 
^    '     Brienne  (la  Rothiere).     But,  as  the  difficulty  of  obtaining 
provisions  compelled  the  two  armies  again  to  separate,  whilst  Schwarzen- 
berg marched  along  the  Seine,  and  Bliicher  followed  the  course  of  the 
Marne,  the  French  emperor,  whose  military  talents  again  blazed  forth  in 
their  fullest  lustre,  succeeded  in  repeatedly  defeating  the  Silesian  army 
(at  Montmirail,  Chateau-Thierry),  and  compelling  it  to  retreat.     After 
this,  he  suddenly  threw  himself  upon  the  main  army,  and 
drove  this  also  back  upon  Troyes  by  the  victory  of  Monte- 
reau.      These  events  made  such  an  impression  upon  the  allies,  that  it 
would  not  have  been  difficult  for  the  emperor,  in  the  fresh  negotiations 
for  peace  that  were  opened  at  Chatillon,  to  have  secured  himself  upon 
the  throne  of  France,  if  he  would  only  have  given  up  the  other  conquered 
countries.     But,  as  he  increased  his  demands  with  every  favorable  turn 
of  fortune,  only  gave  limited  powers  to  his  ambassador,  Caulaincourt, 
and  paralyzed  the  negotiations  by  ambiguous  and  undecisive  declarations, 
the  decision    was   delayed  until    Blucher,  Napoleon's   most 
implacable  enemy,  had  gained  fresh  advantages  over  the  de- 
bilitated French  army  at  Craonne  and  Laon.     The  negotiations  were 
iiow^  broken  off",  and  the  dethronement  of  Bonaparte  resolved  upon.    The 

.,  ,  „  battle  of  Arcis  on  the  Aube,  convinced  the  French  emperor 
lluruli  20  21. 

that  his  weakened  and  exhausted  army  would  avail  no  longer 

against  the  iron  ranks  of  the  enemy ;  and  this  conviction  made  him  irre- 
solute. Whilst  the  allies  were  marching  upon  Paris,  and  his  presence 
in  the  capital  was  imperatively  called  for,  he  wasted  his  time  in  daring 
but  fruitless  marches.  The  heroic  exertions  of  a  few  thousand  National 
Guards  at  Fere-Champenoise  was  the  last  display  of  popular  energy.  A 
few  days  later,  the  hostile  army  stormed  Montmartre.    Upon  this,  Joseph, 


THE   RESTORATION   AND    THE   HUNDRED   DAYS.  463 

to  whom  Napoleon  had  entrusted  the  defence  of  the  capital,  placed  his 
authority  in  the  hands  of  Mortier  and  Marmont,  and  retired  with  the 
empress  and  the  regency  to  Blois.  The  two  marshals  were  soon  com- 
P^^^^^  ^0  yield  to  superior  force,  and  to  surrender  the  city  by 
treaty.  Hereupon  followed  the  entrance  of  the  allies  into 
Paris,  and  the  establishment  of  a  provisional  government  under  the  pre- 
sidentship of  Talleyrand.  This  astute  diplomatist,  a  master  in  every  in- 
trigue and  artifice,  now  devoted  himself  to  the  interests  of  the  royal 
family,  and  attempted,  by  the  employment  of  the  principle  of  legitimacy, 
to  exclude  Napoleon,  and  to  bring  about  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons. 

2.    THE    IlESTORATIOX    AND    THE    HUNDRED    DAYS. 

§  099.     In  the  meanwhile,  Napoleon,  with  his  Guard  and  his  friends, 
the  number  of  which  diminished  every  day,  was  lingering  in  Fontain- 
bleau.     He  changed  helplessly  from  one  resolution  to  another,  till,  at 
length,  the  news  of  Marraont's  defection  decided  him  upon  abdicating 
the  throne  in  favor  of  his  son.     But  this  conditional  abdica- 
tion was  not  received  by  the  allied  powers ;  he  could  not 
continue  the  contest,  for  even  his  nearest  friends,  Berthier,  Ney,  Oudmot, 
and  others,  had  deserted  him,  and  turned  towards  the  new  sun.     In  this 
extremity,  Napoleon  signed  the  unconditional  act  of  abdica- 
tion as  dictated  by  the  allies.     lie  re((  i\( d   ilie  island  of 
Elba  as  his  property,  an  income  of  2,000,000  francs,  and  the  permission 
to  retam  400  of  his  faithful  guard  around  his  person.     Hts  wife,  Maria 
Louisa,  obtained  the  duchy  of  Parma.     On  the  20th  of  April,  Napoleon 
ordered  the  grenadiers  of  his  guard  to  be  drawn  up  in  the  castle-yard  of 
Fontainbleau,  and,  with  a  broken  heart,  took  an  affecting  leave  of  them, 
amidst  the  sobs  of  the  veteran  heroes.     On  the  4th  of  May,  he  landed 
at  Elba.     Shortly  after,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  people,  who  were  weary 
of  war,  the  first  Peace  of  Paris  Avas  concluded,  by  which 
France  received  Louis  XVIII.  as  king,  a  new  constitutional 
government,  and  the  boundaries  of  1792.     The  foreign  armies  left  the 
French  territories,  and  the  Congress  of  Vienna  was  to  have  placed  the 
new  order  of  things  in  Europe  upon  a  firm  foundation. 

§  600.  It  was  a  splendid  assembly  this  Vienna  Congress.  Emperors 
and  kings,  princes  and  nobles,  the  most  celebrated  men  of  all  countries, 
were  there  assembled,  and  rejoicing  over  their  victory.  The  majesty 
and  civilization  of  all  Europe  there  displayed  themselves  in  their  fullest 
lustre;  and  the  magnificent  festivals,  the  riotous  feasts,  splendid  balls, 
and  evening  assemblies,  had  no  end.  But  the  establishment  of  the  new 
Fystem  was  no  light  task  j  and,  in  the  midst  of  all  this  splendor  and  re- 
joicing, violent  passions  were  in  motion,  Avhich  threatened  to  destroy  the 
work  of  peace  before  its  completion.  The  return  of  the  legitimate  royal 
families  to  their  lost  thrones,  and  the  most  complete  destruction  that  was 


May  30. 


464  THE  LATEST  PEEIOD. 

possible  of  the  republican  constitutions,  were  tlie  two  principles  on  which 
all  parties  were  soon  agreed;  but  when  questions  respecting  the  division 
of  the  conquered  and  vacated  lands,  and  the  indemnification  of  the  allies, 
came  to  be  discussed,  envy,  selfishness,  avarice,  and  all  impure  motives 
■\vere  aroused.  The  court  of  Berlin  demanded  the  union  of  Saxony  with 
the  Prussian  kingdom,  and  Russia  entertained  the  view  of  getting  entire 
possession  of  Poland ;  both  demands  met  with  vehement  opposition ;  the 
dispute  seemed  to  threaten  a  renewal  of  hostilities,  and  the  armies  were 
placed  upon  a  war  footing.  These  appearances,  and  the  proceedings  in 
France,  where  the  constitution  granted  by  Louis  XVIII.  afforded  but 
little  defence  against  the  reaction,  awakened  new  hopes  in  Napoleon. 
The  Bourbons  showed  by  their  proceedings  "that  they  had  learned 
nothing,  and  forgotten  nothing."  The  memory  of  the  Revolution  and 
of  the  empire  was,  as  far  as  possible,  destroyed.  The  tricolored  national 
cockade  was  thrust  aside  by  the  white ;  the  old  aristocracy  treated  the 
new  nobility  with  insolence  and  contempt,  and  drove  them  from  the 
neighborhood  of  the  court,  where  the  tone  was  given  by  the  polite  count 
of  Artois  and  the  gloomy  duchess  of  Angouleme  (daughter  of  Louis 
XVL),  whose  heart  was  filled  with  hatred  and  venom  against  the  men 
of  the  Revolution.  The  guards  were  discharged,  and  their  places  sup- 
plied by  well-paid  Swiss;  the  officers  of  the  grand  army  were  dismissed 
upon  half-pay;  the  Legion  of  Honor  was  rendered  mean  and  contempti- 
ble by  the  distribution  of  innumerable  crosses  to  the  unworthy;  the 
compact  with  the  banished  emperor  himself  was  not  adhered  to ;  the 
clergy  and  the  emigrants,  who  met  with  particular  favor  in  the  palace, 
began  to  dream  of  a  restoration  of  their  lost  estates,  tithes,  and  feudal 
privileges ;  great  discontent  took  possession  of  the  nation ;  the  wish  for 
a  change  again  became  lively,  particularly  when  nearly  100,000  French 
soldiers,  some  who  had  been  prisoners  of  war,  and  others  from  foreign 
fortresses,  returned  to  their  country,  and  diffused  their  Bonapartist  sen- 
timents over  the  whole  land. 

§  601.  When  Napoleon  heard  of  these  errors  of  the  Bourbons,  when 
he  learned  that  there  was  a  wish  to  restore  their  lands  to  the  emigrants 
because  "they  kept  the  straight  path,"  when  he  was  instructed  by 
Fouche,  Daroust,  Maret,  the  duchess  of  St.  Leu,  and  others  of  his  ad- 
herents, who  kept  up  a  constant  correspondence  wath  him,  of  the  dispo- 
sition of  the  people,  he  resolved  once  more   to  try  his  fortune.     He 

nc  ,  .  .o.r  landed  on  the  south  coast  of  France  with  a  few  hundred 
March  1,  1815. 

men ;  he  soon  won  all  hearts  to  himself  by  some  shrewdly 

planned  and  rapidly  diffused  proclamations.     The  tricolor  was  in  a  short 

time  again   predominant  everywhere,  the  troops  that  were  sent  to  oppose 

him  deserted  to  him  in  crowds;  the  citizens  of  Grenoble  threw  open 

their  gates  when  he  approached  their  town,  and  Colonel  La- 

bedoyere  placed  the  garrison  at  his  disposal.     It  was  in  vain 


THE  RESTORATION  AND  THE  HUNDRED  DAYS.       465 

that  the  count  of  Artois  hasted  to  Lyons,  and  attempted  to  gain  the 
soldiers  by  confidence.  The  shout  of  "Vive  TEmpereur!"  rang  every- 
where in  his  ears ;  and  when  even  Ney,  who  had  sworn  to  bring  the 
usurper  in  chains  to  Paris,  went  over  to  his  former  companion  in  arms, 
the  Bourbons,  helpless  and  confounded,  quitted  for  the  second 
time  the  land  of  their  home.  Louis  XVIIL,  with  a  few 
faithful  adherents,  took  up  his  residence  in  Ghent,  whilst  Napoleon  once 
more  entered  the  Tuileries,  and  formed  a  new  ministry  from  among  his 
followers.  Thus  began  the  reign  of  the  Hundred  Days,  and  Europe  was 
threatened  with  fresh  convulsions.  Clubs  were  again  formed,  and  the 
songs  of  the  Revolution  were  again  heard.  But  Napoleon  had  not  yet 
laid  aside  his  dislike  to  popular  movements ;  he  also  had  learned  nothing 
and  forgotten  nothing.  The  imperial  throne,  with  its  splendor  and  its 
national  nobility,  was  again  to  arise.  This,  however,  was  resisted  by 
the  people.  The  new  constitution,  which  was  sworn  to  at  the 
festival  of  the  Champ  de  Mai,  did  not  satisfy  their  demands. 
§  602.  These  events  produced  the  greatest  confusion  in  the  Viennese 
Congress,  and  restored  the  unanimity  which  had  been  disturbed.  Austria 
and  Russia  did  not  at  first  appear  disinclined  to  open  fresh  negotiations 
with  Napoleonj  who  promised  to  abide  by  the  conditions  of  the  Peace  of 
Paris  and  never  again  to  disturb  the  tranquillity  of  Europe,  and  to  leave 
either  him  or  his  son  in  possession  of  the  crown  of  France.  But  the 
activity  of  Talleyrand  and  the  imprudence  of  Murat  again  gave  the 
victory  to  the  principles  of  legitimacy.  Murat  had  at  first  joined  the 
allies,  and  made  war  on  the  viceroy  of  Italy.  But  he  soon  felt  that  this 
w^as  an  unnatural  proceeding ;  such  treachery  to  the  common  cause  re- 
volted his  honest  military  feelings.  Napoleon's  landing  and  triumphant 
course  were  the  signal  for  his  taking  up  arms.  The  emperor  in  vain 
warned  him  against  over-hasty  proceedings.  Without  waiting  to  see 
what  course  events  would  take,  Murat  declared  war  against  Austria,  and 
called  the  people  of  Italy  to  arms  to  defend  the  unity  and  independence 

of  the  beautiful  land  of  the  Apennines.     The  battle  of  To- 
Alay  23, 1815.  .       .  .         ,  .         ,  .  ,     ,  ,       ,  ., 

lentmo  went  agamst  him ;  his  army  melted  away,  and  whilst 

ho  was  flying  in  haste  to  the  south  of  France,  the  Austrians  marched 
into  his  capital  and  gave  back  his  crown  to  its  former  possessor,  Ferdi- 
nand. After  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  Murat  wandered  for  some  time 
around  the  south  coast  of  France,  only  carefully  concealing  himself  from 
the  pursuit  of  the  Bourbons.  At  length  he  escaped  to  Corsica,  and  un- 
dertook from  thence  a  voyage  to  Calabria,  for  the  purpose  of  exciting 
the  people  to  revolt  against  Ferdinand.  But  he  and  his  few  followers 
were  easily  overpowered,  and  Murat  paid  the  penalty  of  his  attempt  with 
his  life.  On  the  15th  of  October,  Joachim  Murat,  who  by  his  courage 
and  good  fortune  had  been  raised  from  the  son  of  an  innkeeper  to  be  tha 
king  of  the  most  beautiful  of  lands,  was  shot  at  Pizzo. 


406  THE  LATEST  PERIOD. 

§  603.  Napoleon's  fate  was  decided  even  earlier.  The  European 
powers  set  upwards  of  lialf  a  million  of  men  in  motion  against  the  out- 
lawed usurper.  Before  they  had  all  marched  forth,  Napoleon,  after  the 
opening  of  the  Chambers  of  Paris,  advanced,  with  the  soldiers  that  flocked 
to  him  from  all  quarters,  into  the  Netherlands,  to  make  head  against  the 
armies  of  Wellington  and  Bliicher.  The  commencement  of  the  cam- 
paign was  favorable  to  the  French.  At  Ligny,  the  Prussi- 
ans were  forced  back  after  the  most  desperate  resistance ; 
whilst  at  Quatre  Bras,  Nej  resisted  Wellington's  army,  composed  of 
English,  Dutch,  Hanoverians,  &c.  Blucher  was  wounded  in  the  former 
place,  and  in  the  latter,  the  chivalrous  duke  William  of  Brunswick  found 
his  death.  Even  on  the  decisive  day,  the  victory  was  long  doubtful.  It 
was  not  till  the  Prussians,  at  the  critical  moment,  came  to  the  assistance 
of  the  hardly-pressed  army  of  Wellington,  whilst  marshal  Grouchy,  who 
had  been  despatched  by  Napoleon  to  follow  Blucher,  kept  aloof  from  the 
field,  that  the  French,  despite  the  heroic  bravery  of  the  veteran  warriors, 
were  totally  defeated  in  the  battle  of  Belle-Alliance  or 
Waterloo.  The  struggle  on  the  height  of  Mount  St.  Jean, 
from  whence  the  French  name  the  battle,  was  terrible ;  and  the  words 
which  were  afterwards*  attributed  to  General  Cambronne,  "  The  guard 
dies,  it  never  surrenders  ! "  were  retained  by  the  nation  in  honorable  re- 
membrance ;  whilst  the  disgrace  which  Bourmont  incurred  by  his  treach- 
ery, and  Grouchy  by  his  ambiguous  conduct,  could  be  obliterated  by  no 
defence.  Napoleon,  pale  and  confused,  allowed  himself  to  be  led  out  of 
the  battle  by  Soult,  and  hastened  to  Paris.  The  flight  soon  became  gene- 
ral ;  the  whole  of  the  artillery  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy ;  only  a 
fourth  part  of  the  brave  army  was  able  to  escape. 

§  604.  The  Chambers  of  Paris,  in  which  Fouche  was  exhibiting  a 
wretched  display  of  intrigue  and  deceit,  proposed  to  the  emperor,  on  his 
return,  that  he  should  renounce  the  crown.  After  some  resistance,  the 
humbled  potentate  yielded  to  the  proposal ;  he  laid  down  the  govern- 
ment  in  favor  of  his  son,  Napoleon  II.,  and  then  fled  to 
Rochefort,  with  the  purpose  of  escaping  to  America,  when  he 
saw  the  victorious  enemy  a  second  time  approaching  the  walls  of  Paris. 
As  the  English,  however,  held  the  harbor  blockaded.  Napoleon,  trusting 
to  the  generosity  of  the  British  people,  sought  shelter  in  one  of  their 
ehips  (Bellerophon).  But  the  statesmen  who  then  guided  the  helm  had 
no  compassion  for  fallen  greatness.  Arrived  at  the  coast  of  England, 
Napoleon  received  the  terrible  information  that  he  must  pass  the  remain- 
der of  his  life  as  a  state  prisoner  on  the  island  of  St.  Helena.  All  pro- 
testations were  useless:  on  the  18th  of  October,  he  landed  on  the  place 
of  his  banishment,  in  the  midst  of  the  Atlantic  ocean. 

Here  Napoleon  lived,  a  chained  Prometheus,  separated  from  his  friends 
iu  an  unhealthy  climate,  and  under  the  rigid  guardianship   of  the  un  • 


THE  RESTORATION    ANE|    THE  HUNDRED  DAYS.  467 

friendly  governor,  Sir  Hudson  Lowe.  A  few  friends,  among  them  General 
Bertrand  and  his  family,  Montholon,  Las  Casas,  shared  his  banishment. 
Grief  at  his  fall,  want  of  his  accustomed  activity,  and  irritation  at  the 
unworthy  treatment  he  received,  broke  his  proud  and  strong  spirit  before 
its  time.  After  six  years  of  suffering,  he  found  that  quiet  in  the  grave, 
to  which  during  life  he  had  been  a  stranger.  He  died  on  the  5th  of  May, 
1821.  His  ashes  were  afterwards  conveyed  to  Paris  (1842),  and  buried 
in  the  Hotel  of  Invalides. 

§  605.   After  Napoleon's    abdication,  a  provisional   government   was 
established  under  the  direction  of  Fouch^.     The  latter  arranged  with 
"Wellington  and  Blucher  that  no  man  was  to  be  punished  for  his  actions 
or  opinions,  and  then  surrendered  the  capital.     A  few  days 
^  ^  *  later,  the  Bourbons  again  entered  the  Tuileries,  under  the 

guard  of  foreign  bayonets.  The  people  were  quiet  and  indifferent.  The 
armies  were  disbanded,  the  Chambers  dissolved,  and  by  a  succession  of 
proscriptions,  a  number  of  men,  who  had  hitherto  guided  the  fate  of 
France  and  of  her  armies,  were  either  deprived  of  their  offices,  thrust 
into  banishment,  or,  as  in  the  case  of  Ney  and  Labedoyere,  condemned  to 
death.*  The  allied  monarchs  again  established  their  residence  in  Paris, 
and  assisted  the  Bourbons  in  settling  the  new  system.  At  length,  when 
November  t^i®  Restoration  appeared  secure,  the  second  Peace  of  Paris 
20, 1815.  was  arranged,  by  which  France  was  confined  to  the  bounda- 

ries of  1790,  restored  all  the  plundered  treasures  of  art  and  science  to 
their  former  owners,  paid  700,000,000  francs  for  the  expenses  of  war, 
and  was  obliged  to  support  an  allied  army  of  150,000  men  in  the  frontier 
fortresses.  These  garrison  troops  remained  for  three  years  in  the  French 
fortresses. 

*  Labedoyere  and  Ney  were  condemned  to  death  by  the  Court  of  Peers,  and  shot. 
The  execution  of  the  renowned  marshal  of  the  Moskwa,  who,  when  he  was  shot,  with 
military  spirit  gave  the  word  of  command  himself,  was  looked  upon  as  an  infraction 
of  the  treaty  arranged  with  Wellington,  and  brought  great  disgrace  upon  the  court  of 
Paris.  Lavalette  also,  who,  in  his  capacity  of  director  of  the  post,  had  exerted  himself 
for  Napoleon's  restoration,  was  condemned  to  death,  but  was  delivered  from  prison 
by  his  faithful  Avife.  Among  the  banished  were  to  be  found  all  the  members  of  Na- 
poleon's family  ;  the  marshals  and  statesmen  who  had  joined  him  during  the  hundred 
days,  as  Soult,  Claret,  Thibaudeau,  Mouton,  &c.  ;  and  finally,  all  the  regicides,  ».  e. 
the  members  of  the  Convention  who  had  voted  for  Louis  XVI.'s  death  ;  Fouchd  was 
one  of  these,  and  he  was  accordingly  obliged  to  relinquish  the  office  of  minister  of 
police,  which  he  had  at  first  been  allowed  by  the  Bourbons  to  retain,  and  to  retire 
abroad.  Camot,  Sieyes,  Cambac^res,  and  others  did  the  same.  Most  of  them  resided  m 
Brussels.  -h 


% 


468  THE  LATEST  PERIOD. 


E.    THE   UNITED   STATES   OF  AMERICA, 

PROM  THE  FORMATION  OF  THE  FEDERAL  CONSTITUTION,  TO  THB 
PEACE  OF  1815. 

Washington's  Administration.  [1789-1797.]  §  606.  George 
"Washington,  having  been  unanimously  reelected  at  the  expiration  of  his 
first  term  of  office,  was  President  of  the  United  States  for  eight  years, — • 
a  period  long  enough  to  fix,  in  many  respects,  the  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  to  determine  the  practical  character  of  the  new  constitution. 
The  country  was  doubly  fortunate  in  securing  his  services  for  so  long  a 
period,  and  at  this  particular  crisis  in  its  affairs.  Others  may  have  been 
equally  patriotic  and  disinterested;  but  no  other  person  could  have 
brought  to  the  office  an  equal  weight  of  character  and  influence,  or  so 
happy  a  combination  of  calmness  of  judgment,  equanimity  in  good  and  ill 
fortune,  impartiality  towards  individuals,  and  inflexibility  of  purpose. 
The  friends  and  opponents  of  the  Federal  Constitution  were  already 
arrayed  against  each  other  as  two  political  parties,  styled  respectively 
the  Federalists  and  the  Democrats,  between  whom  the  people  were  very 
equally  divided,  and  who  contended  vehemently  with  each  other  for  the 
control  of  affairs,  each  hoping  to  imprint  its  peculiar  principles  upon  the 
early  measures  of  the  administration,  and  upon  the  organization  of  the 
government.  The  Federalists  were  reproached  as  being  anti-republican 
and  even  monarchical  in  their  notions  and  their  measures ;  and  they,  in 
return,  charged  their  adversaries  with  hostility  towards  any  stable  form 
of  government  or  any  effective  union  of  the  States,  with  indifference  as 
to  the  preservation  of  the  public  faith  and  credit,  and  with  carrying  their 
democratic  principles  so  far  as  to  undermine  eve^ry  species  of  authority 
and  reduce  the  nation  to  anarchy.  Washington's  election  to  the  presi- 
dency was  not  a  party  triumph ;  in  the  opinion  even  of  his  opponents, 
he  was  without  and  above  all  party  ties, —  the  only  man  in  the  Union 
who  possessed  the  confidence  of  the  whole  people.  He  had  no  personal 
preferences  or  prejudices ;  but  politically,  he  was  a  strong  Federalist,  an 
avowed  defender  of  every  thing  which  tended  to  give  unity  and  strength 
to  the  central  government.  He  deplored  the  excesses  of  party  spirit, 
and  it  was  his  constant  endeavor  to  moderate  or  prevent  them.  Upon 
this  principle,  he  formed  his  first  cabinet,  appointing  Jefferson,  the  Demo- 
cratic leader.  Secretary  of  State,  and  Hamilton,  the  ablest  of  the  Fede- 
ralists, Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Knox  and  Randolph,  the  Secretary 
of  War  and  the  Attorney-General,  were  also  opposed  to  each  other  in 
politics,  and  strongly  contrasted  in  personal  character.  But  under  Wash- 
ington's firm,  dignified,  and  impartial  guidance,  these  men  worked  to* 
gether  zealously  and  efficiently ;  and  through  them,  the  President  main* 


THE   UNITED    STATES    OF   AMERICA.  469 

tained  his  influence  with  parties,  and  preserved  the  national  and  equally 
balanced  character  of  his  administration. 

§  607.  To  establish  a  revenue  for  the  maintenance  of  government,  and  to 
provide  for  the  debts  contracted  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  were  the 
first  objects  that  claimed  the  attention  of  Congress.  Hamilton's  financial 
talents  were  of  the  highest  order,  and  the  plans  which  he  proposed  for 
the  accomplishment  of  these  ends,  though  vehemently  contested,  were 
finally  approved  and  carried  into  effect  with  the  happiest  results.  As 
the  government  for  more  than  ten  years  had  been  bankrupt,  the  public 
securities,  or  evidences  of  its  indebtedness,  had  passed  from  hand  to 
hand  at  prices  far  below  their  nominal  value ;  and  the  Democrats  now 
strenuously  maintained  that  they  should  be  redeemed  at  no  higher  rate 
than  their  present  possessors  had  paid  for  them.  But  Hamilton  declared 
tliat  the  public  faith  must  be  kept  by  paying  the  whole  amount  which 
the  government  had  originally  promised,  and  also  by  assuming  the  debts 
which  the  individual  States  had  contracted  in  support  of  the  common 
cause.  The  aggregate  debt  was  a  portion  of  the  price  which  the  whole 
nation  had  paid  for  its  freedom ;  and  the  burden  of  it,  therefore,  ought 
to  be  equally  borne  by  the  whole  people.  It  was  the  dictate  of  sound 
policy,  also,  as  well  as  of  abstract  justice,  that  all  pecuniary  obligations 
should  be  faithfully  discliarged ;  for  public  credit  would  thus  be  main- 
tained for  any  future  exigency,  and  the  government  would  be  strength- 
ened, as  the  great  body  of  the  public  creditors,  the  wealthiest  and  most 
influential  class  in  the  community,  would  be  directly  interested  in  its 
support.  These  views  ultimately  prevailed  by  a  small  majority, — a 
majority  obtained  in  one  case  only  by  an  agreement  to  transfer  the  seat 
of  government  from  Philadelphia  to  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  thus  con- 
ciliating the  favor  q^some  members  of  Congress  from  the  southern 
States.  The  whole  amount  of  debt  thus  consolidated  and  funded  was 
about  eighty  millions  of  dollars.  At  Hamilton's  recommendation,  also,  a 
Bank  of  the  United  States  was  chartered,  with  a  capital  of  ten  millions, 
one-fifth  of  which  was  subscribed  by  government,  while  individuals,  who 
contributed  the  remainder,  were  allowed  to  pay  but  one-fourth  in  cash, 
and  the  other  three-fourths  in  public  stocks.  A  revenue  act  was  also 
passed,  imposing  duties  on  goods  imported  into  the  United  States  and  on 
tonnage,  due  discrimination  being  made  so  as  to  encourage  American 
manufactures  and  shipping.  The  effect  of  these  measures  upon  public 
confidence  and  the  interests  of  commerce  was  almost  magical.  The 
large  amount  of  public  stocks  thus  created  furnished  capital  and  cur- 
rency, neariy  as  available  as  coin,  and  far  more  secure  than  paper  money. 
The  funding  system  afforded  a  guaranty  of  the  stability  of  the  Union, 
and  encouraged  merchants  to  undertake  the  large  enterprises,  an  opening 
for  which  was  created  by  the  country's  release  from  the  shackles  of  colo- 
nial dependence.  A  trade  sprang  up  with  India,  China,  and  the  north- 
40 


470  THE   LATEST  PERIOD. 

west  coast  of  the  American  continent;  and  the  flag  of  the  new  nation 
was  soon  displayed  in  every  sea,  in  friendly  competition  with  that  of  the 
great  naval  power,  which  threatened,  a  few  years  before,  almost  to  mono- 
polize the  commerce  of  the  earth.  The  population  continuing  to  multi- 
ply and  expand,  new  States  were  successively  formed  and  admitted  into 
the  Union,  and  the  strength  of  the  chain  seemed  to  increase  with  every 
addition  to  the  number  of  its  links.  Thus,  a  long  pending  controversy 
between  New  York,  New  Hampshire,  and  the  "  Green  Mountain  Boys," 
respecting  the  ownership  of  the  territory  between  the  Connecticut  river 
and  Lake  Champlain,  was  at  length  adjusted  by  the  creation  of  the  new 
State  of  Vermont ;  and  soon  afterwards,  Kentucky  was  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union,  the  first  State  formed  in  the  great 
valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

§  G08.  The  progress  of  the  settlements  at  the  west,  however,  was  much 
retarded  by  hostilities  with  the  Indian  tribes  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  the 
Miami,  and  the  Wabash.  These  claimed  the  Ohio  river  as  the  boundary 
of  their  territory,  being  encouraged  to  put  forward  this  claim,  and  to 
support  it  by  making  w^ir  upon  the  Americans,  by  the  British  authorities 
in  Canada  and  at  those  military  posts  on  the  Lakes  and  the  upper  tribu- 
taries of  the  Mississippi,  which  were  still  retained  as  a  security  for  the 
due  performance  of  certain  articles  in  the  treaty  of  peace.  The  United 
States  had  too  hastily  disarmed  themselves  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution- 
ary struggle ;  weary  of  the  war,  and  unable  to  pay  the  troops,  the  whole 
army,  with  an  insignificant  exception,  had  been  disbanded.  The  only 
force,  therefore,  which  could  now  be  sent  against  the  savages,  was  com- 
posed almost  entirely  of  militia,  who  could  not  be  relied  upon  for  the 
great  hazards  and  exposures  of  a  conflict  with  the  Indians  in  their  forest 
home.  Gen.  Ilarmer  was  first  sent  against  them,  with  1,100  men ;  but 
several  of  his  detachments  were  surprised  and  defeated,  and  he  returned 
October,  in  disgrace,  before  he  had  accomplished  any  thing.     Further 

l''90-  attempts  to  settle  the  difficulties  by  negotiation  having  failed, 

St.  Clair  was  next  sent,  with  an  army  of  2,000  men,  into  the  Indian 
country;  but  when  he  had  reached  the  banks  of  the  Wabash,  the  savages 
November  4  attacked  his  camp  by  surprise  in  the  grey  of  the  morning, 
1791.  and  after  some  hard  fighting,  in  which  about  half  of  the 

army  were  killed  or  wounded,  the  others  were  compelled  to  make  a  pre- 
cipitate flight.  Gen.  Wayne,  an  officer  of  much  experience  and  reputa- 
tion, was  then  placed  in  this  difficult  command,  and  great  exertions  were 
made  to  raise  an  adequate  force  to  support  him.  One  year  he  spent  in 
unavailing  negotiations  for  peace,  limiting  his  military  operations  mean- 
while to  the  protection  of  the  frontiers.  In  August,  1794,  he  advanced, 
at  the  head  of  more  than  3,000  men,  totally  defeated  the  Indians  in  one 
hard-fought  engagement,  ravaged  their  principal  settlements,  destroyed 
their  stores,  and  left  a  fort  well  garrisoned  in  the  heart  of  their  country. 


THE   UNITED   STATES   OF   AMERICA.  471 

This  decisive  blow  effectually  cowed  the  native  tribes,  who  soon  con- 
sented to  a  peace,  the  faithful  observance  of  which  for  many  years 
left  no  check  to  the  marvellously  rapid  growth  of  the  settlements  at  the 
west. 

§  G09.  Another  difficulty  which  the  government  had  to  contend  with  was 
the  disaffection  created  by  the  excise  taxes  that  had  been  imposed  to  eke 
out  the  revenue  obtained  from  duties  on  imported  goods.  The  tax  on 
distilled  spirits,  especially,  bore  hard  upon  the  western  counties  of  Penn- 
sylvania, where  the  people,  from  the  imperfect  means  of  transportation, 
could  not  obtain  a  market  for  their  grain  except  by  distilling  it  into  whis- 
key ;  and  as  they  were  rude  and  turbulent  backwoodsmen,  little  accus- 
tomed to  the  restraints  of  government  and  civilized  life,  they  could  not 
understand  the  necessity  of  paying  a  heavy  excise  on  the  most  profitable 
article  which  they  prepared  for  sale.  They  set  the  law  at  defiance,  at- 
tacked the  revenue  officers,  drove  back  the  few  soldiers  who  were  sent 
to  defend  them,  and  entered  into  extensive  combinations  to  resist  the 
government.  A  proclamation  of  the  President,  calling  on  the  magistrates 
to  execute  the  laws,  had  no  effect ;  and  it  was  computed  that  there  were 
over  7,000  insurgents  prepared  to  carry  out  their  purposes  by  force  of 
arms.  Washington  then  resolved  to  vindicate  the  majesty  of  the  laws 
by  employing  a  force  large  enough  to  prevent  any  show  of  resistance. 
The  militia  of  four  of  the  States  was  called  out,  to  the  number  of  15,000 

^  ,  ^  men,  and  Gen.  Lee,  of  Virginia,  marched  at  their  head  into 
October,  1794.    ,      '       ^         ,  .  ,     ^  „  ,  ,       . 

the  disanected  counties,  and  enectually  put  down  the  msur- 

rection  without  bloodshed.  Some  leaders  of  the  movement  were  tried 
and  convicted  of  treason ;  but  they  were  all  pardoned,  and  this  lenity 
won  back  the  affections  of  those  who  had  gone  astray,  while  the  vigor 
and  promptitude  that  had  been  shown  made  a  great  addition  to  the 
strength  of  the  government. 

§  GIO.  Mr.  Jay,  who  had  been  appointed  minister  to  England  for  the 
purpose,  succeeded  at  last  in  forming  a  treaty  with  that  power,  which  ad- 
justed many  subjectsof  controversy  between  the  two  nations,  though  it  left 
others  still  pending.  The  treaty  of  peace  of  1783  had  been  very  imper- 
fectly observed  on  both  sides.  Debts  to  British  subjects,  contracted  be- 
fore the  war,  could  not  be  recovered  until  the  national  judiciary  had  been 
established  under  the  Federal  Constitution,  and  many  of  them  remained 
still  undischarged,  and  the  Loyalists  could  not  recover  their  confiscated 
estates ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  British  troops,  when  they  evacuated  the 
country,  had  carried  off  many  slaves,  for  whom  compensation  was  de- 
manded, and  the  military  posts  on  the  northwestern  frontier  had  not  been 
delivered  up.  The  possession  of  these  forts  enabled  the  British  to  con- 
trol the  trade  with  the  Indians,  and  even,  as  was  supposed,  to  incite  them 
to  hostilities  against  the  United  States.  The  breaking  out  of  the  war 
between  revolutionary  France  and  England  opened  t^ie  immense  profits 


472  THE    LATEST    PERIOD. 

of  a  neutral  trade  to  the  Americans,  but  also  exposed  tliem  to  the  many 
annoyances  and  vexations  that  resulted  from  the  exercise  of  belligerent 
rights  against  neutrals.  American  seamen,  not  being  easily  distinguish- 
Rble  from  Englishmen,  were  often  impressed  to  serve  on  British  men-of- 
war,  and  American  ships  were  overhauled  to  search  for  contraband  goods. 
Naval  stores,  also,  were  asserted  by  the  English  to  be  contraband  of  war, 
though  in  other  treaties  they  were  regarded  as  free  goods.  Jay's  treaty 
was  the  best  that  could  be  obtained  at  the  time,  though  it  had  many  ac- 
knowledged deficiencies ;  but  as  it  removed  many  subjects  of  dispute,  and 
averted  a  renewal  of  the  war  between  the  two  countries,  which  seemed 
to  be  imminent  if  no  treaty  were  framed,  the  Senate  approv- 
"°'  '  ^*  ed  it  by  a  very  close  vote,  and  it  was  ratified  by  the  Presi- 
dent. A  storm  of  popular  indignation  immediately  burst  forth,  in  which 
were  united  all  the  old  feeling  of  hostility  towards  England  and  the  ill 
will  that  had  been  nursed  by  the  recent  controversies.  The  discussion 
of  the  subject  agitated  the  whole  country  during  the  autumn,  and  it  soon 
appeared,  when  Congress  came  together  in  the  winter,  that  a  large  num- 
ber, if  not  a  majority,  of  the  Representatives  were  fiercely  opposed  to 
the  execution  of  the  treaty.  But  the  President  firmly  maintained  his 
ground,  against  the  insane  clamor  out  of  doors  and  the  fierce  opposition 
in  Congress  ;  and  after  a  vehement  debate,  the  appropriations  that  were 
needed  to  carry  out  the  compact  were  made  by  a  majority  of  two,  and 
the  treaty  went  into  effect.  Its  happy  results  soon  proved  that  Wash- 
ington's course  had  been  as  enlightened  and  far-sighted,  as  it  unquestion- 
ably was  dignified  and  independent. 

§  611.  The  troubles  growing  out  of  the  French  Revolution  were  not  con- 
fined to  the  European  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  agitation  reached  the  United 
States  also,  and,  for  a  time,  the  republican  institutions  of  America  seemed 
to  reel  under  that  shock  which  had  prostrated  so  many  monarchies  in 
the  Old  World.  New  bitterness  and  violence  were  added  to  the  former 
dissension  between  the  two  great  parties  into  which  the  people  were 
divided ;  the  Democrats  generally  espoused  the  cause  of  France,  with  a 
pardonable  preference  for  what  seemed  to  be  the  cause  of  freedom  and 
enlightenment  against  the  old  powers  of  despotism  and  darkness  ;  while 
the  Federalists,  deploring  the  excesses  into  which  the  revolutionists  of 
France  had  plunged,  and  foreseeing  the  anarchy  and  final  triumph  of  mili- 
tary usurpation  which  would  be  their  inevitable  result,  —  animated  also 
by  a  lingering  attachment  for  the  land  of  their  forefathers,  their  language, 
and  their  faith,  —  by  a  love  which  ten  years  of  conflict  had  failed  to  ex- 
tinguish, and  which  a  rapid  extension  of  the  commercial  ties  between  the 
two  countries  was  now  kindling  anew,  —  generally  looked  with  favor  and 
hope  towards  England.  Unfortunately,  belligerent  France  and  England, 
in  the  fury  of  their  contest  with  each  other,  both  disregarded,  or  rather 
designedly  trampled  upon,  the  neutral  rights  of  America.     There  was, 


THE   UNITED    STATES    OF   AMERICA.  473 

perhaps,  legitimate  cause  of  war  against  both  countries ;  but  the  Demo- 
crats clamored  for  war  against  England,  and  were  disposed  to  overlook 
or  excuse  all  slights  and  injuries  received  from  her  opponent ;  while  the 
Federalists  were  hostile  to  France,  and  palliated  every  wrong  which 
Great  Britain  could  commit.  Again  the  firmness,  moderation,  and  wis- 
dom of  Washington  were  the  means  of  saving  the  people  from  the  disas- 
ters and  sufferings  of  another  war,  and  from  the  effects  of  their  own 
furious  party  conflicts  and  ill  regulated  passions.  He  saw  no  causes  of 
dispute,  which  had  yet  arisen,  that  could  not  be  removed  or  palliated  by 
patience  and  amicable  negotiation ;  he  saw,  also,  that  the  country  abso- 
lutely needed  repose  and  an  opportunity  to  recruit  her  energies,  before 
she  could  engage  in  another  struggle  with  one  of  the  great  powers  of 
Europe,  with  any  hope  of  success,  or  even  of  safety.  Jay*s  treaty  had 
averted  for  a  time  the  hazard  of  war  M-ith  England ;  and  Washington 
had  also  issued  a  memorable  proclamation  of  Neutrality,  ad- 
'  '  monishing  the  people  of  their  duty  to  observe  the  strictest 
impartiality  between  the  two  belligerent  powers,  and  to  abstain  from 
every  act  which  could  justly  give  umbrage  to  either.  This  naturally 
gave  great  offence  to  the  party,  which,  remembering  the  obligations  of 
America  to  France  for  aid  bounteously  given  in  the  hour  of  her  necessity, 
and  sympathizing  with  those  who  assumed  to  defend  the  riglits  of  the 
people  everywhere  against  the  oppression  of  their  hereditary  rulers,  was 
eager  to  defend  by  arras  the  cause  of  the  French  Revolution.  They 
were  insanely  desirous  of  plunging  into  the  vortex  of  European  politics 
and  a  foreign  war.  The  French  republican  government,  also,  adopted 
an  insolent  and  overbearing  tone  in  its  diplomacy,  whicli  added  fuel  to 
the  flame  of  excitement  in  the  United  States.  Citizen  Genet,  the  French 
envoy  to  America,  was  received  with  a  popular  ovation  in  Charleston 
and  other  places,  which  so  inflamed  his  ardent  temper  and  republican 
zeal,  that  he  authorized  privateers  to  be  fitted  out  to  cniise  against  the 
enemies  of  France,  and  when  checked  in  his  outrageous  conduct,  threat- 
ened to  appeal  from  the  government  to  the  people.  But  this  was  going 
too  far ;  even  his  friends  resented  this  insult  to  their  great  President, 
and  Washington  demanded  and  obtained  his  recall.  The  conduct  of  his 
successor,  M.  Fauchet,  though  more  moderate,  was  still  offensive ;  and 
the  administration  had  a  difficult  task  in  preventing  him  from  stirring  up 
the  people  to  the  commission  of  acts  which  would  afford  England  a  just 
pretext  for  hostihties.  But  the  vast  influence  and  reputation  of  the 
President,  and  the  evident  interest  which  the  country  had  in  the  pre- 
servation of  peace,  moderated  the  excitement,  and  the  aggressive  conduct 
of  the  French,  in  making  many  captures  of  American  vessels  on  very 
Blight  pretexts,  soon  weaned  the  nation  from  its  excessive  admiration  for 
their  principles.  The  government  had  the  wisdom  and  good  fortune  also, 
40* 


474  THE  LATEST  PEEIOD. 

after  the  difRculties  with  Spain  had  risen  to  an  alarming  height,  to  form 
a  treaty  with  that  power,  which  not  only  secured  the  continu- 
ance of  peace,  but  gave  to  the  United  States  the  frae  navi- 
gation of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  privilege  of  depositing  cargoes  at  New 
Orleans. 

§  G12.  When  the  close  of  the  second  period  of  his  administration  was  at 
hand,  Washington  determined  to  seek  that  repose  in  private  life  of  which  he 
had  long  been  desirous.  He  prepared  and  published  a  Farewell  Address 
to  his  countrymen,  in  which  he  announced  to  them  this  resolution,  and 
added  wise  and  affectionate  advice  respecting  their  future  course,  and  the 
evils  with  which  the  young  republic  was  menaced.  Especially  he  warned 
them  against  foreign  influence  and  interference  in  the  controversies  of 
European  nations ;  against  all  measures  which  tended  to  a  separation  of 
the  Union,  or  to  array  parties  against  each  other  by  geographical  discri- 
minations ;  against  the  excesses  of  party  spirit,  and  the  first  symptoms  of 
disregard  for  the  authority  of  the  laws.  "  The  very  idea  of  the  power 
and  right  of  the  people  to  establish  government,  presupposes  the  duty  of 
every  individual  to  obey  the  established  government."  This  Address 
was  received  and  read  throughout  the  Union  with  sentiments  approaching 
to  veneration,  and  has  probably  contributed  more  than  any  state  paper 
that  was  ever  framed  to  guide  the  conduct  and  control  the  destiny  of  a 
whole  people.  Washington  retired  to  his  estate  at  Mount  Vernon,  where 
he  spent  the  short  remaining  period  of  his  life  in  arranging  his  papers 
and  cultivating  an  extensive  farm.  He  died  on  the  14th  of  December, 
1799,  leaving  a  reputation  unequalled  in  the  world's  history  as  a  patriot 
leader  and  statesman,  "  first  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts 
of  his  countrymen." 

Adams's  Administration,  [1797-1801.]  §  613.  John  Adams,  the  can- 
didate of  the  Federal  party,  was  elected  President  for  the  third  term,  by 
a  majority  of  only  two  votes  over  Thomas  Jefferson,  who  was  supported 
by  the  Democrats.  His  administration  was  a  turbulent  and  rather  un- 
fortunate one.  In  spite  of  his  eminent  services  during  the  Revolutionary 
period,  and  his  acknowledged  abilities  and  integrity,  he  did  not  enjoy  so 
much  consideration  with  his  own  party  as  Hamilton,  who  was  an  admirable 
political  leader ;  and  his  opponents  wrongly  attributed  to  him  arbitrary 
and  monarchical  notions  of  government.  HiS  own  views  of  policy  were 
generally  sound  ;  but  his  quick,  vehement,  and  self-willed  disposition  sel- 
dom allowed  him  to  seek  or  follow  the  counsels  of  others,  so  that  he  often 
suffered  more  in  the  estimation  of  his  friends  than  in  that  of  his  oppo- 
nents. Dissension  soon  appeared  in  the  ranks  of  the  Federalists,  and 
they  lost  ground  with  the  people,  while  the  other  party  every  day 
acquired  fresh  strength.  The  relations  of  the  country  with  France  still 
formed  the  chief  difficulty  of  the  government,  and  the  principal  subject  of 
dispute  between  the  two  parties.     The  Directory  were  now  in  power  at 


THE  UNITED   STATES   OF   AMERICA.  475 

Paris,  and  their  feeble,  but  aggressive  and  rapacious,  policy  -u  as  nowhere 
more  signally  manifested  than  in  their  conduct  towards  America.  They 
refused  to  receive  Thomas  Pinckney,  who  had  been  accredited  to  them  as 
minister  by  Washington,  and  even  ordered  him  to  quit  the  territory  of 
the  repubhc ;  and  this  insult  was  given  at  the  very  time  when  their  pri- 
vateers were  capturing  scores  of  American  vessels,  upon  pretexts  so  slight, 
that,  in  several  cases,  they  were  compelled  to  admit  that  they  owed  repa- 
ration for  the  wrong.  Congress  manifested  a  proper  spirit,  and  imme- 
diately adopted  measures  to  vindicate  the  national  honor.  Laws  were 
passed  to  hold  80,000  militia  in  readiness,  to  fortify  the  harbors,  to  fit 
out  vessels  of  war,  and  to  put  the  country  generally  in  a  state  of  defence. 
Still,  to  manifest  the  sincerity  of  their  desire  for  peace,  Pinckney,  Mar- 
shall, and  Gerry,  (the  last  named  being  a  Democrat,  and  therefore  re- 
garded as  friendly  to  France,)  were  sent  out  as  joint  envoys  to  the 
French  Republic,  to  seek  for  a  reconciliation.  On  their  arrival  at  Paris, 
a  reception  was  denied  them ;  but  it  was  intimated  to  them  unofficially, 
that,  on  the  payment  of  a  heavy  bribe  to  the  individual  members  of  the 
Directory,  and  the  loan  of  a  considerable  sum  to  the  republic,  a  negotia- 
tion might  be  opened.  This  proposal  excited  general  disgust  and  indig- 
nation in  America.  "  Millions  for  defence,  but  not  a  cent  for  tribute," 
was  the  almost  universal  cry  ;  and  vigorous  preparations  were  instantly 
made  for  war,  to  which  the  Democratic  party  offered  hardly  any  opposi- 
tion. Large  additional  grants  were  made  for  the  increase  of  the  navy, 
the  purchase  of  arms  and  ammunition,  and  the  fortification  of  the  harbors ; 
and  the  President  was  authorized  to  raise,  when  necessary,  an  army  of 
10,000  men,  besides  accepting  the  services  of  volunteers.  There  was  a 
great  revulsion  of  opinion  throughout  the  country,  which  contributed 
largely  to  postpone  the  decline  and  fall  of  the  Federalist  party.  Ships 
of  war  were  authorized  to  capture  any  armed  vessels  which  had  com- 
mitted depredations  on  American  commerce,  or  which  were  found  cruis- 
ing near  the  coast  with  the  apparent  purpose  of  committing  such  acts. 
There  were  many  French  emigrants  in  the  country,  and  some  of  these 
were  suspected  of  acting  as  government  emissaries  or  spies ;  the  Presi- 
dent was  therefore  authorized  to  send  out  of  the  country  any  foreigner 
whose  residence  in  it  he  might  consider  to  be  dangerous.  Another  act 
was  passed,  to  define  more  precisely  the  crime  of  treason,  and  to  define 
and  punish  that  of  sedition,  which  subjected  to  fine  and  imprisonment  any 
person  who,  by  writing,  printing,  or  speaking,  should  attempt  to  justify 
the  hostile  conduct  of  the  French,  or  to  defame  or  weaken  the  govern- 
ment or  laws  of  the  United  States.  These  two  laws,  known  as  the  Alien 
and  the  Sedition  Acts,  passed  while  the  people  were  in  a  feverish  state 
from  the  vehemence  of  party  controversy,  and  only  to  be  justified  by  the 
magnitude  of  the  war  then  deemed  to  be  imminent,  were  afterwards  the 
objects  of  bitter  reproach,  and  contributed  largely  to  the  downfall  of  tha 
Federalists. 


476  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

§614.  The  authority  given  to  act  against  French  armed  vessels,  now 
extended  to  permission  to  capture  them  under  any  circumstances,  did  not 
long  remain  unexercised.  The  frigate  Constellation,  Captain  Truxton, 
captured  the  French  frigate,  L'  Insurgente,  of  superior  force,  after  an 
hour's  action.  Truxton  afterwards  engaged  a  still  heavier  French  frigate, 
La  Vengeance,  and  nearly  disabled  her,  though  she  succeeded  in  escaping 
in  the  night.  Some  other  French  cruisers  were  taken,  and,  under  the 
commissions  granted  to  private  armed  vessels,  over  fifty  French  privateers 
were  captured  and  brought  into  port,  and  many  American  merchantmen 
were  re-captured.  Still,  war  was  not  formally  declared,  and  the  probability 
of  its  occurrence  was  now  much  lessened  by  a  sudden  and  eccentric  act  on 
the  part  of  President  Adams,  who,  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  his  party, 
and  without  even  consulting  the  members  of  his  cabinet,  surprised  every- 
body by  nominating  another  minister  to  France,  to  make  another  attempt 
at  negotiation.  This  act  occasioned  an  irreparable  breach  in  the  Federal 
party.  Hamilton,  Pickering,  and  other  leaders  of  it  made  hardly  any 
secret  of  their  aversion  to  the  President.  Owing  to  the  reverses  in  war 
which  the  French  had  lately  experienced,  and  to  a  consequent  change  in 
the  Directory,  assurances  were  sent  that  the  new  mission  from  the  United 
States  would  be  kindly  received.  In  fact,  on  their  arrival  in  France,  the 
ministers  found  that  a  revolution  had  taken  place,  and  that  Bonaparte 
was  now  at  the  head  of  affairs,  who,  not  wishing  to  have  another  enemy 
on  his  hands,  was  eager  to  negotiate.  Difficulties  obstructed  the  conclu- 
sion of  a  perfect  treaty ;  but  a  convention  was  agreed  upon,  by  which  all 
captured  property  not  already  condemned  was  to  be  restored,  the  indem- 
nities mutually  claimed  were  referred  to  future  negotiations,  and  all  pre- 
sent hazard  of  war  was  averted. 

§  615.  The  dissensions  of  the  Federalists  had  already  foreshadowed  the 
defeat  of  their  party  at  the  approaching  presidential  election.  Adams  and 
Pinckney,  their  candidates,  received  but  sixty-five  electoral  votes,  w^hile 
seventy-three  were  cast  for  Jefferson  and  Burr,  the  favorites  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  As  these  two  had  an  equal  number,  it  devolved  upon  the 
House  of  Representatives,  as  the  Constitution  then  stood,  to  decide  which 
of  them  should  be  President,  and  which,  Vice-President.  The  Federal- 
ists, who  then  had  the  control  of  the  House,  formed  the  strange  and  fac- 
tious project  of  electing  Burr  instead  of  Jefferson  to  the  higher  office,  in 
order  to  spoil  the  victory  of  their  opponents,  and  because  they  entertained 
a  faint  hope  that  the  former,  owing  his  unexpected  elevation  to  them, 
might  adopt  a  policy  more  favorable  to  the  views  of  their  party.  The 
scheme  was  indefensible  either  on  moral  or  political  grounds,  and  most 
of  the  people  rejoiced  when  it  was  frustrated.  After  remaining  in  session 
seven  days,  and  balloting  thirty-six  times,  some  of  the  Federalists  gave 
way,  and  Jefi'erson  was  chosen.  The  office  of  Vice-President  then  de- 
volved of  right  upon  Burr.     To  prevent  the  repetition  of  so  discreditable 


THE   UXITED    STATES    OF   AMERICA.  477 

a  scene,  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution  was  soon  effected,  which  re- 
quired each  elector  to  vote  separately  for  a  President  and  a  Vice-Presi- 
dent. 

Jefferson's  Administration.  [1801-1809.]  §  616.  The  country 
was  in  a  very  prosperous  state  when  Jefferson's  party  came  into  power. 
The  serious  difficulties  that  obstructed  the  formation  of  the  government 
had  all  been  removed ;  the  finances  and  the  several  departments  of-  the 
government  had  been  fully  organized,  and  the  system  was  in  complete 
and  successful  operation.  The  responsibility  of  devising  the  requisite 
measures  for  these  ends  had  fallen  upon  the  Federalists,  the  odium  which 
many  of  them  had  occasioned  had  been  spent,  and  the  Democrats  now 
entered  upon  the  enjoyment  of  their  predecessors'  labors.  The  revenue, 
commerce,  and  population  of  the  country  had  increased  with  unexampled 
rapidity.  The  census  of  1801  showed  that  the  population  amounted  to 
5,300,000,  being  an  increase  of  nearly  a  million  and  a  half  in  ten  years. 
Within  the  same  period,  the  exports  had  risen  from  nineteen  to  ninety 
millions,  the  tonnage  had  doubled,  and  the  revenue  was  increased  from 
four  to  twelve  millions.  At  the  same  time,  also,  there  was  a  lull  in  the 
storm  of  European  warfare.  The  peace  of  Luneville  was  concluded 
early  in  1801,  that  of  Amiens  followed  a  year  afterwards,  and  hostilities 
were  not  recommenced  till  May,  1803.  Thus,  all  the  perplexing  and 
dangerous  controversies  respecting  impressment  and  neutral  rights  were 
temporarily  put  at  rest,  and  the  United  States  reaped  the  full  benefits  of 
a  prosperous  and  uninterrupted  commerce.  Even  the  prospect  of  a  re- 
newal of  hostilities  operated  in  one  respect  to  the  advantage  of  the  Ame- 
ricans. Louisiana  had  recently  been  transferred  from  Spain  to  France  ; 
and  as  Bonaparte  foresaw  that  he  could  not  defend  so  distant  a  possession 
against  the  naval  power  of  England,  he  listened  favorably  to  a  proposal 
for  selling  the  territory  to  the  United  States,  who  were  very  anxious  to 
obtain  it,  as  it  would  secure  to  them  the  uninterrupted  navigation'of  the 
Mississippi.  A  treaty  was  concluded  in  April,  1803,  which  made  over 
Louisiiuia  to  the  United  States  upon  the  payment  of  fifteen  millions  of 
dollars,  one-fourth  of  this  sum  being  retained  to  meet  the  claims  for  the 
French  spoliations  of  American  commerce.  Congress  had  no  power  ex- 
pressly granted  in  the  Constitution  to  purchase  additional  territory;  and 
as  the  Democratic  party  had  always  maintained  that  all  powers  not  spe- 
cifically enumerated  were  reserved  to  the  States,  it  was  a  little  awkward 
for  Jefferson  to  complete  this  contract.  But  as  no  one  doubted  the  great 
utility  of  this  vast  accession  of  territory,  or  that  it  had  been  obtained  on 
reasonable  teriiis,  he  swallowed  his  scruples,  and  his  adherents  did  the 
same. 

§  617.  The  depredations  of  the  Barbary  powers  upon  the  commerce  of 
the  United  States  in  the  Mediterranean,  gave  rise,  in  1801,  to  a  war  with 
Tripoli.     Peace  had  hitherto  been  purchased  with  several  of  these  pira* 


478  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

tical  stcates  by  the  payment  of  a  heavy  annual  tribute ;  but  their  demands 
having  become  inordinate,  a  considerable  naval  force,  commanded  at  first 
by  Morris,  and  afterwards  by  Preble,  was  sent  out  to  blockade  Tripoli, 
and  to  act  as  occasion  might  require  against  the  other  Barbary  powers. 
Several  naval  actions  took  place,  in  which  the  officers  and  crews  dis- 
played great  gallantry,  and  which  caused  the  American  flag  to  be  highly 
respected  in  the  Mediterranean ;  while  the  blockade  kept  the  piratical 
cruisers  in  port,  and  thus  protected  the  commercial  shipping.  But  the 
Tripolitans  were  at  length  brought  to  terms  through  a  very  hazardous 
and  romantic  enterprise,  undertaken  by  a  gallant  American  adventurer, 
named  Eaton.  The  rightful  bashaw  of  Tripoli  had  been  deprived  of  his 
government,  and  exiled,  by  a  younger  brother,  some  years  before.  Eaton 
entered  Into  a  compact  with  him  to  reconquer  his  dominions,  invading 
them  from  the  side  of  Egypt.  A  few  hundred  men  were  collected  for 
this  purpose,  only  one-fourth  of  them  being  Christians,  and  of  these  but 
nine  were  Americans.  This  insignificant  and  motley  troop  crossed  the 
desert,  suffering  frightful  hardships  by  the  way,  captured  the 
'  '  important  Tripolitan  port  of  Derne,  maintained  it  against  an 
attack  by  a  vastly  larger  force  of  the  enemy,  and  so  frightened  the  reign- 
ing bashaw,  that  he  hastily  concluded  a  peace,  conceding  all  the  demands 
of  the  Americans.  A  great,  indirect  advantage  obtained  from  these 
operations  in  the  Mediterranean  was,  that  they  -prevented  the  American 
vessels  of  war  from  going  to  decay,  or  being  sold,  by  the  ill-judged  eco- 
nomy of  Jefferson's  administration.  The  ipSirty  in  power  were  hostile  to 
the  existence  of  a  navy,  partly  because  they  wished  to  diminish  the  ex- 
penditures of  the  national  government,  and  partly  because  they  w^ere 
averse  or  indifferent  to  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  foreign  com- 
mercial interest  of  the  country,  and  sought  to  develope  only  the  agri- 
culture and  home  trade  of  the  States.  Jefferson  wished  to  limit  the 
defensive  efforts  of  the  country  to  some  very  feeble  and  absurd  attempts 
to  protect  the  coasts  and  harbors  by  gun-boats,  which  could  act  only  in 
shallow  waters,  the  idea  being  probably  borrowed  from  Bonaparte's 
curious  maritime  preparations  at  Boulogne.  If  merchants  asked  that  their 
ships  might  be  protected,  they  were  told  to  keep  their  ships  at  home. 
Had  not  the  insults  and  depredations  of  the  Barbary  pirates  roused  the 
national  spirit  so  much  that  it  became  necessary  to  make  some  effort  to 
punish  them,  it  is  probable  that,  before  the  close  of  Jefferson's  adminis- 
tration, the  United  States  would  not  have  had  a  single  ship  of  war  afloat. 
§  618.  The  renewal  of  the  war  in  Europe,  the  constantly  increasing 
aggressions  of  the  belligerent  powers  upon  neutral  commerce,  and  the  dif- 
ferent schemes  proposed  by  the  two  rival  parties  in  the  country  to  meet  and 
repel  these  aggressions,  renewed  the  vehemence  of  party  controversy 
during  the  second  term  of  Jefferson's  administration,  and  gave  a  serious 
check  to  the  commercial  prosperity  of  the  United  States.     The  Demo- 


THE  UNITED   STATES   OF  AMERICA.  479 

crats  retained  their  old  feelings  of  hostility  towards  Great  Britain,  and 
their  predilection  for  France,  though  the  latter  country,  under  the  impe- 
rial sway  of  Napoleon,  was  now,  in  truth,  governed  by  despotic  power. 
The  strength  of  the  Federal  party  lay  in  the  commercial  States,  cities, 
and  towns ;  and  the  intimate  relations  of  an  extensive  foreign  trade  dis- 
posed them  to  resent  but  slightly  the  domineering  and  aggressive  policy 
of  England,  while  they  looked  with  horror  upon  the  conduct  of  the  em- 
peror of  the  French.  But  if  war  should  break  out  with  either  of  the 
rival  powers,  it  was  very  certain,  from  the  administration  policy  of  break- 
ing up  the  navy,  and  limiting  all  efforts  to  coast  and  harbor  defence,  that 
American  commerce  would  be  swept  from  the  ocean.  The  Federalists, 
therefore,  were  bent  upon  preserving  peace  at  all  hazards ;  the  Demo- 
crats, who  depended  chiefly  upon  agriculture,  manufactures,  and  the 
home  trade,  who  saw  no  risk  that  the  country  would  be  invaded,  and 
who,  after  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana,  were  eager  to  gain  possession  of 
Canada  also,  by  conquest,  believing  that  the  EngHsh  had  too  much  to  do 
in  Europe  to  be  able  to  defend  so  distant  a  colony,  were  clamorous  for 
war.  In  these  opposite  feelings  and  desires,  we  find  a  key  to  the  party 
controversies  and  the  domestic  and  foreign  policy  of  the  United  States 
down  to  the  general  pacification  in  1815, 

§  GIO.  In  1806,  Monroe  and  Pinckney  succeeded  in  negotiating  a  treaty 
with  the  English  ministry,  which,  like  Jay's  in  1794,  though  it  left  many 
subjects  of  dispute  undetermined,  still  adjusted  the  most  pressing  contro- 
versies, opened  the  trade  between  the  United  States  and  the  European 
possessions  of  Great  Britain  on  a  footing  of  entire  reciprocity,  and 
afforded  a  tolerable  assurance,  that  peace  might  be  maintained  for  many 
years.  This  treaty  President  Jefferson  rejected,  without  even  con- 
sulting the  Senate,  because  it  did  not  directly  prohibit  the  impress- 
ment of  seamen  from  American  vessels  by  the  British  cruisers,  though 
there  was  a  tacit  understanding  on  the  subject,  which  would  have  led  to 
the  gradual  abandonment  of  the  practice.  Events  soon  showed  tliat  the 
rejection  of  this  treaty  was  an  act  pregnant  with  a  long  series  of  impor- 
tant and  disastrous  consequences.  France  and  England,  endeavoring  to 
retaliate  upon  each  other,  published  a  succession  of  decrees,  the  combined 
effect  of  which  was  almost  to  annihilate  i^utral  commerce,  and  to  subject 
every  American  vessel  engaged  in  foreign  trade  to  capture  and  confisca- 
tion by  one  or  the  other  party.  To  comply  with  the  regulations  made 
by  one  of  the  belligerents,  was  to  afford  grounds  for  seizure  by  the  other. 
November,      The  Berlin  decree,  pubUshed  by  Napoleon,  declared  the 

1806.  British  islands  in  a  state  of  blockade,  and  subjected  to  cap- 
ture every  neutral  vessel  that  attempted  to  trade  with  them ;  this  was 
a  retaliatory  act,  because  England  had  blockaded  several  Continental 
November,       poi'ts  which  she  had  not  invested  by  her  ships  of  war.     Great 

1807.  Britain  now  proceeded  to  decree,  that  neutrals  should  not 


480  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

trade  with  France  or  her  allies  till  they  had  paid  her  a  tribute.  The 
December,  French  emperor  retorted  by  a  decree,  issued  at  Milan,  sub 
1807.  jecting  every  vessel  to  confiscation  which  should  pay  this 

tribute,  or  submit  to  be  visited  by  a  British  cruiser.  The  United  States 
December,  then  engaged  in  this  game  of  prohibitions,  by  passing  the 
1807.  noted  Embargo  Act,  which  closed  the  American  ports  to  all 

foreign  trade  whatever,  either  by  native  or  foreign  vessels ;  even  vessels 
engaged  in  the  coasting  trade  w^ere  required  to  give  heavy  bonds  that 
they  would  reland  their  cargo  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States. 
This  was  punishing  one's  self  a  great  deal  for  the  sake  of  punishing  an 
opponent  a  very  little.  America  renounced  the  w^hole  of  her  own  foreign 
trade,  for  the  sake  of  depriving  foreign  nations,  France  and  England  par- 
ticularly, of  a  portion  of  theirs.  But  as  a  great  effect  had  been  produced, 
during  the  contest  which  preceded  the  Revolutionary  war,  by  the  Non- 
Importation  agreements,  Congress  had  now  a  vague  impression  that 
Great  Britain  might  quickly  be  brought  to  terms  by  a  refusal  to  buy 
her  manufactures,  or  to  sell  American  produce.  This  impression  was 
totally  unfounded ;  the  feelings  of  the  people  not  being  enlisted  in  sup- 
port of  the  Embargo,  a  considerable  illicit  traffic  was  kept  up,  which  alle- 
viated the  effect  of  the  measure  upon  England,  though  the  commercial 
interest  of  the  United  States  suffered  a  ruinous  depression.  Our  own 
unemployed  shipping  rotted  at  the  wharves,  while  enormous  prices  were 
paid  for  British  goods  to  smugglers.  The  pressure  upon  the  country 
was  too  great ;  in  New  England,  even  the  Democratic  party  opposed  the 
February,  l^^w.  After  it  had  been  in  force  little  over  a  year,  the  Em- 
1809.  bargo  was  repealed,  and  a  Non-Intercourse  Act  was  substi- 

tuted for  it,  prohibiting  all  trade  with  Great  Britain  and  France,  and 
their  dependencies,  up  to  the  end  of  the  next  session  of  Congress. 

Madison's  Administration,  (1809  - 1817.)  §  620.  While  the  public 
mind  was  agitated  by  these  subjects,  the  end  of  Jefferson's  second  term  of 
office  approached,  and  James  Madison,  the  Democratic  candidate,  was 
elected  his  successor,  by  122  out  of  176  electoral  votes.  This  event  did 
not  materially  affect  the  policy  of  the  country,  as  the  new  President 
generally  followed  the  steps  of  his  predecessor,  though  he  was  somewhat 
more  moderate  in  his  political  opinions,  and  if  he  had  not  been  pughed  on 
by  the  excited  feelings  of  the  younger  members  of  his  party,  he  would 
probably  have  averted  or  postponed  a  war.  As  it  was,  however,  the 
relations  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  every  day  assumed 
a  more  hostile  aspect,  and  it  was  evident  that  peace  could  not  long  be 

maintained  between  them  if  the  war  in  Europe  should  not 
April,  1809.  .  ^ 

cease.     A  negotiation  with  Erskine,  the  British  minister  at 

Washington,  produced  an  arrangement  of  the  more  pressing  subjects  of 
controversy ;  but  it  soon  appeared  that  Erskine  had  exceeded  his  instruc- 
tions.   The  English  ministry  disavowed  his  act,  and  the  dispute  remained 


THE  UNITED   STATES   OF   AMERICA.  481 

in  a  worse  condition  than  ever.  The  American  frigate  Chesapeake,  two 
years  before,  had  been  attacked  and  captured  by  the  Leopard,  a  British 
ship  of  superior  force,  under  Admiral  Berkley's  orders,  because  her  cap- 
tain refused  to  surrender  some  seamen  who  were  alleged  to  be  deserters 
from  the  British  navy ;  and  though  the  frigate  was  returned,  and  Berk- 
ley's orders  were  disavowed,  the  terms  of  reparation  for  the  injury  and* 
insult  could  not  be  agreed  upon,  and  the  affair  impeded  all  subsequent 
negotiations.  It  was  the  main  cause  of  the  rejection  of  Erskine's  arrange- 
ment. 

§  621.  The  Non-Intercourse  Act  expired  in  May,  1810,  when  an  offer 
was  made  that,  if  either  England  or  France  would  revoke  its  edicts  against 
neutral  commerce,  the  act  should  be  renewed  and  enforced  against  the 
other  belligerent,  till  its  edicts  also  were  revoked.  France  had  recently 
given  additional  provocation,  by  a  decree  issued  at  Rambouillet,  confis- 
cating all  American  vessels  and  their  cargoes  tlien  found  in  ports  under 
the  control  of  the  French,  and  directing  that,  if  any  should  enter  a  French 
harbor  in  future,  it  should  also  be  seized  and  sold.  Under  this  decree, 
American  property  valued  at  eight  millions  of  dollars  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  French.  But  Napoleon  now  took  a  conciliatory  step  ;  he  assured 
the  American  minister  at  Paris  that  the  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  were 
revoked,  though  the  revocation  was  not  to  take  effect  till  the  first  of 
November  next.  Relying  on  this  assurance,  Mr.  Madison, 
early  in  November,  issued  a  proclamation  restoring  the  free- 
dom of  commerce  with  France,  and  prohibiting  all  intercourse  with  Great 
Britain.  The  English  ministry  refused  to  rescind  their  Orders  in  Council, 
under  the  pretext  that  they  had  no  official  evidence  that  the  French  em- 
peror had  kept  his  promise  to  rescind  the  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees.  The 
Orders  were  enforced  more  rigorously  than  ever,  English  cruisers  being 
stationed  along  the  American  coast,  which  boarded  and  searched  all 
American  merchantmen,  impressed  many  of  their  seamen,  and  often  con- 
fiscated both  vessel  and  cargo,  if  the  former  was  bound  to  a  French 
port     One  of  these  cruisers,  the  Little  Belt,  of  18  guns,  fell  in  v*'ith  the 

American  friojate  President,  and  an  action  commenced  be- 
\lay  16  1811.  ° 

tween  them,  both  parties  alleging  that  the  other  fired  first. 

The  British  vessel  was  soon  reduced  almost  to  a  wreck,  when  her  oppo- 
nent" ceased  firing,  and  she  was  allowed  to  pursue  her  voyage.  This 
affair  was  passed  over  on  both  sides,  as  an  unfortunate  mistake,  and  terms 
of  reparation  were  at  length  offered  for  the  attack  on  the  Chesapeake, 
which  were  accepted. 

§  622.  In  the  autumn  of  1811,  the  Indian  tribes  round  the  Upper  Lakes 
showed  a  hostile  disposition,  and  Governor  Harrison  was  sent  against 
them,  with  800  men,  to  make  a  treaty,  if  possible,  otherwise  to  strike  a 
blow  which  should  prevent  hostilities  in  future.  "When  he  arrived  near 
Tippecanoe,  their  principal  town,  he  was  met  by  a  deputation  of  tho 
41 


482  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

savages,  who  said  that  they  desired  peace,  and  agreed  to  return  for  an 
amicable  conference  the  next  day.    The  troops  therefore  encamped  where 

they  were,  but  took  strict  precautions  against  an  attack  by 
November  7.  gyj.pj.jgg^  j^  ^^^g  ^^^  ^hat  they  did  so ;  for  just  before  day- 
break, the  Indians  in  considerable  numbers  made  a  furious  assault  upon 
them,  and  were  repulsed  with  difficulty,  after  an  hour's  fighting.  Their 
town  was  then  burned,  and  Harrison,  being  encumbered  by  his  wounded 
men,  retreated  to  Vincennes.  The  savages  caused  greater  alarm  at  this 
time,  as  it  was  believed  that  the  British  traders  and  agents  from  Canada 
held  secret  intercourse  with  them,  and  urged  them  to  hostilities. 

§  623.  As  the  impressments  and  captures  by  the  English  cruisers  con- 
tinued and  even  increased  in  number,  Congress  was  called  together  early  in 
November,  and,  at  the  recommendation  of  the  President,  they  made  active 
preparations  for  war.  It  was  hoped  that  Great  Britain,  thus  seeing  that 
America  was  in  earnest,  would  be  unwilling  to  increase  the  number  of 
her  enemies,  and  would  recede  from  her  imperious  and  aggressive  posi- 
tion. This  hope  was  fallacious;  the  English  ministry  was  obstinate,  their 
majority  in  Parliament  was  subservient,  and  the  spirit  of  the  nation  was 
high.  After  waging  a  stubborn  war  for  many  years,  at  least  on  equal 
terms,  with  the  great  subverter  of  monarchies  and  conquerer  of  half  of 
Europe,  they  were  not  to  be  driven  from  their  position  by  the  menace  of 
hostilities  from  a  young  and  feeble  nation  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlan- 
tic. Congress,  after  spending  the  winter  and  spring  in  warm  debates, 
and  in  passing  bills  for  augmenting  the  army  and  navy,  received  a  secret 

messao:e  from  the  President  on  the  1st  of  June.     It  was  con- 

A    T>    1812 

sidered  in  secret  session  by  both  Houses,  and  on  the  18th  of 
June,  the  doors  were  thrown  open,  and  it  was  announced  that  the  United 
States  had  declared  war  against  Great  Britain. 

§  624.  Though  it  had  been  voted  to  raise  an  army  of  35,000  men,  the 
United  States  had  but  10,000  men  under  arms  when  the  contest  began,  and 
with  these  it  was  resolved  to  attempt  the  conquest  of  Canada.  The  coast 
was  not  fortified,  and  the  navy  consisted  only  of  three  or  four  frigates  and 
a  few  sloops  of  war ;  but  the  chief  reliance  was  placed  upon  privateers,  as 
a  means  of  annoying  the  enemy.  This  expectation  was  justified  by  the 
event ;  during  the  two  years  and  a  half  that  the  war  continued,  over  1,500 
British  merchantmen  were  captured  by  American  privateers.  The  pub- 
lic vessels  of  war,  also,  slowly  increased  in  number  by  a  few  frigates  and 
smaller  ships,  though  detained  in  port  much  of  the  time  by  a  large  block- 
ading force,  in  a  few  cruises  and  encounters  at  sea  were  very  successful, 
and  acquired  just  fame  by  destroying  the  common  belief  of  British  in- 
vincibility on  the  ocean.  The  American  navy  fought  itself  into  popularity 
during  this  war,  and  has  ever  since  been  regarded  with  peculiar  affection 
and  pride  by  the  people.  But  the  attempt  to  conquer  Canada  led  only 
to  a  series  of  petty  and  inglorious  conflicts  on  the  frontier,  not  honorable 


THE   UNITED   STATES    OF  AMERICA.  483 

to  either  party,  leading  to  no  important  results,  and  the  details  of  which 
are  almost  beneath  the  notice  of  history.  The  British  Orders  in  Council 
were  revoked  June  23d,  before  the  news  of  the  American  declaration  of 
war  arrived  in  England ;  but  though  an  attempt  was  then  made  to  nego- 
tiate, hostilities  were  finally  allowed  to  continue  on  the  ground  of  impress- 
ment alone.  Never  was  a  more  meaningless  contest ;  after  fighting  two 
years  and  a  half,  a  treaty  of  peace  was  made,  leaving  this  question  about 
impressment  precisely  where  it  was  before. 

§  625.  General  Hull,  who  commanded  the  northwestern  army  at  De- 
troit, marched  a  few  miles  into  Canada,  with  about  1,800  men, 
Jane  12, 1812.        ,    ,   .,     .  /.  ,r  ,i  t.       ,    /.  i 

and  laid  siege  to  a  petty  tort  at  Maiden.     But  before  the 

August  8.        place  surrendered,  he  was  obliged  to  recross  the  river,  and 

take  post  at  Detroit,  where  his  army  was  soon  invested  by  a  superior 

force  of  Canadian   militia  and  Indians.     The   British   had 

hardly  opened  their  fire,  before  Hull  offered  to  capitulate, 

and  surrendered  to  them  his  whole  force,  thus  leaving  the  Territory  of 

Michigan  open  to  them  and  the  Indians.     The  absolute  want  of  supplies, 

the  consequent  inability  to  stand  a  siege,  and  the  distance  from  all  means 

of  succor,  were  the  reasons  alleged  for  this  mortifying  step.     Another 

American  army  had  been  collected  on  the  Niagara  River,  commanded 

by  Van  Rensselaer,  who  sent  over  a  detachment  of  about  1,000  men,  to 

,     .  attack  the  British  village  of  Queenstown.     They  effected  a 

October  16.      ,      ,.  ,  ,     ,  °  ^  ^  ,         ,  .;.  .         ^       , 

landmg,  and  had  some  success  at  first ;  but  the  militia  refused 

to  pass  over  to  their  aid,  for  the  constitutional  reason  that  they  could  be 

called  out  only  to  repel  an  invasion,  not  to  invade  another  country. 

Thus  deserted,  the  party  who  had  crossed  the  river,  after  some  sharp 

fighting,  were  compelled  to  surrender,  the  total  loss  to  the  Americans 

being  about  1,000  men.     Another  attempt  was  made  on  this  frontier, 

about   six   weeks   afterwards,   by  General    Smythe,   which   proved   so 

ludicrous  a  failure  that  the  contriver  of  it  was  oblifired  to 
November  29.         ,         . 

resign  his  command,  and  became  an  object  of  general  ridicule. 

The  third  army,  the  most  numerous  and  best  appointed  of  all,  commanded 
by  General  Dearborn,  on  the  fi-ontier  near  lake  Cham  plain,  attempted 
little  and  accomplished  nothing.  The  British  and  Americans  vied  with 
each  other,  during  this  season,  in  their  efforts  to  construct  a  naval  force 
which  might  obtain  the  command  of  the  two  Lakes,  Erie  and  Ontario ; 
but  no  action  of  importance  took  place  between  them  till  the  next  year. 
§  626.  To  make  up  for  these  disasters  and  failures  on  land,  the  Ameri- 
cans had  signal  success  at  sea.  Yet  so  little  hope  was  entertained  of  the 
little  navy  effecting  anything  against  the  immense  maritime  power  of  Eng- 
land, that  the  Democratic  administration  was  on  the  point  of  ordering  all  the 
ships  to  remain  in  port,  to  secure  them  from  inevitable  capture ;  and 
Captains  Bainbridge  and  Stewart  with  difficulty  obtained  leave  to  put  to 
sea.     Hardly  two  months  elapsed  before  their  confidence  was  justified 


484  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

by  events.  The  frigate  Constitution  overtook  and  captured,  after  a 
August  19.  short  action,  the  British  frigate  Guerriere,  of  .  slightly 
inferior  force.  Of  the  English  crew,  79  were  killed  or  wounded,  and 
their  ship  was  so  much  injured  that  it  was  set  on  fire  and  blown  up. 
The  Constitution  sustained  but  little  injury,  and  lost  only  14  of  her  sea- 
men. The  American  sloop  of  war  Wasp,  of  18  guns,  Cap- 
tain Jones,  captured  the  English  war  brig  Frolic,  of  22  guns, 
after  an  action  of  45  minutes.  The  Wasp  had  but  five  killed  and  five 
wounded,  while  the  loss  of  the  enemy  was  about  80,  only  20  of  her  crew 
remaining  uninjured.  Before  the  Americans  could  repair  damages,  a 
British  74  came  up  and  captured  both  vessels.  A  few  days 
later,  the  frigate  United  States,  Captain  Decatur,  encoun- 
tered and  captured  the  British  frigate  Macedonian,  of  slightly  inferior 
force,  the  disparity  of  loss  being  quite  as  great  as  on  former  occasions. 
A  fourth  victory  was  obtained  on  the  29th  of  December,  when  the  Con- 
stitution, then  commanded  by  Captain  Bainbridge,  made  prize  of  the 
British  frigate  Java,  after  a  bloody  action  of  three  hours,  the  killed  and 
wounded  in  the  Java  numbering  161,  while  the  loss  of  the  Americans 
was  but  34.  The  effect  of  these  naval  victories  was  very  great ;  they 
proved  that  the  English  had  at  last  found  their  match  on  the  ocean,  and 
they  wholly  overcame  the  prejudice  of  the  Democratic  American  party 
against  a  navy.  Congress  forthwith  ordered  the  construction  of  four 
seventy-fours,  six  frigates,  six  sloops  of  war,  and  as  many  vessels  on  the 
Lakes  as  might  be  needed. 

Congress  met  early  in  November,  and  voted  to  increase  the  regular 
army,  and  to  dispense  with  the  volunteer  force,  which  was  found  to  be 
both  costly  and  inefficient.  Additional  pay  and  bounty  were  offered,  but 
recruits  were  still-  obtained  with  great  difficulty.  The  finances  of  the 
country  were  already  in  great  confusion,  the  ordinary  revenue  being 
quite  insufficient  for  the  expenses  of  the  war,  and  the  loans  could  not  be 
filled  up  except  at  usurious  rates.  Internal  taxes  were  very  unpopular, 
and  Congress  naturally  hesitated  to  impose  them ;  but  the  necessities  of 
the  government  were  so  great,  that  an  act  was  finally  passed  to  raise  five 
millions  of  dollars  in  this  manner,  though  the  taxes  were  not  to  com- 
mence till  1814. 

§  627.  The  military  operations  of  1813,  though  a  little  more  honorable 
to  the  American  arms  than  those  of  the  year  before,  were  equally  destitute 
of  any  important  results.  There  were  many  skirmishes  and  actions  of 
minor  importance,  that  need  not  be  noticed.  At  the  northwest,  General 
Winchester  advanced  with  a  portion  of  Harrison's  army,  in  the  hope  of 
January  22,  driving  the  enemy  out  of  Michigan.  But  he  was  encoun- 
1813.  tered  at   Frenchtown  by  a  superior  force  of  British  and 

Indians,  under  Colonel  Proctor,  and  entirely  defeated,  most  of  his  troops 
being  obliged  to  surrender.     The  wounded  prisoners  were  left  behind, 


THE    IJXITED    STATES    OF    AMERICA.  485 

and  most  of  them  were  butchered  the  next  day  by  the  Indians.  About 
300  men  perished  in  the  battle  and  massacre,  and  600  more  were  taken 
prisoners.  Harrison  then  advanced  with  the  rest  of  the  army,  but  was 
obliged  to  stop  on  the  Maumee  River,  where  he  garrisoned  Fort  Meigs, 
and  was  besieged  in  it  by  the  British  under  Proctor.  In  May,  1,200 
Kentuckians  came  to  his  relief,  half  of  whom,  after  capturing  the  batteries 
of  the  enemy,  were  surprised  and  made  prisoners,  while  the  others, 
uniting  with  Harrison,  obliged  Proctor  to  retire  to  Maiden. 

On  the  St.  Lawrence  frontier,  Ogdensburgh  was  attacked  and  carried 
by  the  British,  and  a  great  amount  of  public  and  private 
'    property  destroyed  or  carried  off.     On  the  other  hand,  Com- 
modore Chauncey  had  succeeded  in  fitting  out  a  small  fleet  which  gave 
the  Americans  the  command  of  Lake  Ontario.     A  party  of  1,600  picked 
men  were  embarked  in  this  fleet,  and  transported  over  the  Lake,  to 
attack  York,  the  capital  of  Upper  Canada.     This  enterprise  was  success- 
ful, a  garrison  of  800  men  being  driven  out  of  the  place, 
several  vessels  of  war  captured  or  burned,  and  many  naval 
and  military  stores  destroyed.     But  the  explosion  of  a  magazine  killed 
or  wounded  200  of  the  assailants,  among  whom  was  their  brave  com- 
mander.  General  Pike.     Another  expedition,  fitted  out  in  the 
same  manner,  caused  the  evacuation  of  all  the  British  posts 
on  the  Niagara  River,  including  Fort  George  and  Fort  Erie.     But  when 
a  portion  of  the  Americans  advanced  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  they  were 
surprised  by  a  night  attack,  and   Generals   Chandler   and 
Winder,  with  about  100  men,  were  made  prisoners-     Another 
misfortune  followed;  Colonel    Boersller,  who  had  been  sent  with  600 
men  to  attack  the  British  at  Beaver  Dams,  fell  into  an  am- 
buscade,  and  his  whole  force  was  obliged  to  surrender.     The 
enemy,  having  launched  a  new  frigate,  now  recovered  the  command  of 
the  Lake,  Chauncey  was  blockaded,  and  an  attack  was  made  on  Sacket's 
Harbor.     General  Brown  succeeded  in  repelling  this  attack,  but  during 
the  alarm,  several  ships  and  many  naval  stores  of  the  Americans  were 
destroyed.     The  war  then  languished  in  this  quarter,  a  few  incursions 
on  both  sides  leading  to  no  important  result.     But   splendid  success 
awaited  the  Americans  on  Lake  Erie,  where  Commodore  Perry  had 
succeeded  in  fitting  out  a  little  squadron,  composed  of  two  war  brigs,  the 
Niagara  and  the  Lawrence,  of  20  guns  each,  and  seven  smaller  vessels. 
He  sailed  in  August  to  meet  the  enemy's  squadron,  commanded  by  Cap- 
tain Barclay,  and  consisting  of  two  ships,  one  of  19  and  the  other  of  17 
guns,  and  four  smaller  vessels,  one  of  which  mounted  13,  and  another 
10,  guns.     The  force  on  both  sides  was  about  equal ;  for  though  the 
Americans  had  in  all  but  55  guns,  while  their  opponents  had  63,  the 
weight  of  metal   was   in   favor  of  the  former.     The   two 
'  squadrons  met  near  the  western  end  of  the  lake,  and  after  a 
41* 


486  THE   LATEST  PERIOD. 

furious  combat  of  about  three  hours,  in  the  course  of  which  Perry's  ship^ 

the  Lawrence,  was  disabled,  and  he  shifted  his  flag  to  the  Niagara,  all 

the  enemy's  vessels  were  compelled  to  surrender.     The  loss  on  either 

side  was  about  150  killed  and  wounded.     Perry  announced  his  success 

in  a  very  laconic  epistle :  — "  We  have   met  the  enemy,  and  they  are 

ours."     As  this  victory  gave  the  Americans  the  command  of  the  Upper 

Lakes,  Harrison's  army  advanced  and  crossed  the  river,  by  the  aid  of 

Perry's  fleet,  into  Canada,  where  they  found  that  Proctor  had  hastily 

evacuated  Maiden,  after  dismantling  the  fort  and  burning  the  barracks. 

Harrison  soon  marched  in  pursuit,  and  found  the  enemy,  who  were  about 

800  in  number,  with  a  large  body  of  Indians,  posted  near  the  Moravian 

^     ,      ^        town  on  the  river  Thames.     A  rapid  charoje  of  the  Americans 
October  5.  ,      i    /    ,  , 

broke  the  British  line  on  both  flanks,  when  the  greater  part 

of  the  enemy  threw  down  their  arms  and  surrendered,  though  Proctor, 

"vvith   about   200   men,  eflTected   his    escape.     The   noted  Lidian  chief, 

Tecumseh,  who  was  the  instigator  of  the  war  on  the  part  of  the  savages, 

was  killed  in  this  battle,  which  was  also  the  means  of  gaining  back  all 

the  ground  that  had  been  lost  by  Hull,  and  of  bringing  about  a  peace 

with  the  northwestern  tribes.     Harrison  then  embarked,  with  1,300  men, 

for  Buffalo,  to  strengthen  the  army  of  the  centre,  as  the  one  on  the 

Niagara  frontier  w^as  called.     This  army  was  now  ordered  to  advance 

upon  Montreal.     On  its  way,  the  British,  in  about  equal  force, 

'  were  encountered  at  Chrystler's  Fields,  and  a  severe  battle 

was  fought  with  indecisive  results.     The  troops  advanced  no  farther  than 

St.  Regis,  where  the  army  from  Plattsburg  failed  to  join  them,  and  the 

expedition  was  consequently  given  up. 

§  628.  Meanwhile  British  squadrons  were  blockading  the  Delaware 
and  Chesapeake  bays.  New  York,  Charleston,  and  other  ports,  often 
landing  small  parties,  which  burned  several  villages  and  did  much  wan- 
ton injury.  The  Chesapeake,  indeed,  was  permanently  occupied  by  a 
powerful  fleet  of  the  enemy,  which  kept  up  a  harassing  warfare  along  the 
coast,  without  attempting  any  enterprise  of  moment.  The  bitter  fruits 
were  now  reaped  of  that  wretched  economy  on  the  part  of  the  govern- 
ment, which  had  so  long  left  an  immense  line  of  seacoast  almost  totally 
unprovided  with  fortifications.  In  spite  of  the  blockading  force,  a  few 
American  ships  of  war  succeeded  in  getting  to  sea,  eager  to  rival  the 
naval  exploits  of  the  former  year.  The  sloop-of-war  Hornet  captured 
Febnia     24     ^^^  ^^^^  *^^  British  brig  Peacock,  of  nearly  equal  force,  in 

a  very  short  action.  But  the  unlucky  Chesapeake  frigate, 
with  a  discontented  and  undisciplined  crew,  having  sailed  from  Boston 
to  accept  a  challenge  from  the  British  frigate  Shannon,  was  captured  by 

her  after  a  short  but  furious  action,  —  the  first  instance  of 

the  American  flag  at  sea  being  struck  to  a  force  which  was 
not  decidedly  superior.      But  again,  the  Argus  sloop-of-war  was  cap- 


THE  UNITED   STATES     OF    AMERICA.  487 

tured  by  the  British  brig  Pelican,  of  somewhat  superior  force, 
°         "       after  a  severe  engagement.     The  Americans  soon  had  their 
revenge,  however,  as  the  Enterprise,  of  12   guns,  encountered  the  Bri- 
tish brig  Boxer,  of  14  guns,  and  compelled  her  to  strike  after  a  desperate 
conflict. 

§  629.  The  only  other  important  operations  of  this  year  grew  out  of  a 
war  with  the  Creek  and  Cherokee  Indians,  against  whom  Gen.  Jackson 
was  employed,  with  a  militia  force  from  Georgia,  Tennessee,  and  the  pre- 
sent state  of  Mississippi.  He  first  marched  against  them  in  October,  and 
in  a  two  months'  campaign,  captured  many  of  their  villages,  and  defeated 
several  bands  of  them  with  great  slaughter.  So  many  of  Jackson's  men 
then  left  him,  from  weariness  of  the  hard  service,  that  he  was  reduced  to 
inactivity.  The  consequence  was,  that  in  January,  1814,  his  troops  were 
thrice  attacked,  and  the  savages  were  repulsed  with  great  difficulty. 
More  militia  were  then  called  out,  and  Jackson,  having  succeeded  in 
cooping  up  a  large  body  of  the  Indians  in  a  peninsula  formed  by  a  bend 
of  the  Tallapoosa  river,  forced  their  breastwork,  and  made  frightful  havoc 
among  them.  About  600  of  the  savages  were  killed  or  drowned,  and 
250  taken  prisoners.  Their  spirit  was  thus  efiectually  broken,  and  the 
remainder  of  the  tribe  sued  for  peace  on  any  terms. 

§  630.  The  campaign  of  1814  was,  in  general,  honorable  to  the  Ameri- 
can arms,  though  some  great  reverses  were  sustained ;  the  troops  were  now 
better  disciplined,  and  were  led  by  more  experienced  and  skilful  officers, 
than  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  war.  Yet  the  country  labored  under  great 
difficulties,  and  a  tone  of  discouragement  was  perceptible  even  in  the 
President's  message  to  Congress.  The  finances  were  in  great  disorder, 
and  the  public  credit  had  fallen  so  low  that  money  could  not  be  obtained 
on  loan  except  at  a  ruinous  sacrifice.  The  whole  Atlantic  coast  was 
now  blockaded  by  the  British  fleet,  the  slaves  in  the  southern  States  were 
encouraged  to  desert  to  the  ships,  and  the  only  mode  of  preventing  the 
enemy  from  being  supplied  with  food  and  other  necessaries  from  the 
shore  was  to  pass  a  law  absolutely  forbidding  all  exports.  The  large 
cities  on  the  coast  were  kept  in  constant  apprehension  of  an  attack,  and 
the  militia  had  to  be  called  out  in  great  numbers  to  defend  them.  New 
England  had  always  been  opposed  to  the  war,  and  seemed  determined 
to  do  little  but  defend  her  own  borders,  and  sullenly  obey  the  requisitions 
of  Congress.  The  cessation  of  the  war  in  Europe,  through  the  overthrow 
of  Napoleon  and  the  entrance  of  the  allies  into  Paris,  early  in  the  spring 
of  1814,  put  the  fleets  and  army  of  England  at  liberty,  and  enabled  the 
British  ministers  to  make  large  detachments  to  carry  on  the  war  in 
America.  On  the  part  of  the  Americans,  all  idea  of  conquering  Canada 
had  to  be  given  up,  and  the  war  became  entirely  defensive  in  its  cha- 
racter. But  the  spirit  of  the  people  rose  with  their  difficulties,  an  obsti- 
nate resistance  was  made  at  many  points,  and  the  resolution  was  formed 
and  adhered  to,  not  to  submit  to  peace  on  disadvantageous  terms. 


488  THE  LATEST   PERIOD. 

§  631.  The  military  operations  of  the  year  were  distributed  over  so  vast 
a  theatre,  and  comprehended  so  many  petty  conflicts,  that  only  the  more 
important  events  can  be  noticed.  On  the  Niagara  frontier,  the  Ameri- 
can army,  after  it  had  been  rigidly  disciplined  for  several  months  by 
Gen.  Brown,  who  was  admirably  seconded  by  Scott,  Ripley,  Jessup,  and 
other  able  officers,  was  led  across  the  river,  3,000  strong,  and  encoun- 
tered the  enemy,  of  equal  force,  under  Gen.  Riall,  at  Chip- 
July  5, 1814.  *    ^    .  '  -,      ,      n  .    ,     ,  , 

pewa.  A  furious  engagement  ensued,  the  first  pitched  bat- 
tle of  the  war ;  after  great  loss  on  both  sides,  the  British  gave  way,  and 
retreated  in  disorder  to  their  retrenchments  in  the  rear.  The  next  day, 
they  abandoned  these  also,  and  retired  to  Burlington  heights.  Large 
reinforcements  from  England,  under  Gen.  Drummond,  arrived  to 
strengthen  Riall's  position,  and  on  the  25th,  the  two  armies  again  met  in 
a  pitched  battle  at  Bridgewater,  very  near  Niagara  Falls.  The  conflict 
lasted  from  noon  till  midnight,  the  ground  being  obstinately  contested  on 
both  sides,  and  the  result  not  very  decisive,  though  the  Americans  had 
the  ai^lvantage.  They  captured  Gen.  Riall  himself  and  many  other  pri- 
soners, took  the  whole  of  the  British  artillery,  and  retained  possession  of 
the  battle-field  for  some  time  after  the  enemy  retired.  The  British  loss 
■was  878,  and  the  American,  743.  The  army,  not  strong  enough  to 
advance,  and  unwilling  to  retreat  across  the  river,  then  took  shelter  in 
Fort  Erie,  and  Gen.  Gaines  came  to  take  the  command.  Drummond 
advanced  with  a  much  larger  force,  and  laid  siege   to  the  fort,  on  which 

he  at  length  made  a  furious  attack  by  niofht.  After  some 
August  15.  f  JO 

hard  fighting,  he  was  repulsed  with  the  loss  of  nearly  a  thou- 
sand men,  while  the  Americans  lost  but  84.  Brown  then  came  to  re- 
sume the  command,  and  found  that  the  enemy  were  pushing  forwards 
tlieir  works  for  a  regular  investment  of  the  place.  He  resolved  to  try 
Se  tember  17  ^  ^^^'^^^>  which  was  completely  successful.     The  guns  of  the 

besiegers  were  spiked,  their  magazines  blown  up,  and  400 
prisoners  brought  off,  the  killed  and  wounded  amounting  to  600  more. 
The  American  loss  was  not  half  so  great.  The  desired  efiTect  soon  fol- 
lowed, as  Drummond  hastily  raised  the  siege  and  retired  behind  the 
Chippewa.  This  was  the  end  of  active  operations  on  the  Niagara  fron- 
tier, as  Izard,  who  next  assumed  the  command,  brought  the  army  back 
to  the  American  shore. 

§  632.  Events  equally  honorable  to  the  Americans  took  place  on  Lake 
Champlain.  From  their  camp  at  Plattsburg,  most  of  the  troops  had 
been  drawn  away  to  aid  the  operations  on  Lake  Ontario  and  the  Niagara. 
Macomb  was  left  in  command,  with  only  3,000  men,  many  of  them  inva- 
lids, and  some  militia.  Sir  George  Prevost,  the  governor  of  Canada, 
led  an  army  of  12,000  regular  troops  over  the  frontier  towards  Platts- 
burg, while  the  British  squadron,  under  Downie,  numbering  sixteen  ves- 
sels, and  carrying  ninety-five  guns  and  1,000  seamen,  sailed  down  the 


THE   UXITED    STATES   OF   AMERICA.  489 

lake  to  the  same  point.  McDonough,  the  American  Commodore,  had 
moored  at  Plattsburg  his  fleet,  consisting  of  four  vessels  and  ten  gunboats, 
carrying  in  all  eighty-six  guns  and  850  men.  Macomb's  force  was 
strongly  posted  behind  the  river  Saranac,  a  rocky  and  unfordable  stream. 
The  attack  by  land  and  water  took  place  simultaneously.  In 
"  two  hours  and  a  half,  all  of  Downie's  larger  vessels  were 
obliged  to  strike  to  the  Americans,  and  his  gunboats  escaped  with  diffi- 
culty. Prevost's  attack  on  land  had  been  a  feeble  one,  and  immediately 
after  the  capture  of  his  fleet,  it  was  abandoned,  and  the  army  retreated 
that  night  in  great  haste,  leaving  baggage  and  stores,  and  even  the  sick 
and  wounded,  behind  them.  A  panic  seems  to  have  seized  Prevost  and 
his  troops,  neutralizing  their  great  superiority  of  force. 

§  633.  But  this  was  the  end  of  American  success  for  the  year ;  the  rest 
is  a  story  of  disaster,  with  a  gleam  of  light  at  the  close.  In  July,  the  enemy 
took  possession  of  Eastport,  in  ISIaine,  and  in  September,  they  sailed  up 
the  Penobscot,  burned  the  frigate  Adams,  that  had  taken  refuge  there, 
and  "  annexed "  all  the  country  east  of  that  river  to  the  British  domi- 
nions. Early  in  August,  the  English  fleet  in  the  Chesapeake  was 
largely  reinforced,  a  considerable  body  of  English  troops  having  arrived 
from  Europe.  Great  alarm  was  caused  on  shore,  and  the  militia  were 
called  out  in  force  for  the  defence  of  Wa^^hington  and  Baltimore,  there 
being  very  few  regular  troops  in  that  region.  Most  of  the  British  fleet 
passed  the  Potomac,  and  sailed  up  the  Patuxent  to  Benedict,  where 
Gen.  Ross  landed  with  about  5,000  men,  and  commenced  his 

°  '  march  for  Washington,  which  was  about  forty  miles  distant, 
the  road  passing  through  a  thinly  populated  country.  Several  bodies  of 
militia  fell  back  before  him,  and  a  flotilla  of  gunboats  was  blown  up,  the 
Bailors  who  had  manned  them  being  landed  and  joined  to  the  troops,  for 
the  purpose  of  serving  the  artillery.  At  Bladensburg,  the  British  en- 
countered  a   motley  array  of  militia   and   a  few  regulars, 

"  '  under  Gen.  Winder,  assisted  by  the  President  and  the  mem- 
bers of  the  cabinet,  most  of  whom  fled  before  the  first  shot  reached  their 
ranks.  But  the  artillery,  served  by  the  sailors,  did  good  execution,  until 
deserted  by  the  other  troops,  when  the  guns  were  necessarily  abandoned. 
Koss  then  marched  on  and  occupied  Washington,  where  two  new  vessels 
of  war  and  the  magazines  of  stores  had  already  been  set  on  fire  and  de- 
stroyed. The  capitol,  the  President's  house,  and  the  public  offices  were 
burned  by  the  enemy,  who  also  destroyed  some  private  property.  Hav- 
ing effected  this  waifton  injury,  and  being  fearful  that  troops  enough 
might  be  collected  to  impede  their  retreat,  the  English  hastily  returned 
to  their  shipping.  Three  days  afterwards,  their  frigates  passed  up  the 
Potomac  as  far  as  Alexandria^  and  extorted  a  heavy  ransom  from  that 
city.  The  British  fleet  next  appeared  off  the  Patapsco,  and  the  troops 
were  landed  ^gain  for  an  attack  on  Baltimore.     A  skirmish  ensued  with 


490  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

an  advanced  body  of  the  militia  at  North  Point,  Gen.  Ross  was  killed, 
and  the  Americans  were  not  driven  from  the  ground  till 
*  several  hundred  had  fallen  on  either  side.  The  cannonading 
of  the  forts  by  the  ships  having  produced  but  little  effect,  and  the  militia 
ajipearing  to  be  strongly  intrenched  about  the  city,  the  enemy  concluded 
to  retire  without  effecting  any  thing. 

§  634.  The  next  attempt  was  made  upon  New  Orleans.  Jackson,  who 
commanded  in  that  quarter,  had  been  compelled,  in  October,  to  storm  the 
fort  and  seize  the  city  of  Pensacola,  because  the  Spaniards  there  had  admit- 
ted British  troops  into  the  place,  who  had  begun  to  train  the  refugee 
Creek  Indians  for  hostilities  against  the  United  States.  He  heard,  soon 
afterwards,  that  a  powerful  expedition  was  on  its  way  to  attack  New 
Orleans,  and  he  marched  thither,  and  took  very  energetic  measures  to 
provide  for  its  defence.  The  militia  were  called  in,  martial  law  was  pro- 
claimed, and  all  able-bodied  persons  were  compelled  to  work  upon  the 
fortifications  or  to  bear  arms.  Gen.  Pakenham,  with  8,000  British  regu- 
lars,  approached  the  city  by  way  of  Lake  Borgne,  while 
Jackson  had  but  5,000  men  to  oppose  him,  of  whom  four 
fifths  were  militia.     When  the  enemy  had  taken  post  about  fifteen  miles 

^  below  New  Orleans,  the  American  creneral  drew  out  most  of 

December  23.   ,  .  ,  .   ,  f 

his  troops  to  make  a  night  attack  upon  their  camp.     He 

threw  them  into  great  confusion,  and  then  made  good  his  retreat,  with  a 
loss  of  220  in  killed  and  wounded,  the  British  loss  being  somewhat 
greater.  This  check  made  Pakenham  more  cautious,  and  he  waited  for 
reinforcements  and  artillery  from  the  fleet,  thus  giving  the  Americans 
time  to  strengthen  their  position.  During  this  interval,  also,  2,000  Ken- 
tuckians  arrived,  and  Jackson  was  enabled  to  throw  up  fortifications  on 
the  other  side  of  the  river,  fearing  an  attack  in  that  quarter.  On  the 
8th  of  January,  the  grand  attack  was  made,  the  British  with 
true  bulldog  courage  marching  up  in  front  to  storm  a  position 
that  had  been  made  almost  impregnable.  A  tremendous  fire  was  opened 
upon  them,  Pakenham  was  killed,  two  other  generals  were  wounded,  one 
mortally,  and  at  last  the  enemy  were  compelled  to  retire,  with  a  loss  of 
over  2,000  men.  The  Americans,  who  fought  under  shelter,  lost  but  71. 
The  effect  of  this  blow  was  decisive,  and  the  enemy,  as  soon  as  they 
could  bury  their  dead,  retreated  to  their  shipping. 

§  635.  The  battle  of  New  Orleans  was  the  closing  event  of  the  war.  On 
the  11th  of  February,  a  vessel  arrived  at  New  York,  bringing  an  unex- 
pected treaty  of  peace,  which  had  been  negotiated  %t  Ghent  between  the 
English  and  American  commissioners,  and  already  ratified  by  the  British 
government.  Never  were  tidings  more  welcome ;  bonfires  and  illumi- 
nations were  made  in  the  principal  cities,  and  the  strifes  of  opposite 
factions  were  forgotten  in  the  general  rejoicing.  The  treaty  was  a  very 
simple  on3 ;  nothing  was  determined  in  it  respecting  neutral  trade  and 


THE  HOLY  ALLIANCE.  491 

impressment,  the  discussion  of  these  subjects  having  been  rendered  unne- 
cessary by  the  general  pacification  of  Europe,  and  most  of  the  lesser 
subjects  of  dispute  being  referred  to  subsequent  negotiation.  The  two 
parties,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  remained  just  as  they  had  been,  with 
respect  to  each  other,  at  its  commencement.  Both  were  exhausted  by 
the  prodigious  efforts  they  had  made,  and  were  weary  both  of  victories 
and  defeats,  of  glory,  hazard,  and  suffering.  Excepting  some  petty  con- 
flicts with  the  Indian  tribes,  the  United  States,  after  the  conclusion  of  the 
treaty  of  Ghent,  remained  at  peace  with  all  the  world  for  thirty  years, — ■ 
a  period  long  enough  for  a  new  generation  to  arise,  which  could  learn 
only  by  hearsay  the  story  of  the  few  triumphs  and  many  disasters  of  the 
war  of  1812. 


F.    THE  PEOPLE  AND  STATES  OF  EUROPE   FROM  THE 
HOLY  ALLIANCE  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 

1.      THE    HOLY   ALLIANCE   AND    THE   POSITION    OF   PARTIES. 

§  G36.  The  upper  strata  of  society,  which,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  events, 
suffer  little  from  the  mutations  of  life,  had,  through  the  Revolution  and 
the  military  despotism  of  Napoleon,  been  visited  by  severe  strokes  of 
fortune.  A  more  profound  consideration  of  the  revolutionary  movement 
pointed  to  the  supervision  of  a  Higher  Power,  which  brings  to  nought 
every  impious  endeavor,  and  every  presumptuous  self-reliance.  Reli- 
gious feeling  again  returned  to  the  bosoms  of  men,  and  gave  predomi- 
nance to  piety  and  Christian  faith  among  the  upper  classes.  Penetrated 
by  this  feeling,  the  three  allied  monarchs,  Alexander  of  Russia,  Francis 
of  Austria,  and  Frederick  William  III.  of  Prussia,  before  their  departure 
September  25,  from  Paris,  concluded  the  Holy  Alliance,  which  was  joined 
1815.  by  all  the  sovereigns  of  Europe,  with  the  exception  of  the 

pope  and  the  king  of  England.  In  this  holy  alliance,  which  was  formed 
without  sincere  reference  to  religious  views,  the  three  potentates  sworCj 
"  That  in  accordance  with  the  words  of  Holy  Scripture,  which  commands 
all  men  to  love  each  other  as  brethren,  they  would  remain  united  in  the 
bands  of  trae  and  indissoluble  brotherly  love  ;  that  they  would  mutually 
help  and  assist  each  other ;  that  they  would  govern  their  people  liko 
fathers  of  families,  and  that  they  would  maintain  religion,  peace,  and  jus- 
tice." This  alliance,  beautiful  in  theory,  was  soon  made  the  instrument 
of  a  faithless  and  liberty-endangering  policy,  which  sought,  by  means  of 
religion,  to  establish  the  absolutism  of  princes,  and  the  omnipotence  of 
governments,  and  to  suppress  the  doctrine  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  peo* 
pie,  and  the  democratical  and  constitutional  forms  of  government  which 
are  its  necessary  result.     Whilst  the  Holy  Alliance  made  use  of  Christi" 


492  THE   LATEST  PERIOD. 

nnity  to  establish   reactionary  principles,  it  drew  upon  the  whole  work 
the  reproach  of  hypocrisy,  and  the  hatred  of  the  people. 

§  G37.  Whilst  princes  and  governments  were,  for  the  most  part,  striv- 
ing after  absolute  monarchical  forms,  the  wishes  of  the  people  were 
directed  to  the  establishment  of  constitutional  governments.  According  to 
the  constitution  which  has  grown  up  on  the  free  soil  of  Britain,  the  right 
of  voting  taxes,  and  of  having  a  share  in  the  government  and  the  legisla- 
tion, belongs  to  the  people,  as  represented  by  their  members  cf  parliament. 
As  the  authority  of  the  king  and  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people 
are  alike  discerned  in  this  representative  constitution,  this  form  appeared 
best  suited  for  civilized  states.  The  chief  efforts  of  the  European  na- 
tions were  accordingly  directed  to  the  establishment  or  enlargement  of 
this  constitutional  form  of  government,  and  public  energy  was  almost  ex- 
clusively turned  to  affairs  of  state  and  internal  political  life.  Two  pow- 
erful parties  were  formed,  the  one  (called  sometimes  aristocratic,  some- 
times conservative,  sometimes  servile)  which  wished  to  grant  the  people 
as  few,  the  other  (called  democratic,  liberal,  and,  when  its  views  were 
extreme,  radical)  which  wished  to  grant  the  people  as  many,  privileges 
as  possible ;  and  whilst  the  former  hindered,  as  far  as  it  could,  the  intro- 
duction of  constitutional  forms  of  state,  or,  if  introduced,  attempted  to  de- 
prive them,  by  any  means,  of  their  democratical  elements,  the  efforts  of 
the  latter  were  directed  to  the  founding  and  developing  of  the  constitu- 
tional life,  and  to  increasing  the  privileges  of  the  people.  Governments 
were,  in  general,  in  the  hands  of  the  former ;  consequently,  the  liberals 
formed  the  opposition.  Of  the  five  great  European  powers,  England  and 
France  alone  possessed  constitutional  governments.;  Russia,  Austria,  and 
Prussia  lield  fast  their  monarchical  absolutism.  In  Germany,  Italy,  and 
the  Pyrenean  peninsula,  history  turns  principally  upon  these  constitutional 
contests,  by  which  now  one,  and  now  the  other,  of  these  state  principles 
obtained  the  upper'hand. 

2.   FRANCE. 

§  638.  A  remarkable  revolution  in  opinions  and  mode  of  thinking  took 

place  in  this  much  convulsed  country  after  the  Restoration.     The  party 

of  zealous  royalists   (Ultras,  or  "  White  Jacobins,"  as  they  were   called 

by  their  opponents)  acquired  such  predominance,  that  the  king  had  some 

difRculty  in  maintaining  the    constitutional  charter.      In  the  place  of 

the  freethinking  opinions,  and  the  hostility  to  the  Church,  which  prevailed 

at  a  former  period,  a  fanatical  religious   credulity  made  its  appearance, 

which,  combined  with  the  most  enthusiastic  loyalty,  called  into  existence 

horrors  which  surpassed  the  bloodiest  deeds  of  the  Revolu- 
Septcraber  lu.    .  t      nr         mi         m     ■■  -^ta  m      -.  -.       -. 

tion.      in  Marseilles,  Toulon,  Nimes,  Toulouse,  and  other 

■places,  a  furious  and  fanatical  mob  fell  upon  such  inhabitants  as  were 

known  to  be  Protestants,  Bonapartists,  or  Republicans,  and  murdered  hun 


FRANCE.  493 

dreds  of  them  (among  others,  Marshal  Brune)  in  a  most  barbarous  man- 
Febmary  13,  ner.  The  assassination  of  the  Due  de  Berri,  that  nephew  of 
1820.  ijjg  \i\ug  upon  whom  all  the  hopes  of  the  Bourbons  were 

placed,  hy  Louvel,  a  political  fanatic,  facilitated  the  efforts  of  the  reac- 
tionary party,  at  the  head  of  which  stood  the  count  of  Artois  and  the 
duke  of  Angouleme.     The  king  found  himself  compelled  to  dismiss  the 

moderate  ministry  of  Decazes,  and  to  consent  to  a  limitation 
'        *    of  the  freedom  of  the  person,  of  the  press,  and  of  the  right 

of  voting.     The  zeal  of  the  royalists  reached  its  climax  under 

the  ministry  of  Villele.  The  Chamber  expelled  the  liberal 
deputy,  Manuel,  from  their  body,  and  the  army,  conducted  by  Angou- 
Icrae,  crossed  the  Pyrenees  at  the  command  of  the  Holy  Alliance,  for 
the  purpose  of  restoring  unlimited  monarchy  in  Spain. 

§  C39.  On  the  ICth  of  8t'i)tember,  1824,  Louis  XVlII.  concluded  his 
varied  and  severely-tried  existence.  Stern  experience  had  taught  him 
compassion  and  moderation ;  the  impetuous  violence  of  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  royal  family  filled  the  heart  of  the  dying  man  with  melan- 
choly augurids  for  the  future.     His  brother,  the  count  of  Artoi<,  became 

king  of  France  as  Charles  X.  By  his  solemn  corona- 
'  ^"  '  tion  and  anointing  in  Rheims,  he  appeared  to  indicate  that 
he  intended  to  govern  after  the  manner  of  the  old  "  Most  Christian " 
kings.  He  accordingly  turned  his  affections  towards  the  nobility  and 
clergy,  and  surrendered  himself  entirely  to  the  reactionary  party,  with 
the  watchword  "  Throne  and  altar."  The  emigrants  who  had  suffered 
losses  during  the  Revolution  received  1,000  million  francs  from  the 
royal  Chambers  as  an  indemnification  ;  and  a  series  of  laws  in  favor  of 
the  Church  and  of  the  Cliristiaii  religion  announced  the  intention  of 
the  king  to  erect  a  mighty  barrier  against  revolutionary  notions  by  the 
ecclesiastical  regeneration  of  France.  Charles  X.  thought  to  establish 
this  regeneration  by  founding  rich  prelacies,  by  restoring  to  the  clergy 
their  former  influential  position,  by  favoring  the  system  of  Orders,  and 
by  bringing  back  that  holiness  of  the  Church  which  is  founded  upon 
works,  together  with  the  whole  of  the  new  Romish  pomp.  The  Jesuits, 
who  had  long  been  re-established  by  the  pope,  returned,  although  not 
publicly ;  they  founded  meetings  for  pious  exercises  (congregations), 
and  attempted  to  get  the  education  of  youth  into  their  hands.  By  these 
means,  the  king  strengthened  the  liberal  opposition,  inasmuch  as  all  men 
of  philosophical  education,  every  friend  of  light  and  of  enlightenment, 
turned  from  a  government  that  favored  obscurantism.  Whilst  the  delud- 
ed monarch  believed  that  he  could  impose  the  old  fetters  upon  the  minds 
of  the  people  by  inopportune  missions  and  penitential  processions,  or  by 
compulsory  laws  and  limitations,  the  assiduous  youth  were  listening  to 
the  liberal  discourses  and  doctrines  of  the  enlightened  professors  of  the 
University  of  Paris  (Guizot,  Villemain,  Royer-Collard,  &c.,)  or  reading 
42 


494  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

the  bold  and  free  discussions  of  tlie  opposition  press  (  Globe,  National,  Con* 
stitutionnel),  or  delighting  themselves  with  Beranger's  songs  of  freedom, 
and  the  satires  of  the  Hellenist,  Paul  Louis  Courier;  whilst  the  citizen 
read  the  widely-spread  works  of  Voltaire  and  the  Encyclopjedists,  or 
the  histories  and  memorials  of  the  Revolution,  and  of  the  renowned  reign 
of  Napoleon  (Thiers,  Mignet,  &c.) 

3.    THE    CONSTITUTIONAL    STRUGGLES    IN    THE    PYRENEAN    PENINSULA 

AND    IN    ITALY. 

§  640.  In  Spain  and  Italy,  the  new  political  ideas  had  made  no  pro- 
gress among  the  people,  who  were  ruled  by  their  priests ;  they  existed  in 
the  heads  bf  the  educated,  and,  as  it  was  dangerous  to  avow  them  openly, 
they  were  disseminated  in  secret  societies.  Such  political  associations 
w^ere  the  "  Freemasons  "  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  and  the  "  Carbonari  "  in 
Italy.  Abolition  of  priestly  power,  introduction  of  free  constitutional 
forms,  enlightenment  of  the  people,  arousing  patriotism  and  a  feeling  of 
nationality,  were  their  great  objects.  Their  influence  was  first  attended 
with  results  in  Spain.  Ferdinand,  a  false  and  suspicious  man,  and  a 
master  in  dissimulation,  overthrew,  after  his  return,  the  Cortes* 
*  "  Constitution  in  Spain,  and  brought  back  the  unlimited  monar- 
chy of  the  old  time  and  all  its  evils.  Nobility  and  clergy  again  recovered 
their  exemption  from  taxes  ;  the  monasteries  were  restored  ;  the  Jesuits 
ventured  to  make  their  appearance;  the  Inquisition  reappeared,  and 
with  it  the  rack  and  all  the  horrors  of  a  dark  age.  A  frightful  persecu- 
tion now  arose,  not  only  against  all  the  adherents  of  France  (Afrances- 
ados),  and  all  who  had  filled  offices  under  Joseph,  or  had  in  any  way 
served  him,  but  against  the  chiefs  and  adherents  of  the  Cortes,  against 
the  leaders  of  the  bands  who  had  shed  their  heart's  blood  for  king  and 
country,  and  who  now  claimed,  as  a  well-deserved  reward,  a  share  in  the 
government  and  civil  freedom.  Many  of  these  heroic  warriors  died  by 
the  hand  of  the  executioner,  others  wandered  in  foreign  countries  as  out- 
laws and  fugitives ;  those  who  remained  behind  concealed  their  views 
and  their  resentment  in  the  silence  of  their  own  bosoms.  A  camarilla, 
consisting  of  the  selfish  privileged  class,  fanatical  priests,  obsequious  cour- 
tiers, and  intriguing  women,  secured  Ferdinand's  confidence,  and  incited 
him  to  the  most  cruel  persecution  of  every  liberal.  The  government  and 
the  affairs  of  justice  were  in  a  most  deplorable  condition,  the  treasury  was 
exhausted,  despite  the  oppressive  taxes,  trade  was  stagnant,  the  South 
American  colonies  renounced  allegiance  to  Spain,  and  engaged  in  a  war 
which  ended  in  the  independence  of  the  separate  states,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  several  republics. 

§  641.  At  this  juncture,  it  happened  that,  on  the  New  Year's  Day  of 
1820,  a  military  conspiracy  broke  out  among  the  regiments  assembled  at 
Cadiz  for  embarkation  for  South  America.     The  standard  of  rebellion 


SPAIN,    POKTUGAL,  AXD    ITALY.  495 

was  raised  and  the  Constitution  of  the  Cortes  proclaimed.  Colonel  Iliego 
was  the  soul  of  the  undertaking ;  Quiroga,  who  had  been  liberated  from 
prison,  undertook  the  conduct  of  the  whole.  The  insurrection  soon  spread 
to  every  quarter  of  Spain;  the  Constitution  of  the  year  '12  was  every- 
where demanded,  and  nothing  was  left  to  the  king  but  to  yield  to  the  de- 
mand, to  summon  the  Cortes,  and  to  swear  to  the  constitution, 
'  "  *  This  triumph  of  the  Spanish  democrats  excited  their  party  in 
Portugal  and  Italy  to  imitation.  Popular  tumults  took  place  in  Lisbon 
and  Oporto,  and  resulted  in  the  removal  of  Lord  Beresford,  who  governed 
the  country  in  the  name  of  the  king,  who  was  still  lingering  in  Brazil,  the 
summoning  of  the  Estates  (Cortes),  and  the  introduction  of  a  constitution 
January  26  ^^  the  model  of  that  of  Spain.  John  VL  returned  to  Lisbon, 
1821.  and  swore  to  the  new  constitution  for  Portugal  and  Brazil. 

The  Carbonari  excited  a  military  conspiracy  in  Naples,  which  soon  made 
such  progress,  that  king  Ferdinand  found  himself  compelled  to  consent  to 
the  introduction  of  the  Spanish  constitution.  "William  Pepe  and  Caras- 
cosa,  the  heads  of  the  conspiracy,  marched  in  triumph,  at  the 
'  *  head  of  the  insurgent  troops  and  the  Carbonari,  who  had 
joined  them,  into  Naples.  A  revolutionary  movement  broke  out  also  in 
Piedmont  against  the  absolute  monarchy,  supported  by  the  aristocracy 

„     ,  and  priesthood,  in  consequence  of  which  Victor  Emmanuel 

March,  1821.       ,  ,.  ,         •.,<-..!  .      . 

abdicated,  and  the  Spanish  constitution  was  introduced  into 

the  kingdom  of  Sardinia  also. 

§  642.  The  chiefs  of  the  Holy  Alliance,  disturbed  by  this  new  revolu- 
tionary spirit,  that  seemed  to  have  seized  upon  the  German  youth  also, 
embraced  the  resolution,  at  the  instigation  of  Metternich,  of  suppressing 

^^^^  the  liberal  movement.    At  the  conj^ress  of  Laybach,  at  which 
January,  1821.  -r-.      t         i     /»  t..t     i  , 

king  h  erdinand  of  Naples  was  also  present  by  the  invitation 

of  the  monarchs,  it  was  determined  to  overthrow  the  constitutional  govern- 
ment in  Naples  by  violence.  Ferdinand  approved  the  proposal.  An 
Austrian  army  was  marched  in  ;  the  dastardly  forces  of  Pepe  and  Caras- 
cosa  w^ere  quickly  overpowered,  and  either  dispersed  or  forced  to  surren- 
der, upon  which  the  king  again  abolished  the  constitutional  government. 
From  this  time,  priestly  power  and  absolute  monarchy,  supported  by 
mercenary  troops  and  a  system  of  police,  were  united  together  for  the 
suppression  of  every  movement  of  freedom  by  terror  and  the  bondage  of 
the  intellect. 

This  result  decided  the  fate  of  the  Piedmontese  constitution.  It  is  true 
that  the  enthusiastic  liberals,  under  Santa  Rosa,  resisted  their  enemies  at 
A  "1  1821  ^O'^^r^  "ot  without  glory  ;  but  their  strength  was  soon  broken. 
Turin  and  Alessandria  were  occupied  by  the  Austrians ;  and 
unlimited  monarchy  in  its  severest  form,  and  with  all  the  horrors  of  the 
reaction,  was  again  restored  in  Sardinia. 

§  643.  Not  much  more  splendid  was  the  end  of  the  Spanish  Cortes. 


496  THE   LATEST  PERIOD. 

When  the  liberals  abused  their  victory,  placed  undue  restrictions  upon 
the  kingly  power,  and  proceeded  with  great  violence  against  the  priest- 
hood, the  privileged  classes,  and  the  ancient  and  traditionary  privileges 
and  usages,  the  priests  and  the  adherents  of  absolute  power  stirred  up 
the  people  to  resistance.  A  bloody  civil  war  once  more  threatened  to 
tear  the  unhappy  country  to  pieces.  At  this  juncture,  the  members  of 
the  Holy  Alliance  at  the  Congress  of  Verona  required  the 
'  *  Cortes  in  Madrid  to  alter  the  constitution,  and  to  give  the 
king  greater  powers.  The  Cortes  rejected  this  demand  with  defiance. 
A  French  army,  under  the  command  of  the  duke  of  Angouleme,  now 
Febraary,  marched  over  the  Pyrenees.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  Cortes 
1823.  summoned  the  nation  to  arms ;  constitutional  freedom  was  a 

word  without  meaning  for  people  led  by  priests  and  monks,  and  the  new 
system  was  opposed  to  their  habits  and  feelings ;  the  popular  war,  the 
old  renowned  guerilla,  on  which  the  Cortes  had  placed  its  confidence, 
did  not  arise ;  the  people  and  the  camarilla  saluted  the  French  as  deli- 
verers from  the  detested  rule  of  the  Freemasons.  It  was  in  vain  that  a 
few  leaders,  like  Mina  in  Barcelona  and  Quiroga  in  Leon,  resisted  with 
courage  and  spirit  the  foreign  army;  the  soldiers  showed  little  love  for 
fighting,  and  sought  to  secure  themselves  betimes  by  capitulations.  The 
French  marched  triumphantly  into  Madrid,  and,  as  the  Cortes  and  king 
had  fled  to  the  south,  they  appointed  a  regency.  The  strong  city  of 
Cadiz  was  the  last  place  of  refuge  for  the  friends  of  the  constitution ; 
August  5,  the  French  appeared  before  the  town.  The  courage  of  the 
1823.  members  of  the  Cortes  sank ;  instead  of  burying  themselves 

beneath  the  ruins  of  the  town,  as  they  had  formerly  grandiloquently 
expressed  it,  they  concluded  a  treaty  with  the  besiegers,  by  which  they 
consented  to  their  own  dissolution  and  set  the  king  at  liberty.  Ferdi- 
nand VII.  was  now  replaced  in  the  fulness  of  his  power  by  foreign 
bayonets ;  the  constitution  and  all  its  arrangements  fell  into  desuetude, 
and  the  apostolic  party  let  loose  all  the  demons  of  rage  and  vengeance 
vr  1,  ,  K  against  its  opponents.  Riego  and  many  of  his  confederates 
died  by  the  hands  of  the  executioner,  thousands  wandered 
about  in  foreign  countries  as  starving  and  houseless  fugitives  and 
outlaws,  and  an  equal  number  were  compelled  to  expiate  in  mouldy 
dungeons  the  crime  of  having  attempted  to  rob  the  people  of  the 
institutions  to  which  three  hundred  years  of  despotism  had  accustomed 
them. 

§  644.  The  lamentable  end  of  the  Cortes  government  of  Spain  in- 
spired the  queen  of  Portugal  (sister  of  Ferdinand  VII.)  and  her  second 
son,  Don  Miguel,  with  the  project  of  getting  rid,  at  the  same  time,  of  their 
detested  constitution  by  an  act  of  violence.  They  induced  the  weak 
king,  John  VL,  to  abolish  the  Constitution  of  the  Cortes,  and  to  sanction 
the  persecution  of  the  Constitutionalists  and  the  Freemasons.      Shortly 


GREAT  BRITAIX.  497 

after  this,  Don  Miguel  excited  a  rebellion  against  his  own  father,  with 

the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  regency,  but  gained  instead  a 

^" '        *      sentence  of  banishment  from  the  country.     John  VI.  died 

.  two  years  afterwards.     His  eldest  son,  Don   Pedro,  who, 
Marchl0,1826.      .      -^  ,.,,•!  f -n        m  n        .      .  *i 

bemg  constitutional  emperor  or  lirazil,  could  not  at  the  same 

time  become  king  of  Portugal,  made  over  the  government  of  the  mother 
country  to  his  daughter,  Donna  Maria  da  Gloria,  who  was  a  minor,  and 
granted  the  Portuguese  a  liberal  constitution.  His  brother,  Don  Miguel, 
having  returned  from  banishment,  succeeded,  some  time  after,  in  again 
overthrowing  this  constitution  by  the  aid  of  the  apostolic  party.  He 
robbed  his  niece  of  her  right  to  the  throne,  had  himself  pro- 
'  *  claimed  absolute  king,  and  proceeded  by  banishment,  impri- 
sonment, and  death,  against  the  friends  and  adherents  of  constitutional 
order.  But  his  reign  was  short.  Don  Pedro,  compelled  in  Brazil 
to  surrender  his  crown  to  his  son,  who  was  under  age,  landed  in  Portugal 
^.  D.  with  the  soldiers  he  had  raised,  and  reduced  his  tyrannical 

1832  1834.  brother  to  such  extremities  in  a  war  of  two  years'  duration, 
that  he  at  length  renounced  the  crown  and  retired  abroad.  Upon  this, 
Pedro  again  restored  the  Cortes  government,  which,  after  his  early  death, 
however,  underwent  many  attacks  and  alterations. 

4.   GREAT   BRITAIN. 

§  645.  England  had  come  forth  from  the  long  struggle  with  France 
powerful  and  victorious.  She  had  destroyed  the  fleets  of  other  nations, 
and  put  her  own  marine  on  such  a  footing  that  her  empire  of  the  sea 
was  incontestable ;  she  had  increased  her  colonies  in  the  "West  Indies, 
had  raised  Canada,  had  planted  colonies  in  the  west  and  south  of  Africa, 
and  had  created  an  empire  in  the  East  Indies,  after  the  conquest  of  the 
mighty  sultan  Tippoo  Saib,  that  far  surpassed  the  mother  country  in  size 
and  population,  and  was  an  inexhaustible  source  of  trade  and-  commerce. 
Distant  islands,  opened  to  the  view  of  the  astonislied  world  by  daring 
navigators,  like  Cook  and  others,  bowed  themselves  beneath  the  sceptre 
of  the  island  empress  of  the  sea.  The  possession  of  Gibraltar  and  Malta, 
the  protective  government  of  the  Ionian  Isles,  the  free  pfissage  through 
the  Dardanelles,  secured  to  her,  after  the  peace  of  Paris,  the  dominion 
of  the  Mediterranean  and  intercourse  with  the  Levant.  By  her  firmly- 
established  constitution,  with  the  liberty  of  the  press  and  of  speech, 
and  the  narrowly  defined  limits  between  the  rights  of  the  king  and  of 
the  people,  England  excited  the  envy  of  other  nations.  But  with  all 
this  power  and  prosperity  without,  the  state  was  suffering  from  incurable 
wounds.  1.  Whilst  a  small  proportion  of  the  people  had  amassed 
enormous  wealth,  the  larger  number  of  thefn  were  sunk  in  the  most  op- 
pressive poverty.  The  expensive  land  and  naval  wars,  and  the  enormous 
subsidies  that  the  government  sent  to  the  Continent,  had  raised  the 
42* 


498  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

national  debt  to  sucli  a  sum  that  the  yearly  interest  amounted  to  thirty- 
four  million  pounds.  This  burden  of  debt,  together  with  an  extravagant 
court  and  excessive  salaries,  increased  the  expenditure  of  the  state  to  such 
a  degree  that  the  necessary  sums  could  only  be  obtained  by  a^perpetually 
increasing  taxation  of  articles  of  trade,  necessaries  of  life,  income  (in- 
come-tax), houses,  and  landed  property.  This  occasioned  the  impover- 
ishment of  the  small  landed  proprietors  and  of  tradesmen  with  moderate 
capitals.  The  lands  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  rich  nobles,  who  discovei'ed 
the  means  of  increasing  their  incomes  by  raising  rents  and  preventing 
the  importation  of  foreign  corn  by  the  corn-laws.  Trade  fell  into  the 
liands  of  the.  rich  manufacturers,  who,  by  enlarging  their  business,  outdid 
men  of  smaller  means ;  the  middle  class  of  citizens  decreased,  while  the 
number  of  artisans,  who  lived  from  hand  to  mouth,  increased  to  a  for- 
midable amount.  Heavy  poor-rates  imposed  upon  the.  public,  and  oc- 
casional contributions  by  the  government,  were  not  sufficient  to  counter- 
act the  evil.  The  lower  orders,  excited  by  want  and  misery,  made  re- 
peated attempts  to  improve  their  condition  by  insurrections,  but  their 
illegal  proceedings  invariably  resulted  in  their  own  injury.  The  un- 
armed crowd  was  easily  dispersed  by  the  military ;  but  the  sanguinary 
punishments   inflicted   upon    the    insurgents  of  Manchester 

A.  D.   1819.  ^  ,  ,  rr.,  . 

brought  severe  censure  upon  the  government.  Ihe  lower 
classes  soon  began  to  strive  for  political  influence  also.  To  give  them- 
selves a  voice  in  the  legislature,  they  demanded  universal  suffrage, 
yearly  parliaments,  and  vote  by  ballot.  They  laid  down  their  principles 
in  a  people's  charter,  whence  they  received  the  name  of  Chartists.  It  is 
to  their  exertions  that  the  relaxation  of  the  corn-laws,  by  which  the  in- 
troduction of  foreiojn  corn  was  facilitated,  is  to  be  ascribed. 

A.  D.  1842.  ° 

In  1846,  the  corn-laws  were  entirely  repealed. 
§  G46.  2.  After  the  severe  contest  against  Napoleon,  there  came  a 
Court  and    period  of  torpor  in  England.     George  IV.,  a  king  sunk  in 
Government,    vice  and  pleasure,  who  in  his  youth  had  gone  with  the  oppo- 
sition, put  his  confidence  in  the  cold-blooded  Tories  who  had  grown  grey 
in  the  state-wisdom  of  Pitt,  and  turned  away  his  eyes  and  his  heart  fi'om 
the  people.     The  latter  rewarded  him  with  aversion  and  hatred,  especially 
when  he  gave  notoriety  to  the  first  year  of  his  independent  reign  by  a 
scandalous   action   for   divorce,   before   the   Upper    House, 
against  his  wife,  Caroline  of  Brunswick,  w^ho  was  living  in 
unwilling  separation  from  him.     When  the  queen  died,  in 
the  following  year,  the   sympathy  and  compassion   of  the 
nation  followed  her  to  the  grave,  little  as  her  conduct  or  morals  were 
rieserving  of  praise. .   Castlereagh,  the  old  associate  of  George,  and  the 
August  12,       supporter  of  a  false  and  faithless  policy,  died  by  his  own 
1822.  hand  during  a  paroxysm  of  melancholy.     This  was  a  great 

shock  to  the  king,  who  was  burdened  by  so  many  sins  of  youth,  and 


GREAT   BRITAIN.  499 

made  him  shun  society.  He  passed  the  last  years  of  his  life  in  gloomy 
retirement,  whilst  the  great  statesman,  Canning,  who  approached  the 
principles  of  the  Whigs,  restored  its  former  preeminence  to  the  insular 
empire  of  England.  George  IV.'s  only  daughter,  the  intelligent  and 
amiable  princess  Charlotte  (wife  of  Leopold  of  Coburg,  afterwards  king 
of  the  Belgians),  having  died  young  and  without  children,  William  IV., 
the  king's  brother,  a  plain,  homely  man,  ascended  the  throne  afte? 
WiUiamlV.  C^eorge's  death.  Under  him,  the  Whigs  got  the  manage- 
A.  D.  1830  -  mcnt  of  affairs  into  their  hands,  and  the  important  measure 
1S37.  Qf  parliamentary  reform,  by  which  the  elections  for  parlia 

ment  were  arranged  afresh  according  to  the  number  of  the  population 
and  the  right  of  suffrage  was  made  dependent  upon  a  certain  income^ 
March  1,1831.  was  carried  after  the  most  violent  opposition,  and  formed  the 
August,  1835.  triumph  of  the  middle  class  over  the  aristocracy.  Shortly 
after  this,  slave  emancipation,  at  which  Wilberforce  and  other  philan- 
thropists had  been  working  for  years,  was  carried.  England,  after  vast 
sums  paid  in  indemnifying  the  planters,  set  tlie  slaves  at  liberty  in  her 
colonies,  and  has  since  endeavored  with  all  her  strength  to  induce  other 
nations  to  take  a  similar  step,  and  to  entirely  suppress  the 
'  *  slave  traffic.  After  William  IV.,  his  niece,  Victoria,  married 
since  (the  10th  of  February,  1840)  to  prince  Albert  of  Coburg,  received 
the  crown  of  England.  Under  her  government,  the  great  statesman, 
Sir  Robert  Peel,  attempted  to  give  a  fresh  impulse  to  trade  by  moderat- 
ing the  import  duties.  Since  then,  "free-trade"  has  been  the  watch- 
word of  the  day. 

§  647.  Ireland  to  the  present  hour  is  the  sore  spot  in  the  body  politic 
of  England.     The  maltreatment  of  former  generations  has 
produced  a  gulf  between  England  and  Ireland  which  never 
permitted  a  perfect  union  between  two  people  different  in  race,  religion, 
and  institutions.     Two  things  especially,  produced  by  an  old  injustice, 
excited  the  liatred  of  the  irritable  Irish,  —  the  harsh  treatment  of  the 
poor  peasants  by  their  noble  English  landlords,  and  the  unnatural  con- 
dition of  the  Church,  where  Anglican  priests  are  in  possession  of  the 
Irish   Church   temporalities,   whilst   the   poor   Catholic   population    are 
obliged  to  maintain  their  unpaid  clergy  from  their  necessity.     The  com- 
plaints of  the  Irish  were  unheard ;  the  insurrections  that  were  attempted 
were  suppressed,  and  increased  the  oppression.     It  was  not 
until  admission  jnto  the  English  parliament  was  granted  to 
Irish  Catholics  by  the  Emancipation  Act,  that  the  Irish  people  had  an 
opportunity  of  demanding  an  abolition  of  abuses.    Daniel  O'Connell,  who 
now  entered  parliament  with  a  "  tail"  of  more  than  forty  similarly-minded 
Irishmen,  threatened  a  Repeal  of  the  Union,  unless  attention  was  paid 
to  the  righteous  demands  of  the  Irish  people.     The  increasing  poverty 
which,  owing  to  the  failure  of  the  potato  crop,  produced  pestilence  and 


500  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

famine,  required  stringent  remedies  for  the  prevailing  abuses.  Owing  to 
the  irritable  and  excitable  nature  of  the  Irish,  it  was  'an  easy  task  for  the 
great  popular  orator  and  demagogue,  O'Connell,  to  keep  the  country  in  a 
perpetual  ferment,  and,  by  the  watchword  of  "  repeal,"  to  direct  the 
whole  energy  of  the  people  to  a  single  object.  Repeal  associations  were 
formed  in  every  spot  and  corner,  with  a  common  fund  for  furthering  the 
aims  of  O'Connell ;  the  Catholic  priesthood,  who  exercised  an  unlimited 
power  over  the  ignorant  people,  were  in  his  service ;  his  word  was  law 
in  Ireland.  The  principal  demand  of  the  Irish  was  the  abolition  of  the 
tithes,  which  were  paid  in  Ireland  to  the  English  clergy.  When  their 
proposals  were  not  received  by  the  English  parliament,  the  tenants  re- 
fused to  pay  the  tithes,  and  opposed  the  distraints  ;  and,  when  the  English 
had  recourse  to  force,  they  employed  force  in  return.  Bands  of  armed 
men  marched  through  the  country,  marking  their  course  with  blood  and 
fire.  These  things  pressingly  admonished  the  government  to  give  its 
best  attention  to  "  starving  and  revolutionary  Ireland,  the  land  of  passions 
and  of  misery."  The  country  was  threatened  with  a  state  of  warfare  by 
the  Irish  Coercion  Bill,  in  order  to  maintain  obedience  by  terror ;  and  an 
attempt  was  made  by  the  Irish  Church  Bill,  and  the  so-called  appropria- 
tion clause,  to  abolish  or  moderate  the  Church  payments  of  the  tenants, 
and  to  apply  a  portion  of  the  Church  property  to  secular  purposes, 
namely,  to  the  improvement  of  public  education.  But  this  project  en- 
countered such  resistance  from  the  High-Church  party  and  the  aristo- 
cratic Tories,  that  it  was  not  till  after  a  parliamentary  contest  of  a  twelve- 
month that  the  Tithes  Bill  was  passed,  and  even  then  in  a  mutilated 
shape.  The  High-Church  opposition  formed  the  so-called  Orange  clubs, 
which  attempted  to  frustrate  all  concessions  to  the  Irish,  and  kept  re- 
ligious and  national  hatred  in  constant  activity. 

5.    GERMANY. 

§  648.  Germany,  after  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  was  weaker  and  less 
united  than  she  had  been  during  the  empire.  It  is  true  that  the  number 
of  independent  principalities  and  states  had  been  lessened  by  more  than 
a  hundred,  and  that  the  bishoprics,  abbacies,  and  imperial  towns  had  been 
deprived  of  their  independent  position ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  thirty- 
?ight  territories  which  had  been  included  in  the  German  Union  received 
sovereign  powers,  as  far  as  their  internal  affairs  were  concerned.  In 
place  of  the  old  imperial  Diet  appeared  the  Federative  Diet  of  Frankfort- 
on-the-Maine,  composed  of  representatives  of  the  different  governments, 
under  the  presidentship  of  Austria.  But,  as  this  assembly  was  entirely 
directed  by  the  wishes  of  single  governments,  it  had  no  independent 
power ;  and  the  German  Union  was  an  impotent  member  among  Euro- 
pean states,  dependent  upon  the  influence  of  the  two  great  powers,  Austria 
and  Prussia,  which  assumed  the  first  rank,  in  virtue  of  their  German 


GERMANY.  501 

provinces.  Even  foreign  kingdoms  sent  representatives  to  the  Frankfort 
Diet,  as  Denmark  for  Holstein,  and  the  Netherlands  for  Luxemburg. 
This  powerless  condition  of  Germany  gave  as  little  satisfaction  abroad  as 
the  internal  arrangements  sufficed  at  home.  Instead  of  a  strong  union, 
■with  a  united  federative  government  and  a  popular  representation,  such 
as  patriotic  men  had  hoped  and  striven  for,  the  creation  of  the  Viennese 
Congress  was  a  union  formed  of  a  number  of  sovereign  states,  in  which 
the  governments,  but  not  the  people,  were  represented;  and  the  13th 
article  of  the  Union  Act,  by  which  a  general  promise  was  given  of  the 
introduction  of  a  state  constitution,  without  any  distinct  notice  of  the  time 
and  manner  of  its  accomplishment,  did  not  satisfy  the  expectations  of  the 
people.  As  Prussia,  where  the  men  of  the  retrograde  movement,  Haller, 
Schmalz,  and  others,  soon  obtained  the  upper  hand  of  the  patriots  of  the 
war  of  liberty,  delayed  bringing  forward  the  promised  state  constitution, 
and  at  length,  instead  of  the  desired  imperial  legislature,  granted  only 
provincial  estates  with  consulting  voices,  without  either  publicity  or  gen- 
eral interest,  the  discontent  of  the  German  people  became  every  day 
greater.  Austria,  under  the  influence  of  Metternich,  was  governed  in  a 
spirit  of  complete  absolutism,  and  kept  as  far  aloof  from  Germany  as  pos- 
sible ;  and  Prussia  gave  herself  up  more  and  more  to  the  same  views, 
and  allowed  herself  to  be  made  the  instrument  of  the  execution  of  most 
unpopular  measures.  As  there  was  no  general  system  of  management 
or  debifte,  the  constitutions  that  were  gradually  introduced  into  Saxe- 
Weimar,  Baden,  Wirteraberg,  Bavaria,  Hesse,  and  many  other  small 
states,  turned  out  very  different  from  each  other,  so  that,  in  this  respect 
also,  Germany  appeared  torn  and  divided.  And  then  the  duties  between 
different  countries,  which  acted  as  a  bar  to  their  intercourse  !  It  seemed 
as  though  Germany  was  about  to  be  broken  up  into  its  separate  races 
and  states ! 

§  649.  This  state  of  things  filled  the  German  people  with  discontent, 
and  shook  their  confidence  in  the  patriotism  of  the  governments.  The 
liberal  party,  which  was  aiming  at  a  progressive  development  of  state 
affairs  in  a  democratic  direction,  and  kept  alive  the  idea  of  German  unity, 
gained  ground  daily.  But,  above  all,  the  German  youth,  who  had  been 
filled  with  an  admiration  of  the  middle  ages  by  the  new  romantic  poetry, 
were  dissatisfied  with  the  present.  They  longed  for  the  empire  of  the 
middle  age,  and  for  the  former  unity  and  greatness  of  Germany ;  and 
sought  to  give  life  to  the  neW* ideas  of  popular  government  under  the  old 
German  forms  and  titles.  Without  clearness  of  aim,  and  without  know- 
ledge or  respect  for  obstacles,  the  youths  who,  in  the  German  high  schools, 
had  formed  the  fraternal  alliance  of  the  "  General  Burschenschaft,"  strove 
after  an  ideal  world  and  state  creation  upon  the  old  German  system.  This 
October  18,  feeling  first  displayed  itself  during  the  festival  of  the  Wart- 
1817.  burg.     On  the  day  of  the  battle  of  Leipsic,  a  festival  was 


i^02  '     THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

celebrated  as  an  introduction  to  the  300th  anniversary  of  the  Heformation, 
which  is  always  solemnized  with  great  enthusiasm  in  Protestant  Germany  ; 
and  at  the  same  time,  in  remembrance  of  the  struggle  for  liberty,  a  num- 
ber of  students  held  a  meeting  at  the  Wartburg,  near  Eisenach,  at  which 
fiery  speeches  were  made  by  the  young  men,  and  at  the  conclusion,  fol- 
lowing the  example  of  Luther,  certain  writings  of  Kotzebue,  Kamptz, 
Haller,  Jarke,  and  others,  which  were  offensive  to  their  views,  together 
with  some  symbols  of  an  antiquated  and  feudal  period,  such  as  pigtails, 
breast-laces,  corporals'  canes,  were,  with  youthful  wantonness,  committed 
to  the  flames.  If  an  undue  importance  was  attached  by  the  government 
to  this  occurrence,  yet  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  bloody  deed 
of  one  of  these  confederates  of  the  Wartburg,  George  Sand,  should  be 
looked  upon  as  the  act  of  a  great  political  conspiracy,  and  give  rise  to  a 
series  of  legal  investigations  and  prosecutions,  on  account  of  "  demagogic 
intrigues."  Sand,  of  Wunsiedel,  a  pious  and  patriotic  youth,  but  full  of 
fanaticism  and  governed  by  vanity,  embraced  the  criminal  resolution  of 
killing  the  Russian  councillor,  Augustus  Von  Kotzebue,  who  was  suspected 
March  23,  of  endangering  Germany's  fmedom  and  politic  development 
1819.  by  conveying  information  to   St.  Petersburg ;  he  wished  to 

rid  the  German  nation  from  this  "  Russian  spy,"  this  "  traitor  to  the 
country."  He  approached  the  unsuspecting  man  in  Mannheim  with 
a  letter,  and  pierced  him  through  with  a  stroke  of  a  dagger  as  he  was 
reading  it.  The  attempt  to  kill  himself  was  not  successful,  ^and,  re- 
September,  covered  from  his  wounds,  ended  his  life  on  the  scaffold.  After 
1819.  this  followed   the  decrees  of  Carlbad,  which  restrained  the 

freedom  of  the  press  by  the  censorship,  established  a  court  of  investiga- 
tion in  Mayence,  for  the  suppression  of  "  demagogic  intrigues,"  interdicted 
the  alliances  of  the  Burschenschaft  with  their  gymnasia,  placed  the  univer- 
sities under  the  supervision  of  special  government  officials,  and  finally 
gave  unconditional  validity  to  the  resolutions  of  the  Diet  for  all  govern- 
ments. Bounds  were  at  the  same  time  set  to  the  democratical  spirit  of 
i^r     1-  -.o^A    file  south  German  provinces  by  the  concludinc]^  act  of  Vienna. 

may  lo,  1820.    -p,         .  . 

Prussia,  which  had  been  so  long  the  hope  and  confidence  of 
all  German  patriots,  now  took  the  lead  in  the  reactionary  and  unpopular 
measures.  Men  like  Arndt,  Jahn,  &c.,  whose  voices  and  example  had 
had  such  influence  in  time  of  need,  were  now  brought  to  judgment  as 
favorers  of  demagogic  intrigues,  deprived  of  their  offices,  and  watched  by 
the  police.  From  this  time,  the  unity  of  Germany  was  looked  upon  as  a 
dream ;  he  who  expressed  a  wish  of  the  sort  made  himself  suspected  of 
demagogic  efforts.  Every  separate  state  was  regarded  as  an  independent 
whole,  and  governed  without  relation  to  the  general  interest  of  the  coun- 
try ;  and,  although  many  excellent  arrangements  were  adopted  in  the 
government  administration  of  justice,  and  in  the  affairs  of  religion  and  edu- 
cation, little  or  nothing  was  done  for  arousing  the  feelings  of  nationality 
and  patriotism. 


GREECE.  503 


6.  Greece's  struggle  for  liberty. 

§  650.  "While  the  public  energies  of  the  nations  of  Europe  were  held  in 
firm  bonds  by  the  Holy  Alliance,  the  news  of  Greece's  rise  against  tLe 
Turks  produced  great  enthusiasm,  and  aroused  a  fresh  political  interest 
among  the  torpid  people.  Alexander  Ypsilanti,  a  Moldavian  noble  in 
the  military  service  of  Russia,  was  the  first  who  rose  up  in  his  country  as 
a  liberator,  and  published  a  call  to  his  countrymen,  which  referred  to  the 
protection  of  Russia,  to  shake  off  the  Turkish  yoke.  A  society,  Iletoeria, 
with  widely-spread  ramifications,  the  secret  object  of  which  was  a  separa- 
tion from  Turkey,  came  to  the  aid  of  the  project.  In  a  short  time,  Morea 
(Peloponnesus),  Livadia  (Hellas),  Thessaly,  and  the  Greek  islands,  were 
in  arms.  But  the  expected  aid  of  Russia  did  not  arrive. 
'  *  Willingly  as  the  emperor  Alexander  woulc^have  favored  the 
movement,  both  from  religious  sympathy  and  political  interest,  the  in 
fluence  of  Metternich,  who,  at  the  Congress  of  Lay  bach,  placed  the  insur- 
rection of  the  Greeks  on  a  par  with  the  simultaneous  democratical  move- 
ments in  Italy  and  Spain,  prevented  any  support  being  given  to  them. 
The  Turks  foamed  with  rag^,  and  took  a  bloody  vengeance.  The  Patriarch 
of  Constantinople,  the  supreme  head  of  the  Greek  Church,  was  torn  from 
the  high  altar  on  Easter-day  by  the  infidel  Maiiommedans,  and  hung  up 
along  with  his  bishops  at  the  principal  door  of  liis  church ;  the  greater 
number  of  the  Greek  families  of  the  capital  died  by  violence,  or  were 
obliged  to  wander  forth  as  beggars  into  banishment.  The  sacred  band 
of  Greeks,  under  the  conduct  of  Ypsilanti,  succumbed  to  the 
'  "  'superior  power  of  the  Turks  in  Wallachia,  ai]d  were  totally 
annihilated  in  the  desperate  battle  of  Dragaschan,  where  they  fought  with 
the  heroic  coui*age  of  a  Leonidas.  Ypsilanti  fled  to  Austria,  but  was 
doomed  to  pine  for  years  in  a  Hungarian  fortress.  The  fall  of  these  mag- 
nanimous warriors  showed  that  they  were  animated  by  a  different  spirit 
from  that  of  the  Spanish  and  Italian  champions  of  freedom. 

§  G51.  A  frightful  national  war  now  broke  out  in  all  quarters  ot 
Greece.  In  Morea,  the  wild  and  warlike  Mainotes  of  the  Taygetus  rose 
up  under  the  conduct  of  Mauromichali  and  Kolokotroni,  and  the  other  in- 
habitants of  Peloponnesus  shortly  after  followed,  restrained  to  a  more 
systematic  plan  of  warfare  by  Demetrius  Ypsilanti,  the  brother  of  Alex- 
ander. At  the  same  time,  the  Greeks  in  Livadia  and  the  islands  fought 
with  glory  and  success  ;  their  valor  recalled  to  recollection  the  deeds  of  their 
ancestors,  little  of  the  Hellenic  blood  as  may  flow  in  the  veins  of  the 
modern  Greeks.  Europe  gazed  in  sympatliy  upon  this  war  in  the  east, 
and  hastened  to  collect  money  and  troops  by  means  of  Philhellenic  unions 
to  support  the  courage  of  the  warriors,  who,  in  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1822,  had  united  themselves  into  a  republic  under  Ypsilanti  and  Mav- 
rokordato.     The    object    was    to    support   civilization   and    Christianity 


504  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

against  savage  barbarians.  Whilst  tbe  princes  of  the  Holy  Alliance, 
from  a  regard  for  their  ease,  were  exposing  a  Christian  people  to  the 
attacks  of  infidel  bands  of  murderers,  crowds  of  foreign  Philhellenists, 
under  the  conduct  of  Normann  and  others,  marched  to  the  ancient  birth- 
place of  Christian  civilization.  The  English  poet,  Bjron,  devoted  his 
talents,  his  wealth,  and  his  energy,  to  the  affairs  of  Greece, 
'  "  '  where  the  climate  and  exertion  occasioned  his  death. 
Despite  the  dissentions  and  selfishness  of  the  Greek  leaders,  their 
arms  were  generally  successful  till  the  June  of  1825.  At  that  period, 
the  Porte  obtained  a  powerful  supporter  in  Mehemet  Ali,  who,  as  Pasha 
of  Egypt,  had  destroyed  the  power  of  the  Mamalukes,  and  established 
an  army  and  govclB^ent  upon  the  plan  of  those  of  Europe,  by  which 
means  Western  civilization  and  Oriental  despotism  were  placed  in  hor- 
rible conjunction.  This  man  sent  his  son,  Ibrahim,  with  a  considerable 
army  of  mingled  materials  to  Peloponnesus,  on  the  business  of  the  sultan. 
The  small  and  disunited  body  of  Greeks  was  unable  to  resist  him  ;  one 
town  after  another  fell  into  his  hands  ;  the  march  of  Ibrahim  and  his  bru- 
tal troops  proceeded  onwards  over  blood,  corpses,  and  burning  houses. 
Peloponnesus  and  the  coasts  of  Livadia  were, frightfully  ravaged  for  two 
years,  from  the  strong  city  of  Tripolizza,  which  they  had  chosen  as  their 
point  of  support,  whilst  cabinets  were  in  vain  endeavoring  to  restrain  the 
war  by  diplomatic  negotiations.  Tlie  fall  of  Missolonghi  first  produced 
a  chanofe  in  affairs.  When  that  hardly-pressed  town  was  unable 

April  22,  1826.  °  -,..-,.       , ,.     i       ,..,,.  .  ,      ,     . 

any  longer  to  defend  itself,  the  heroic  inhabitants  with  their 
v.'ives  and  children  made  a  sally  upon  the  beleaguring  enemy  ;  the  third 
part  were  slain,  Missolonghi  disappeared  in  flames,  and  all  who  remained 
in  it  perished  beneath  the  ruins.  The  cry  of  anger  that  passed  through  ali 
Europe  at  this  event,  awakened  the  governments  from  their  lethargy. 
December  1,  §  ^52.  A  short  time  before  this,  the  emperor  Alexander 
1825.  had  descended  to  his  grave,   and  as  the  elder  brother  Con- 

s.tantine  had  already  renounced  the  throne,  his  brother  Nicholas  obtained 
the  Russian  sceptre,  after  the  bloody  suppression  of  a  military  conspiracy 
that  was  to  have  changed  the  government  and  the  succession  to  the 
throne.  In  England,  the  rudder  of  state  was  intrusted  to  the  skilful 
hands  of  the  high-minded  Canning,  who,  in  the  maturity  of  his  life,  had 
not  forgotten  the  dreams  of  his  youth  or  his  enthusiasm  for  the  liberation 
of  Greece.  In  France,  the  government  thought  itself  obliged  to  pay  some 
attention  to  the  loud  clamors  of  the   Philhellenists,  especially  as,  at  this 

time,  the  bloody  destruction  of  the  Janissaries  in  Constanti- 
'  "  '  nople,  by  which  15,000  Mahommedans  died  a  violent  death, 
filled  civilized  Europe  with  horror  at  the  inhumanity  of  the  Turks.  At 
the  proposal  of  Canning,  therefore,  the  three  European  powers,  Russia, 
England,  and  France,  concluded  an  alliance,  by  which  they  agreed  to 
employ  their  common  exertions  to  induce  the  Porte  to  allow  the  Greeks 


THE   NEW    ROMANTIC    LITERATURE.  505 

their  liberty.  A  combined  fleet  appeared  in  the  waters  of  the  Morea, 
and  demanded  from  Ibrahim  the  evacuation  of  the  peninsula  ;  upon  the 
October  20,  rejection  of  this  demand  followed  the  battle  of  Navarino, 
1827.  where  the  Turko-Egjptian  fleet  was  annihilated  by  the  Euro- 

pean. This  decision  came  so  quickly  that  the  allied  powers  were  aston- 
ished at  the  "  unexpected  event."  The  battle  of  Navarino  consequently 
Augusts,  remained  without  results,  and  as,  after  Caniiini;'s  dea'h,  the 
1^27.  English,  who  were  anxious  about  their  trade,   showed  them- 

Belves  more  favorably  disposed  to  the  Porte,  the  resolute  sultan  ]^.Iahniud 
remained  firm  to  his  purpose  of  not  giving  the  Greeks  "^tlieir  ]!b;ity,  and 
behaved  so  insolently  to  the  Russians  that  they  declared  war  ai;;iiiist  him. 
This  roused  the  hopes  of  the  Greeks.  AVliilst  the  fo^s  of  the  Ottomans 
were  marching  into  the  lands  of  the  Danube,  Ibrahim  was  at  length 
compelled  by  the  French  fleet  to  evacuate  the  Morea,  whereupon  Capo 
dTstria,  from  Corfu,  was  appointed  president  of  the  G  n  c!v  -kilc.  The 
July,  1829.  daring  military  achievements  of  the  Russians,  who,  under 
September  14,  Diebitsch  (Sabalkanski),  surmounted  the  Balkan,  at  length 
1^29*  compelled  the  Porte,  by  the  peace  of  Adrianojile,  to  grant 

the  Russians  favorable  conditions,  and  to  acknowledge  the  independence 
of  Greece.  But  as  it  was  long  before  the  question  of  boundaries  could 
be  settled,  the  war  still  continued  for  some  time  in  Greece,  during  which 
time  the  admiral,  Miaulis,  blew  up  the  Greek  fleet  rather  than  allow  it  to 
fall  into  strange  hands.  At  length,  the  three  powers  agreed  in  London  to. 
form  a  constitutional  kingdom  out  of  Morea,  Livadia,  a  j)art  of  Thessaly, 
Euboea,  and  the  Cyclades,  over  wliicli  (;;-  (  apo  d'Lstria  had  in  the  mean- 
time been  murdered  by  the  brothers  Mauromichali)  Otho  I.,  of  the  royal 
house  of  Bavaria,  was  ■  placed  as  kinj;.     Since   then,   Greece 

Miv  1832 

has  striven  to  elevate  herself  to  the  position  of  a  civilized 
state,  the  forms  of  which  she  has  assumed,  without  however  being  able 
to  free  herself  entirely  from  the  conditions  of  barbarism  and  a  life  of 
plunder.  At  a  later  period,  the  Greeks,  from  national  jea- 
lousy, drove  away  the  German  foreigners  that  had  come  in 
the  train  of  the  court,  and  thus  deprived  themselves,  at  tlie  same  time, 
of  the  supports  of  modern  civilization. 

7.    THE    NEW   ROMANTIC    LITERATURE. 

§  653.  The  years  of  the  Holy  Alliance  were  the  flourishing  period  of 
romantic  literature  and  art,  the  chief  creators  and  supporters  of  whicL 
The  Schle-  were  the  brothers,  Augustus  William  and  Frederick  Schle- 
gels.  gelj  the  poet  Novalis,  and  Ludwig  Tieck.     They  quitted  the 

Novalis.  path  of  religious  illumination   and  of  political   candor,  and 

Ludwig  Tieck.  escaped  to  the  ideas  of  the  middle  age  and  the  religious  con- 
templation of  the  East.     The  faith  in  miracles  and  the  religious  mysti- 
cism of  an  early  period  of  Christianity,  the  love  affairs  and  the  sensual 
43 


506  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

religious  worship  of  the  departed  days  of  chivalry,  the  sacred  art  of  the 
middle  ages,  the  flowery  poetry  of  the  East,  the  popular  songs  and  the 
meditative  world  of  fable  of  the  distant  past,  permanently  engaged  their 
interest.  It  was  for  this  reason  that  their  views  were  directed  to  the 
forgotten  productions  of  the  literature  of  romance,  whilst,  following  the 
example  of  Herder,  they  collected  and  elaborated  the  legends,  traditions, 
and  popular  songs  of  German  antiquity,  and  then  sought  to  introduce 
the  chivalrous  poetry  of  the  Italians  and  Spaniards  into  Germany  by 
means  of  translations  ;  and  drew  the  mythology,  and  the  poetry  founded 
upon  it,  of  the  East  and  of  the  Scandinavian  North,  within  the  circle  of 
their  activity.  The  profound  Dante,  the  profuse  Shakspeare,  the  Span- 
ish poet  Calderon,  Cervantes,  and  many  others,  were  admirably  transla- 
ted by  the  romanticists,  and  naturalized  in  Germany.  The  Schlegels, 
in  particular,  distinguished  themselves  by  their  critical  and  a^sthetical 
writings,  by  their  intelligent  researches  in  the  region  of  the  history  of 
literature,  by  translations,  and  by  references  to  the  language,  literature, 
and  "  wisdom  "  of  the  Indians.  Tieck  obtained  his  greatest  fame  by  his 
elaboration  of  old  popular  legends  and  tales  (Genoveva,  Kaiser  Octavi- 
anus,  Fortunatus,  &c.)  ;  and  the  prematurely  deceased  Francis  Yon 
Hardenburg  (Novalis,)  by  his  melancholy  poems  and  poetical  essays 
("  Bliithenstaub,"  "  Spiritual  Songs,"),  and  the  unfinished  romance, 
Henry  of  Ofterdingen.  In  the  same  spirit  sang  the  lyric  poets,  Matthi- 
6on,  Chamisso,  Max  Von  Schenkendorf,  the  romance  writer  Arnim,  de 
la  Motte  Fouque,  Clemens  Brentano,  Hoffmann,  &c.  The  orientalist, 
Hammer-Purgstall,  excited  by  the  romanticists,  undertook  the  transla- 
tion of  the  Arabian  and  Persian  poets,  and  the  great  collective  work, 
"  Fundgruben  des  Orients  ;  "  and  Fr.  Euckert,  renowned  as  a  lyric  poet 
("Harnessed  Sonnets,"  "  Eastern  Roses,"),  brought  the  art  of  translation 
and  imitation  to  perfection  ("  Nal  and  Damijanti,"  "  Die  Makamen  des 
Hariri").  The  brothers  Grimm,  (Jacob  and  William),  were  excited  by 
the  romanticists  to  their  successful  inquiries  into  the  old  German  lan- 
guage and  literature,  and  to  their  collection  of  popular  and  domestic  tales. 
At  the  same  time,  the  romanticists  elevated  poetry  and  literature  gene- 
rally to  a  loftier  station,  gave  it  dignity  and  nobleness,  and  awakened 
love  and  sensibility  for  the  fine  arts ;  on  the  other  hand,  they  afforded 
l)ernicious  examples  in  regard  to  public  morality  and  decency  of  life. 
An  unbridled  and  restless  life  of  wandering  and  travels,  to  which  most  of 
them  gave  themselves  up  without  restraint,  favored  the  sensual  appetites 
and  passions.  Not  misled  by  the  romanticists,  and  treading  in  the  path  of 
Schiller,  Theodore  Korner,  Ludwig  Uhland,  Moriz  Arndt,  H.  Zschokke, 
Seume,  and  others,  composed  poetry ;  and  the  lyric  and  dramatic  wri- 
ters in  the  spirit  of  Aristophanes,  like  Augustus  Von  Platen  ("The 
Romantic  GEdipus,"  "The  Fatal  Fork"),  paid  homage  to  the  spirit  of 
progress.     The  party  of  the  liberals  and  the  great  mass  of  the  German 


THE  JULY  KEVOLUTION  OF  PARIS.  507 

people  took  m^t  pleasure  in  the  freer,  if  less  vigorous,  poetry  of  the 
latter. 

8.    THE   JULY   REVOLUTION    OF   PARIS,   AND    ITS    CONSEQITENCES. 

§  654.  Charles  X.  proceeded  in  the  path  of  reaction  without  regard  to 
public  opinion.  The  liberal  ministry  of  Martignac  had  been  obliged, 
since  January,  1828,  to  yield  to  an  ultra  royalist  one,  under  the  presi- 
August  8,  dentship  of  Polignac  ;  and  when  the  Chambers,  in  their  open- 
1829.  ing  address,  expressed  their  discontent  at  the  policy  of  the 

government,  they  were  dissolved  and  a  new  election  followed.  In  vain 
the  men  of  the  opposition  re-appeared  in  increased  numbers,  and  con- 
firmed the  mistrust  of  the  people  in  the  new  ministry.     Charles  X.  would 

not  learn  wisdom.     He  vamly  hoped  that  the  military  re- 
Mavie,  1830.  ,  .  ,     ,      -r^  .  11.-.,  ,..         . 

nown  which  the  r  rench  troops  had  gained  about  this  time  m 

Africa,— where,  to  revenge  the  insults  offered  by  the  Dey  of  Algiers  to 
the  ships  and  consul  of  France,  they  had  taken  possession  of  his  capital, 
and  planted  the  French  banners  upon  the  battlements  of  the 
old  city  of  robbers,— would  produce  a  fiivorable  feeling  in 
the  nation.  Scarcely  had  the  "Moniteur"  published  the  three  celebra- 
ted ordinances,  by  which  the  freedom  of  the  press  was  sus- 
pended, the  new  Chambers  dissolved,  and  the  order  of  elec- 
tion of  tlie  next  arbitrarily  changed,  before  the  July  Revolution  broke 
out,  by  which  the  people,  after  an  heroic  contest  of  three  days,  obtained 
tlieir  release  from  the  royal  house  of  Bourbon,  and  from  the  rule  of  the 
priests.  The  deputies  who  were  present  in  Paris  estabhshed  a  provis- 
ional government  on  the  29th  July,  whilst  the  contest  in  the  streets  was 
at  the  hottest,  in  which  .the  banker  Lafitte,  Casimir  Perier,  Odillon-Bar- 
rot,  and  others,  bore  a  part,  until  the  constitutional  party  triumphed 
over  the  republican,  and  Louis  Philippe,  duke  of  Orleans,  was  named 
regent  of  the  empire.  When  it  was  too  late,  Charles  X.  offered  to  recal 
the  obnoxious  ordinances,  and  to  summon  a  popular  ministry ;  but  he 
was  obliged  for  the  third  time  to  go  into  exile  with  his  family,  whilst  his 
more  sagacious  relative,  Louis  Philippe,  after  he  had  sworn  to  observe 
the  hastily  revised  charter,  ascended  the  throne  as  king  of  the  French. 
The  restoration  of  the  national  colors,  and  the  reestablishment  of  tlie 
Kational  Guard,  under  the  command  of  Lafayette,  marked  the  commence- 
ment of  the  new  citizen  monarchy  established  by  the  people.  Charles 
X.  died  in  the  year  1836,  at  Gorz. 

§  655.  The  revolution  of  July  occasioned  the  total  fall  of  the  Holy 
Alliance,  which  had  already  received  a  shock  by  the  death  of  Alexander, 
and  called  forth  a  movement  throughout  all  Europe  which  produced  an 
important  change  in  affairs.  It  is  true  that  the  government  of  the  "citizen 
king  "  soon  assumed  a  pacific  attitude  in  regard  to  other  states,  and  the 
liberals  who  had  arrived  at  power  in  Paris  preferred  moderate  and  con- 


50S  TUE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

ciliatoiy  modes  of  procedure  to  waging  war,  and  attempred  to  win  over 
all  the  moderate  and  undecided  to  the  support  of  the  existing  system,  by 
establishing  the  principle  of  " the ^lis^e  milieu;"  but  the  tumult  of  the 
first  storm  was  strong  enough  to  give  a  severe  shock  to  the  artful  struc- 
ture of  the  Viennese  Congress.  In  Belgium,  Germany,  Poland,  Italy, 
&:c.,  insun-ections  broke  out  that  could  only  be  suppressed  or  composed 
after  a  two  years'  contest ;  and  though  the  influence  of  the  absolute  powers 
of  the  east  —  Russia^  Austria,  and  Prussia  —  was  strong  enough  to  pre- 
serve or  bring  back  the  old  system  in  most  states,  free  opinions,  from  this 
time,  acquired  greater  importance,  and  public  opinion  increased  to  a  power 
that  bade  defiance  to  all  efforts  of  "state  police  "  anc^" bureaucracy." 
In  the  west  of  Europe,  owing  to  the  influence  of  England  and  France, 
constitutional  government  and  the  civil  freedom  which  is  allied  to  it 
maintained  the  preeminence. 

§  65G.  The  Revolution  in  Belgium  was  the  first  consequence  of 
the  Parisian  July  days.  The  Congress  of  Vienna,  without  regard  to 
religion,  language,  or  national  interest,  had  united  the  Flemish  and  Bra- 
bant provinces  to  the  States- General  of  Holland,  in  one  kingdom  of  the 
Netherlands.  The  Hollanders  regarded  themselves  as  the  rulers ;  they 
compelled  the  Belgians  not  orily  to  share  the  great  national  debt  and  the 
high  taxes,  but  attempted  to  force  their  own  language  and  laws  upon 
them,  and  placed  the  education  of  the  Catholic  people  under  the  super- 
vision of  Protestant  courts.  When  the  press  allowed  itself  to  adopt  a 
hostile  tone  against  the  government,  the  writers  were  proceeded  against 
with  fine,  imprisonment,  and  banishment.  Upon  this,  the  French  liberal 
party,  which  was  struggling  for  a  free  political  life,  and  which  was  in 
alliance  with  the  chiefs  of  the  Paris  opposition,  formed  a  confederacy  with 
the  Catholic  ultramontane  party,  which  demanded  freedom  of  education, 
against  the  Dutch  government,  —  which  the  king  in  his  speech  from  the 
throne  designated  as  "infamous."  The  dissatisfliction  thus  produced 
had  already  reached  the  highest  pitch,  when  the  news  arrived  in  Brus- 
sels of  the  July  events,  and  set  the  whole  land  in  a  flame.  On  the  even- 
ing of  the  2oth  August,  after  the  representation  of  the  opera,  "  The  Mute 
of  Portici,"  the  mob  destroyed  the  printing-house  of  a  journal  favorable 
to  the  interests  of  Holland,  the  palace  of  the  minister  of  justice,  the  dwell- 
ing of  the  director  of  police,  &c.  To  restrain  any  farther  devastations  on 
the  part  of  the  people,  a  civic  guard  and  committee  were  formed,  till  the 
radical  and  ultramontane  parties  united  themselves  in  a  National  Con- 
gress, under  the  guidance  of  Potter.  The  example  of  the  capital  was 
followed,  so  that,  in  a  short  time,  the  standard  of  Brabant  was  waving 
over  the  whole  of  Belgium.  An  attack  of  the  Dutch  upon  Brussels  was 
repulsed,  and  the  Belgian  insurgents  even  marched  against  Antwerp,  to 
deprive  their  detested  neighbors  of  this  town  also.  Upon '  this,  the  Dutch 
general,  Chasse,  retired  into  the  strong  citadel  and  fired  upon  the  unfor- 


THE   JULY   REVOLUTIOX    OF    PARIS.  509 

tunate  town  for  seven  hours,  with  300  cannon,  by  which  a  vast  amount 

of  goods  of  great  vahie  was  destroyed.     Irritated  at  this  proceeding,  the 

National  Con;;ress  now  declared  the  independence  of  Bel^riura, 

November.  .  07 

and  the  exclusion  of  the  house  of  Orange  from  the  Belgian 

throne.  During  the  continuance  of  the  war  between  Belgium  and  Hol- 
land, the  five  great  powers  held  a  conference  in  London.     It  was  here 

resolved,  after  lon^  dii)lomatic  nej^otiatious,  to  separate  Bel- 
June,  1G31.         .  o      1  o  '  t 

gium  from   Holland,  and   to  arrange  the  boundaries  in  an 

equitable  manner.  In  accordance  with  this,  Leopold  of  Saxe-Coburg, 
who  was  related  to  the  royal  family  of  England,  and  who  was  shortly 
after  united,  by  a  second  marriage,  to  a  daughter  of  Louis  Philippe, 
received  the  Belgian  throne,  and  attempted  to  conciliate  the  liberals  by 
granting  a  free  representative  constitution,  and  the  Catholic  clergy  by  the 
complete  independence  of  the  church  of  the  state.  It  was  in  vain  tliat 
tlie  Hollanders  attempted  again  to  subject  the  rebels  by  force.  Threatened 
and  opposed  by  the  French  and  English,  they  were  compelled,  despite 
December  the  bravery  of  tlieir  array  and  the  courage  of  their  sailors,  to 
1832.  desist  from   the   contest.     Belgium,  on  the  other  hand,  nou- 

rished under  the  influence  of  free  institutions  and  energetic  industry. 

§  G57.  The  successful  termination  of  the  French  and  Belgian  revolu- 
tions urged  the  Poles  to  an  insurrection.  Raised  to  a  kingdom  by  the 
Congress  of  Vienna,  and  placed  under  the  government  of  th«  emperor  of 
Russia,  Poland  was  in  a  better  position  than  when  subjected  to  the  old 
anarchy.  T!ic  constitution,  with  diets  and  a  national  armament,  afforded 
the  pec;  'ilated  freedom;  industry  increased,  literature  flourished, 

passable  roa  i.,  iacilitated  intercourse;  but  all  these  advantages,  which,  to 
say  the  truth,  suffered  much  prejudice  from  the  despotic  character  of  the 
viceroy,  Constantine,  were  not  sufficient  to  prevent  the  Poles  from  che- 
rishing the  thought  of  again  revivifying  their  divided  country  ;  and  the 
hope  that  tlic  French,  after  the  revolution  of  July,  would  not  neglect  to 
hasten  to  the  assistance  of  their  old  confederates,  confirmed  them  in  the 
belief  that  the  moment  for  the  regeneration  of  the  old  Poland  was  again 
come.  It  was  six  o'clock  on  the  evenin^r  of  the  20th  Novem- 
ber,  when  twenty  armed  young  men  of  the  Cadet  school, 
members  of  a  widely-spread  military  conspiracy,  rushed  into  the  palace 
of  the  viceroy  far  the  purpose  of  dispatching  him,  whilst  other  conspirators 
called  the  inhabitants  of  the  capital  to  arms.  It  was  only  with  dilHculty 
that  the  prince  escaped  the  fate  designed  for  him.  He  yielded  to  the 
storm,  and  retired  from  the  country  with  his  Russian  soldiers  and  officials. 
A  provisional  government,  with  Czartoryski,  Niemcewicz,  General  Chlo- 
piki,  and  others  at  its  head,  undertook  the  conduct  of  affairs  in  Poland. 
Instead,  however,  of  employing  the  newly-aroused  military  spirit  and  the 
fresh  enthusiasm  of  the  people  in  a  spirited  attack  upon  unprepared  Rus- 
sia, the  regency,  which  belonged  to  the  aristocracy  of  Poland,  chose  the 
43* 


510  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

path  of  negotiation,  and  placed  tlieir  hopes  upon  the  promises  of  French 
diplomatists.  It  made  little  difference  that  Chlopiki  was  shortly  ai'ter 
named  dictator,  and  entrusted  with  the  supreme  command  of  military 
affairs;  and  that  the  diet,  which  was  hastily  called  together,  invested  the 
prince  Radzivil  with  the  most  unlimited  power;  the  irresolute  aristocracy, 
discontented  with  the  violence  of  the  republican  and  democratic  clubs,  kept 
things  in  check,  and  paralysed  every  undertaking  by  hesitation  and  dis- 
sensions. Whilst  the  emperor  of  Russia  ordered  an  army  of  200,000 
January  25  ^len  to  march  into  Poland,  under  the  command  of  field-mar- 
1831.  shal  Diebitsch,  the  diet  pronounced  the  dethronement  of  the 

house  of  Romanoff  in  Poland,  but  rejected,  from  selfish  motives,  that 
f^hich  could  alone  save  the  country,  the  liberation  of  the  peasants  and  the 
excitement  of  a  popular  war.  What  mattered  it  that  the  Polish  army 
again  gave  the  most  splendid  proofs  of  courage  in  the  field,  that  Chlopiki 
and  Skrzynecki  fought  like  heroes,  and  that  Dwernicki,  who  wished  to 
excite-  Volhynia  to  insurrection,  astonished  the  world  by  his  daiing  retreat 
upon  the  Austrian   territory  ?     When  Diebitsch  carried  off  the  victory 

from  the  army  of  Skrzynecki,  in  the  battle  of  Ostrolenka, 

Mav26,1831.    -p,  ,       ,     ,,         \      ..  .  '  .  .,    ,         ,  ,         ' 

Poland,  through  dissension,  party  spirit,  treachery,  and  the 

siren  voices  of  French  go-betweens,  went  rapidly  to  her  downfall.  Die- 
bitsch died  of  the  cholera.  His  successor  was  the  enterprising  Paskewitsch 
(Eriwanski).  He  crossed  the  Prussian  Vistula  and  approached  the  walls 
of  Warsaw.  The  inhabitants  of  the  capital,  believing  that  the  miscarriage 
of  the  revolution  had  been  occasioned  by  treachery,  gave  the  reins  to 
their  fury  against  the  aristocrats  and  friends  of  the  Russians,  and  slaugh- 
tered thirty  of  these  unfortunates.  Czartoryski,  in  whose 
hands  the  government  had  been  placed,  fled  in  horror  to  the 
camp  of  Dembinski.  Krukowiecki  was  now  named  president  of  the 
government  by  the  diet,  w^ith  dictatorial  power,  and  thus  the  supreme 
authority  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  man  who  was  either  a  fool  or  a 
traitor.  When  Paskewitsch  approached  the  capital,  the  dictator  gave 
evidence  of  his  cowardice  and  despair  by  the  most  contradictory  orders 
and  preposterous  arrangements.  The  Polish  a^rmy  made  a  gallant  resis- 
tance to  the  attacks  of  the  enemy  at  Wola,  the  ancient  place  of  election 
of  the  kings,  and  the  heroic  deeds  of  the  fourth  regiment  have  since  been 
September  celebrated  in  songs ;  but  after  a  storm  of  two  days,  Kruko- 
6, 7, 1831.  wiecki  surrendered  Warsaw  and  Praga  by  capitulation, 
whereupon  the  government  and  the  diet,  with  the  troops  that  were  still 
left,  fled  to  the  Prussian  territory.  Here  the  bold  warriors  were  dis- 
armed, and  detained  till  the  complete  subjection  of  Poland;  they  then 
obtained  permission  to  return,  under  the  assurance  of  an  amnesty.  But 
thousands  among  them  rejected  the  grace  of  the  emperor,  and  turned  their 
backs  upon  their  fatherland,  preferring  to  eat  the  bread  of  affliction  upon 
free,  if  foreign  ground,  rather  than  to  gaze  quietly  upon  the  gradual  ex* 


^  THE  JULY  REVOLUTION  OF  PARIS.  511 

tinction  of  the  nationality  of  their  country.  The  sympathy  of  the  German 
people,  who  received  and  entertained  the  unfortunates  in  their  melancholy 
journey,  was  an  alleviation  of  their  misery.  Severe  punishments  were 
inflicted  upon  the  guilty  in  Poland,  Lithuania,  Volhynia :  the  mines  of 
Siberia  grew  populous  with  the  condemned.  Poland  then  lost  her  con- 
stitution, her  diet,  and  her  state  council,  by  the  "  organic  statute,"  and 
was  attached  to  the  great  Muscovite  empire,  with  a  separate  government 
and  administration  of  justice.  Since  then,  Paskewitsch  reigns  as  impe- 
rial lieutenant,  with  iron  sceptre,  in  humbled  Warsaw.  The  Poles  had 
once  more  shown  that  they  were  capable  of  magnanimous,  patriotic  emo- 
tions, and  of  gallant  deeds ;  but  not  of  a  united  effort  or  of  noble  self- 
sacrifice.  The  emigrants,  however,  in  vain  attempted,  in  the  sequel,  to 
effect  the  restoration  of  their  country  by  conspiracies  and  insurrections  in 
Cracow,  Gallicia,  and  Posen.  Fresh  persecutions,  and  at  length,  the  in- 
corporation of  the  free  state  of  Cracow  with  the  ^Austrian  empire  (1846), 
were  the  consequences  of  their  foolhardy  attempts. 

§  658.  In  Germany,  also,  the  news  of  the  July  revolution  called  forth 
a  mighty  movement.  The  princes,  anxious  lest  the  well-known  hanker- 
ing of  the  French  for  the  boundary  of  tlie  Rhine  should  be  the  occasion 
of  a  new  war,  saw  with  uneasiness  the  existing  divisions  between  subjects 
and  governments,  and  hastened  to  allay  irritation  and  prevent  a  general 
movement,  partly  by  reasonable  concessions,  and  partly  by  the  hasty 
recognition  of  successfully  accomplished  reforms.  The  insurrections  in 
the  kingdoms  of  Hanover  and  Saxony  were  appeased  by  granting  liberal 
constitutions,  and  by  abolishing  oppressive  abuses  and  restrictions;  in 
Brunswick,  where  the  people  destroyed  the  palace  and  compelled  the 
tyrannical  duke  Charles  to  fly,  his  brother  assumed  the  government,  and 
conciliated  the  minds  of  his  subjects  by  improving  the  constitution  of  the 
country.  In  Hesse- Cassel,  the  Elector,  William  II.,  was  compelled  by 
an  insurrection  to  give  the  country  a  free  constitution.  But 
the  hatred  which  the  people  shortly  after  displayed  against 
the  countess  Reichenbach  (Lessonitz),  his  wife,  a  woman  of  inferior 
birth,  offended  the  Elector  to  that  degree,  that  he  raised  his  son,  the  elect- 
oral prince,  to  the  co-regentship,  and  removed  with  his  wife  and  treasures 
from  Hesse.  The  freedom  of  the  press  was  introduced  in  Baden,  the 
liberals  obtained  the  upper  hand  in  the  Chambers  of  southern  Germany, 
and  insisted  upon  alterations  and  reforms  in  the  constitution  and  govern- 
ment. But  their  increasing  audacity  in  speech  and  writing,  which  was 
May  27,  particularly  displayed  at  the  Hambacher  festival  in  Rhenish 

1S32.  Bavaria,  soon  brought  about  a  reaction  and  restriction.     The 

peaceful  character  of  the  July  monarchy  and  the  fall  of  Warsaw  relieved 
the  German  governments  from  the   apprehension  that  the  liberal  move- 
A    -1  o  icoo     ™ents  might  be  supported   from   abroad;  and   the    incon- 
siderate  attempts  of  a  few  young  madcaps,  students,  literary 


512  THE    LATEST    PERIOD. 

men,  and  political  refugees,  to  disperse  the  Diet,  and  to  produce  a  violent 
revolution  by  the  conspiracy  of  Frankfurt,  aided  the  cause  of  the  retrogres- 
sive party.  This  foolish  attempt  and  its  lamentable  result  gave  a  deep 
wound  to  the  cause  of  liberalism,  and  brought  a  severe  persecution  upon 
its  chiefs  and  leaders.  The  guilty  and  the  suspected  were  visited  by 
numberless  arrests  and  judicial  examinations;  prisons  and  fortresses  were 
filled  with  political  offenders ;  numberless  fugitives  vrere  wandering  in 
France. and  Switzerland;  the  censorship  was  again  employed  with  the 
greatest  severity;  the  book  trade  watched,  and  the  privileges  of  the  Es- 
tates circumscribed.  Thus  again  were  the  efforts  of  the  progressive 
party  frustrated  by  the  violence  and  indiscreet  zeal  of  some  of  its  cham- 
pions. The  governments  obtained  tlie  most  complete  triumph ;  but  by 
the  use  they  made  of  it,  they  outraged  the  people's  sense  of  justice  and 
insulted  public  opinion.  This  was  especially  the  case,  when,  by  the 
ascension  of  the  throne  of  England  by  queen  Victoria,  the  crown  of 
Hanover  fell,  according  to  the  prerogative  of  German  princes,  to  her 
uncle,  Ernest  Augustus  of  Cumberland,-  who  abolished  the  constitution 
which  had  been  granted  by  his  predecessors  to  the  Estates,  and  restored 

the  former  arrangements.  Undeterred  by  the  opposition 
June,  1837.  ,  ^.     ,        *=.  .  ,  .  ,  .  "^  -,:         ,, 

that  was  displayed  agamst  this  arbitrary  proceeding  from 

every  quarter,  the  king  ordered  an  oath  of  obedience  and 
homage  to  be  tendered  to  all  servants  of  the  state  ;  and  when  seven  pro- 
fessors of  the  Gottingen  university,  among  them,  Dahlmann,  Gervinus, 
and  the  brothers  Grimm,  would  not  yield  to  the  demand,  they  were 
deprived  of  their  chairs,  and  some  of  them  banished  from  the  country  ; 
when  the  assembled  Estates  were  incompetent  to  pass  resolutions  from  a 
deficiency  of  numbers,  the  absentees  were  replaced  by  the  election  of 
the  minority.  By  these  measures,  a  deep  gulf  was  formed  between  the 
people  and  the  government,  and  a  profound  dissatisfaction  with  the 
"  police  state  "  took  possession  of  the  nation.  The  existing  government 
was  attacked  by  means  of  the  press,  literature,  and  poetry,  and  every 
opposition  to  the  state  officials  was  saluted  by  the  nation  with  joy.  One 
single  effort  was  visible  in  the  midst  of  contests  and  divisions,  and  was 
the  "  red  thread  "  that  ran  through  the  whole  public  hfe  of  the  people  — 
the  striving  after  national  and  poHtical  unity ;  and  this  effort  the  Prus- 
sian government  came  forward  to  assist  by  establishing  the  Zollverein, 
the  foundation-stone  of  German  unity. 

§  659.  In  Italy  also,  the  July  revolution  occasioned  some  serious 
commotions.  But  the  hopes  of  the  patriots  found  an  early  grave.  The 
insurrections  in  Bologna,  Modena,  and  Parma,  M'ere  soon  suppressed  by 
Austrian  troops ;  and  the  regents,  who  had  been  driven  from  the  two 
latter  places,  were  restored  to  their  governments.  In  the  States  of  the 
Church  the  papal  troops,  who  were  reinforced  by  bandits  and  convicts,  were 
employed  in  keeping  down  the   rebellious  provinces.     These  men  be- 


THE  JULY  REVOLUTION  OF  PARIS.  513 

haved  in  such  a  way  that  it  was  necessary  to  call  in  the  forces  of  Austria 
to  protect  the  land  against  its  own  soldiers.  To  prevent  the  Austrians 
February,  23,    getting  the  whole  power  ov^er  Italy  into  their  own  hands,  the 

1832.  French  seized  upon  Ancona  by  a  coup  de  main,  and  held  it 
for  several  years.  An  attack  upon  Savoy,  from  Switzerland,  undertaken 
by  a  troop  of  refugees  under  the  command  of  the  Polish  general,  Ramo- 
rino,  with  the  purpose  of  overthrowing  the  Sardinian  throne,  and,  in 
conjunction  with  "  young  Italy,"  of  exciting  the  whole  land  to  a  revolu- 
tion, had  a  lamentable  result. 

In  Spain,  the  liberals,  after  the  July  revolution,  again  got  the  upper 
hand,  not  by  their  own  strength,  however,  but  in  consequence  of  a  quar- 
rel for  the  crown.  King  Ferdinand  had  allowed  himself  to  be  induc- 
ed by  his  fourth  wife,  Maria  Christina,  to  abolish  the  Salic  law  which 
March  29  prevails  in  all  Bourbon  states,  and  which  excludes  females 
1830.  from  succeeding  to  the  throne,  and  thus  to  secure  the  in- 

October  heritance  of  the  crown  to  his  daughter,  Isabella,  who  was 

1830.  born  in  the  same  year.     This  alteration  displeased  the  apos- 

tolic party,  which  had  placed  all  its  trust  on  Ferdinand's  younger 
September  29,  brother,  Don  Carlos.     Scarcely  tlierefore  had  the  king  closed 

1833.  his  eyes,  before  the  absolutists  (Carlists)  called  Don  Carlos 
to  the  throne  as  Charles  V.,  and  excited  a  civil  war.  They  ibund  sup- 
port in  the  north,  especially  among  the  rude  mountaineers  of  the 
October,  Basque  provinces.  Inflamed  by  priests  and  monk.<,  and  led 
1833.  by  bold  and  enterprising  chiefs  (Zumalacarreguy,  Cabrera), 
the  warlike  Basques  drew  the  sword  for  an  absolute  king  who  sought 
for  refuge  among  them.  For  the  purpose  of  resisting  them  with  success, 
the  queen,  Maria  Christina,  who  had  been- appointed  to  the  regency 
until  the  majority  of  her  daughter  Isabella,  sought  to  win  the  ])arty  of 
the  constitution  and  the  liberals  to  her  cause  by  again  introducing  the 
Cortes  constitution,  and  permitting  the  fugitives  and  oiftlaws  to  return  to 
their  homes.  In  this  manner,  the  contest  for  the  throne  tool*  the  shape 
of  a  civil  war  and  a  struggle  of  opinions.  After  many  bloody  battles, 
August  31,  the  "  Christines"  gained  the  upper  hand.  General  Espar- 
1S39.  tero  compelled  the  Carlist  leader,  Maroto,  to  lay  down  his 
arms  by  the  treaty  of  Pergara,  whereupon  Don  Carlos,  with  his  family 
and  several  officers  and  priests,  took  refuge  in  France.  In  Spain  itself, 
Espartero  fell  into  a  quarrel  with  the  queen  mother,  which  produced  a 
fresh  crop  of  party  contests,  alterations  of  the  constitution,  and  intrigues 

of  the   palace.     Espartero,  created   duke   of  Vittoria,  waa 

^^^        '       suiliciently  powerful  to  effect  the   removal  of  Christina  for 

some  time,  and  to  get  the  government  into  his  own  hands.     But  he  waa 

soon  overthrown  by  general  Narvaez,  an  adherent  of  the  queen  mother, 

and  compelled  to  fly  to  England.     After  this,  Christina,  and 

'   ^    '       her  daughter,  when  she  came  of  age,  carried  on  the  govern- 

Pient  in  entire  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  France. 


514  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

9.    OVERTHROW    OF    THE    THRONE    OF   JULY,    AND    THE    LATEST 
KEVOLUTIONARr   TEMPESTS. 

a.    THE    YEARS    OF   POLITICAL    AND    SOCIAL    AGITATION. 

§  660.  France.  —  The  July  monarchy,  erected  upon  the  unstable 
foundation  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people,  was  exposed  to  many  attacks. 
Both  the  adherents  of  the  Bourbons  and  of  monarchy  "  by  the  grace  of 
God"  (Legitimists,  Carlists),  and  the  republicans,  grumbled  at  the  new 
system,  and  attempted  to  overthrow  it.  It  was  only  the  prosperous 
middle  class,  which,  intent  upon  gain  and  the  peaceable  enjoyment  of  its 
earnings,  could  find  its  safety  and  object  in  a  constitutional  monarchy, 
that  was  content  with  the  government  of  July ;  and  it  was  upon  this 
class  in  especial  that  Louis  Philippe  leaned  for  support.  But,  as  the 
king  neglected  to  give  the  less  wealthy  class  of  citizens  a  share  of  politi- 
cal power  by  extending  the  suffrage,  the  number  of  his  adherents  was 
not  great.  Neither  did  the  king  understand  how  to  win  the  hearts  of  the 
French  by  greatness  of  mind  and  noble  actions.  In  the  possession  of 
enormous  wealth,  he  made  use  of  his  lofty  position  for  the  constant  in- 
crease of  his  property,  and  thereby  incurred  the  reproach  of  selfishness, 
avarice,  and  cupidity.  This  reproach  also  attached  more  or  less  to  his 
councillors,  ministers,  and  officials,  who  were  accused  of  covetousness  and 
venality ;  so  that,  in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  the  stain  of  "  corruption" 
infected  the  whole  July  government.  The  first  hostilities  against  the 
citizen  throne  and  the  ministry  of  the  ^^  juste  milieu'^  proceeded  from 
the  legitimists.  But  the  hatred  of  the  people  against  the  Bourbons  was 
February  15     ^^^^^  ^^^  recent  for  their  attempts  to  be  successful.     The  erec- 

1831.  tion  of  the  white  banner  on  the  anniversary  of  the  death 
of  the  due  de  Berri  excited  a  disturbance,  in  consequence  of  v»'hich 
November       ^^^^  archiepiscopal  palace  was  destroyed.     Just  as  little  suc- 

1832.  cess  attended  the  attempt  of  the  duchess  of  Berri  to  rouse  the 
faithful  Vendeans  to  arms.  When  she  was  arrested  and  the  secret  of  a 
private  marriage  came  to  light,  the  romantic  magic  that  had  hitherto 
attached  to  the  royal  family  gradually  melted  away.  The  legitimists,  with 
the  grey-haired  poet,  Chateaubriand,  at  their  head,  now  gave  up  the 
hope  of  raising  to  the  throne  their  favorite,  the  duke  of  Bordeaux 
(Chambord),  whom  they  had  bedecked  with  the  ostentatious  name  of 
Henry  V.,  and  retired  sullenly  into  the  suburb  of  St.  Germaine. 

The  undertakings  of  the  republicans  were  more  perilous  to  the  throne 
A.  D.  1831.  of  July.  After  the  public  insurrections  in  Lyons  and  Paris 
A.D.  1832.  had  been  suppressed  by  the  military  power,  and  their  origi- 
A.D.  1834.  nators  and  participators  punished,  they  refrained  from  any 
further  attempts  by  open  violence,  but  made  constant  efforts  to  increase  the 


THE  LATEST  POLITICAL  REVOLUTIOXS.  515 

number  of  their  adherents  by  diffusing  their  opinions  in  journals,  and  by 
means  of  secret  societies.  The  "  National,"  conducted  by  Armand 
Carrel,  and,  after  his  death  in  a  duel,  by  Marrast,  was  the  much  perse- 
cuted and  much  punished  organ  of  their  party.  But  the  republicans 
soon  separated  in  different  directions.  Whilst  the  moderate  (honest) 
republicans  only  sought  to  attack  the  existing  government,  and  aimed  at 
revolutionizing  the  affairs  of  state,  others  (hke  Proudhon)  declared  pro-* 
perty  to  be  robbery,  and  threatened  war  to  all  who  were  in  possession  of 
anytljing ;  or  (like  Louis  Blanc)  they  flattered  the  self-love  and  self- 
respect  of  the  working-classes  by  an  over-estimate  of  their  functions 
and  importance,  preached  up  the  equality  of  capital  and  labor,  and 
demanded  better  payment  and  greater  security  to  the  latter  from  the  state. 
These  men  sought  to  revolutionize  social  relations,  and  to  reduce  to  prac- 
tice the  systems  of  Socialism  and  Communism,  devised  by  a  few  vision- 
aries and  men  of  perverted  intellects.  Without  any  conception  of  the 
vast  machinery  of  human  intercourse,  they  applied  to  society  the  petty 
measure  of  the  workshop  and  the  club.  Liberty,  equality,  fraternity, 
were  their  watchwords  ;  and  hatred  to  the  bonrgeoiste  (sli«pkeepers,  mid- 
dle class,)  the  essence  of  their  doctrine.  These  Communistic  and  Social 
ideas  spread  and  increased  ;  shrouded  in  the  veil  of  the  forbidden  and  the 
mysterious,  they  seemed  to  narrow  minds  and  stunted  natures  the  depth 
of  wisdom,  the  anchor  of  salvation  from  poverty  and  wretchedness. 
Influenced  by  the  notion  that  the  French  government  was  only  held 
together  by  the  skill  and  dexterity  of  its  chief,  the  members  of  the  secret 
union  sought  the  life  of  the  king,  that  they  might  proclaim  a  republic  in 
the  moment  of  confusion,  and  then  proceed  at  once  with  their  social  re- 
forms. Eight  attempts  at  assassination  were  made  upon  Louis  Philippe, 
from  the  whole  of  which  he  escaped  with  wonderful  good  fortune.  The 
most  dreadful  of  these  was  that  made  in  the  Boulevards,  on 
the  celebration  of  the  July  days,  1835,  by  the  Corsican,  Fies- 
chi,  by  means  of  the  so-called  infernal  machine,  by  which  twenty-one 
paople  who  were  near  the  king,  and,  among  others,  the  grey-haired  mar- 
ehal  Mortier,Jost  their  lives.  Fieschi  and  his  two  confederates  died  by 
the  guillotine  ;  but  their  death  did  not  deter  others  from  similar  attempts. 
Restrictions  of  the  press,  of  the  privilege  of  forming  unions,  and  of  per- 
sonal liberty,  were  the  result  of  each  of  these  designs.     It  was  a  hard 

fate  for  Louis  Philippe  that  his  eldest  son,  the  beloved  duke 
JulvlS,  1842.     _  _  ,  .  ,    ,  .     ,      ,    ,  ^  ,,  ^ 

01  Orleans,  met  with  his  death  by  a  fall  from  his  carriage. 

§  G61.  In  the  second  half  of  the  fifth  decennium,  all  the  States  of 

Europe  were  powerfully  excited  by  events  of  varied  character.    In  Italy, 

Pope  Pius  IX.  took  the  lead  of  all  other  princes  by  his  timely  reforms, 

and  again  made  the  papacy  the  political  centre  of  the  country.     He  gave 

greater  freedom  to  the  press,  improved  the  affairs  of  government  and  the 

administration  of  justice,  gave  the  city  of  Kome  a  liberal  municipal 


516  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

government,  and  took  preparatory  measures  for  a  confederation  of  tlie 
Italian  States.  A  mighty  enthusiasm  seized  upon  the  excitable  Italians, 
and  fresh  hopes  sprang  up  in  the  bosoms  of  the  patriots.  Sicily  raised 
January,  the  Standard  of  independence,  and  commenced  a  fierce  war 
1818.  against  its  oppressor ;  the  king  of  ^Naples  sought  to  appease 

the  threatened  insurrection  of  his  subjects  by  giving  them  a  constitution, 
and  thus  obliged  the  other  princes  to  take  a  similar  step.  Archduke 
Leopold  of  Tuscany,  and  Charles  Albert  of  Sardinia,  followed  his  ex- 
ample. The  duke  of  Modena,  a  zealous  defender  of  the  divine  right  of 
princes,  withdrew  himself  from  the  hatred  of  his  people  by  flight ;  and 
December  18  i"  Parma,  the  throne  became  vacant  by  the  death  of  the 
1847.  duchess  Maria  Louisa,  the  little-loved  and    little-respected 

wddow  of  Napoleon.  These  events  filled  the  Italians  w^ith  the  hope  of 
national  unity  and  civil  freedom.  Only  two  powers,  a  spiritual  and  a 
secular,  seemed  to  stand  in  the  way  of  this  object  —  the  Jesuits  and  the 
Austrians.  The  fiery  hate  of  the  Italians  was  consequently  directed 
against  both.  Vivas  for  Gioberti,  the  enemy  of  the  Jesuits,  and  "  Death 
to  the  Germans,"  against  Austria,  were  mingled  with  the  shouts  for  Pio 
Nono. 

In  Germany,  the  opposition  between  the  people  and  the  governments 
had  risen  to  the  uttermost.  The  polite  literature  of  "young  Germany  ;" 
the  stirring  poetry  of  Herwegh,  Hoffman  Von  Fallersleben,  and  other 
singers  of  political  freedom  ;  the  daring  daily  press  ;  the  freethinking  and 
anti-church  writings  of  young  philosophers  and  theologians  ;  the  dis- 
courses and  doctrines  of  the  "friends  of  light"  in  the  Protestant  Church, 
and  of  the  "  German  Catholics  "  in  the  Catholic  —  all  these  spiritual  striv- 
ings betrayed  the  profound  discontent  of  a  large  portion  of  the  German 
people  with  the  existing  conditions  of  State  and  Church,  and  their  aver- 
sion to  the  system  retained  and  defended  by  the  governments.  Frederick 
"William  IV.,  w^ho,  since  1840,  had  borne  the  crown  of  Prussia,  a  prince 
of  high  accomplishments  and  active  mind,  deemed  himself  obliged  to  make 
some  concessions  to  the  spirit  of  the  age.  He  threw  open  the  courts  of 
justice,  and  permitted  oral  pleadings  ;  he  diminished  ecclesiastical 
restraints  by  an  edict  of  toleration  ;  and  by  the  patent  of  the 
3d  of  February,  he  summoned  the  "  United  Estates  "  to  a  Diet 
in  Berlin.  It  was  here  that,  despite  all  the  restrictions  contained  in  the 
patent,  so  violent  an  opposition  was  displayed,  former  promises  were  so 
emphatically  referred  to,  the  righteous  claims  of  a  civilized  nation  to 
liberty  of  the  press  and  the  other  privileges  of  a  free  state,  were  so  elo- 
quently urged,  that  the  old  system  of  government  appeared  no  longer 
tenable.  The  nation  followed  with  pride  the  proceedings  of  an  assembly 
which  displayed  such  splendid  powers  of  oratory  and  such  a  fulness  of 
intelligence  and  judgment.  Whilst  the  educated  and  wealthy  were  follow- 
ing with  intense  ^interest  these  inward  struggles  in  the  region  of  Church 


THE   LATEST   POLITICAL   KEVOLUTIOXS.  517 

and  State,  and  looking  with  anxiety  on  the  disturbances  in  the  trading 
world,  where  a  succession  of  banlcruptcies  had  deprived  thousands  of  their 
property,  the  cry  of  famine  sounded  in  the  huts  of  the  starving,  who,  in 
the  increasing  dearness  of  provisions,  were  unable  to  supply  their  neces- 
sities. The  intelligence  of  the  fearful  distress  which,  in  Upper  Silesia, 
had  engendered  pestilence,  and  in  many  trading  and  manufacturing  places 
had  produced  scenes  of  Irish  misery,  together  with  the  exciting  literature 
in  the  hands  of  the  lower  classes,  and  the  suffering  that  was  everywhere 
prevalent,  produced  a  vast  irritation,  which  at  leng;h  burst  forth  in  insur- 
rections in  Stuttgardt,  Munich,  and  other  towns.  It  is  true  that  these 
were  suppressed  by  the  military  and  the  police,  and  the  benevolence  of  the 
wealthy  and  an  abundant  harvest  soon  put  an  end  to  the  temporary  dis- 
tress ;  but  the  increasing  poverty,  and  the  great  inequality  in  property 
and  in  the  enjoyments  of  life,  were  now  for  the  first  time  revealed  in 
their  full  extent.  Men  gazed  into  the  abyss  of  misery  and  wretchedness 
in  which  the  lower  classes  were  found.  The  irritation  and  discontent 
thus  excited  against  the  political  arrangements,  to  which  the  whole  of 
the  mischief  was  ascribed,  was  increased  to  the  highest  pitch  by  the  in- 
telligence that  the  old  king,  Louis  of  Bavaria,  had  been  entangled  in  the 
snares  of  a  Spanish  dancer,  Lola  Montez,  and  had  allowed  himself  to  be 
led  by  her  into  acts  of  folly  and  enormous  extravagance.  The  ultramon- 
tane party,  which  had  ruled  the  king  and  the  country  for  years,  quar- 
relled with  this  courtesan,  who  had  been  created  countess  of  Landsfeldt, 
and  suddenly  found  itself  threatened  with  loss  of  power.  The  ministry 
of  Abel  and  the  heads  of  the  ultramontane  party  in  the  universities  were 
dismissed.  This  occasioned  a  commotion  among  the  Bavarian  people  ; 
and  when  the  king,  indignant  that  the  students  attached  themselves  to  the 
ultramontane  party,  and  did  not  show  the  respect  he  required  to  the  in- 
solent dancer,  ordered  the  university  of  Munich  to  be  closed,  and  com- 
manded the  students  to  leave  the  place,  an  insurrection  broke  out,  by 
which  Louis  found  himself  obliged  to  recal  the  suspension,  and  to  get  rid 
of  the  countess. 

About  this  time  there  prevailed  a  great  enmity  in  Switzerland  be- 
tween the  Catholics  and  Protestants,  and  the  conservatives  and  radicals. 
In  the  Aargau,  the  radical  government  had  abolished  the  eight  monas- 
teries of  the  country  as  "  meeting-places  of  rebellion,"  and  confiscated 
their  property.  The  protests  of  the  seven  Catholic  cantons  (Schwytz, 
Uri,  Unterwalden,  Lucerne,  Zug,  Freiburg,  Yalais,)  produced  no  effect 
at  the  Diet.  The  division  was  increased  when  the  ultramontane  govern- 
ment of  Lucerne,  with  the  aid  of  the  people  of  the  canton,  called  in  the 
Jesuits  to  superintend  the  education  of  the  youth,  and  repulsed  the  radi- 
cals, who  wished  to  produce  a  revolution  by  means  of  a  volunteer  expe- 
dition. The  contest  now  resolved  itself  into  a  desperate 
March,  1843.  ,      ,  .    t       •  •  i  i-     i-  rr^, 

struggle   between   Jesuitism   and   radicalism.       ihe   seven 

44 


518  THE   LATEST  PERIOD. 

Catholic  cantons  demanded  punishment  of  the  volunteers,  and  legal  pro. 
tection  against  similar  undertakings,  and  the  restoration  of  the  monas- 
teries of  the  Aargau;  and  when  their  demands  were  not  acceded  to, 
formed  a  "  special  confederation"  for  mutual  defence  against  attacks  from 
within  and  without.  The  radicals,  who,  bj  means  of  the  "  Putsche,"  had 
a  majority  in  the  Diet  at  Vaud,  Geneva,  and  other  places,  procured  a 
resolution  which  dissolved  the  special  confederation,  as  incompatible  with 

the  government  of  the  union,  and  banished  the  Jesuits.     As 

'        '      the  members  of  the  special  confederation  refused  submission 

to  the  decisions  of  the  Diet,  the  sword  became  the  arbiter.     Contrary 

to  expectation,  the  struggle  was  soon  over.     A  confederate  army,  under 

November  4     I^"^*^"^>  subdued  Freiburg  and  Lucerne  with  little  resistance, 

whereupon  the  other  cantons  freely  submitted.  They  were 
ecem  er  .  ^i^jjgg^j  ^^  renounce  the  Sonderbund,  to  banish  the  Jesuits,  to 
alter  the  cantonal  government,  and  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  war.  When 
too  late,  the  three  great  powers,  Austria,  France,  and  Prussia,  offered 
their  mediation.  The  French  found  the  Sonderbund  already  diss'"  ed  ; 
and  the  discovery  that  the  minister,  Guizot,  took  the  part  of  thp  csuits, 
increased  the  dissatisfaction  in  France  with  the  July  governn^-'  t.  The 
Swiss  took  advantage  of  circumstances  to  remodel  their  cor„  .ution,  and 
to  create  a  stronger  federative  governinent. 

h.    THE  PARIS  EEVOLUTION  OF  FEBRUAKY  AND  IT;o  CONSEQUENCES. 

§  662.  About  the  time  that  the  events  in  Italy  and  Switzerland  were 
exciting  a  strong  feeling  in  France,  and  the  policy  of  Guizot  was  giving 
great  offence  to  the  liberals,  an  action  for  bribery  against  General  Cubieres 
and  the  minister.  Teste,  and  the  dreadful  murder  of  the  duchess  of  Praslin 
in  her  bed-chamber  by  her  own  husband,  revealed  the  total  want  of 
morality  in  the  upper  classes  that  were  grouped  around  the  throne  of 
July.  The  feeling  that  a  system  of  government  founded  upon  such  rotten 
supports  could  not  endure,  became  more  and  more  prevalent  among  the 
nation  ;  and  the  call  for  elective  reform,  by  which  it  hoped  to  infuse  fresh 
vigor  into  the  Chamber  and  the  government,  became  the  watchword  of 
the  day.  Reform  banquets  were  arranged  in  all  corners  of  the  land,  in 
w^hich  the  sins  of  the  existing  government  were  mercilessly  exposed  in 
daring  speeches  and  toasts.  The  government  not  only  prohibited  this 
reform  festival,  but  censure  was  cast  in  the  speech  from  the  throne  on  a 
movement  that  was  excited  by  blind  or  hostile  passions.  Despite  the 
prohibition,  the  chiefs  of  the  opposition  in  the  Chambers,  and  some  of 
the  leaders  of  the  liberals  and  moderate  republicans,  proceeded  with  their 
preparations  for  a  reform  banquet,  and  published  a  programme  of  the 
procession  and  the  arrangement  of  the  dinner;  when,  however,  the 
government  adopted  military  measures  to  ensure  respect  to  its  orders,  the 
greater  number  of  the  arrangers  of  the  festival  desisted  from  their  pur* 


THE   LATEST   POLITICAL   REVOLUTIONS.  519 

pose,  and  the  members  of  the  Left  (opposition)  resolved  to  bring  forward 
a  motion  in  the  next  session  for  impeaching  the  ministry  for  injuring  the 
constitution. 

But  the  people  were  already  too  much  excited  to  be  pacified  by  such 
a  measure  as  this.  Crowds  of  artisans,  men  in  blouses,  students,  and 
the  refuse  of  the  streets,  paraded  through  the  squares  and  thoroughfares 
of  the  capital,  with  the  cry  of  "  Reform  ! "  and  "  Down  with  Guizot !  " 
Their  numbers  increased  from  hour  to  hour ;  the  military  acted  w  ith 
forbearance,  the  police  was  no  match  for  the  multitude ;  in  -some 
streets,  barricades  were  erected  and  maintained.  The  contest  had  con- 
tinued for  two  days  with  increasing  bitterness,  when  the  king  dismissed 
February  22,  the  ministry  of  Guizot  and  promised  reform.  This  news 
23.  occasioned  unspeakable  pleasure  among  the  excited  populace. 

The  crowds  marched  through  the  streets  with  songs  and  shouts  of  joy, 
the  barricades  disappeared,  and  the  houses  were  illuminated.  At  this 
point  it  happened  that  a  troop  of  people  marched  through  the  Boule- 
vaifls,  about  ten  o'clock,  with  banners  and  torches.  Tliey  halted  before 
the  foreign  office,  and  demanded  the  illumination  of  the  house.  At  this 
moment  a  shot  was  heard,  and  occasioned  a  belief,  among  the  military 
posted  in  the  building,  that  they  were  attacked.  A  volley  was  suddenly 
fired  upon  the  crowd,  fifty-two  of  whom  fell  to  the  ground  either  killed 
or  wounded.  An  indescribable  fury  took  possession  of  the  people.  A 
bier  was  covered  with  dead  bodies,  and  paraded  through  the  streets  of 
the  city  with  torches,  in  the  midst  of  the  cries,  "  To  arms ! "  "  We  are 
slaughtered  ! "  The  alarm-bell  was  sounded  at  midnight,  and  by  the  morn- 
ing of  the  24th  of  February,  the  whole  of  Paris  was  closed  up  with  bar- 
ricades. Victory,  after  a  violent  contest,  inclined  to  the  side  of  the  peo- 
ple. Louis  Philippe  abdicated  in  favor  of  his  gmndson,  the  count  of 
Paris,  and  fled  with  his  wife  to  England,  where  the  other  members  of 
his  family  also  arrived  by  different  ways  and  after  many  perils.  Here- 
upon, a  republican  government  was  established  in  Paris,  under  the  pre- 
sidentship of  the  old  Dupont  de  I'Eure,  and  in  which  the  poet  Lamar- 
tine,  Ledru-Rollin,  the  leader  of  the  Left,  Arago,  Garnier-Pages,  and 
the  socialist  Louis  Blanc  had  a  share. 

But  the  new  form  of  government  did  not  bring  the  anticipated  happi- 
ness. The  intoxication  of  the  republican  festival,  with  its  joyous  feasts 
and  consecration  of  banners,  and  the  enthusiasm  for  the  watchwords, 
"  liberty,  equality,  fraternity,"  passed  away,  and  sober  practical  life 
brought  with  it  many  difficulties.  As  the  Revolution  was  the  work  of 
the  laboring  classes,  it  was  necessary  to  give  some  thoughts  to  their  ele- 
vation and  improvement.  National  workshops  were  established,  where 
the  unemployed  were  to  find  occupation  and  support.  It  was  now  that 
the  utter  instability  of  Socialism  became  apparent.  The  expenses  of  tha 
state  rose  incredibly,  and  the  number  of  paupers  increased  daily.      It 


520  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

was  soon  clear  to  every  one  that  such  a  system  must,  in  a  short  time,  lead 
to  the  ruin  of  the  state,  the  impoverishment  of  those  who  possessed  any 
thing,  and  the  destruction  of  civilization.  Accordingly,  when  a  constituent 
Kational  Assembly,  elected  by  the  voices  of  the  whole  people,  met  together 
in  May,  one  of  its  first  measures  was  to  close  these  shops  and  to  with- 
draw the  assistance  of  the  state  from  the  workmen.  Upon  this,  the  work- 
men attempted  a  new  revolution,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  supreme 
power  to  the  fourth  estate.  This  led  to  the  dreadful  scenes  of  June, 
when  the  supporters  of  the  "red  republic"  disgraced  themselves  by 
deeds  of  savage  brutality.  They  murdered  general  Brea  and  the  arch- 
bishop of  Paris,  and  filled  the  barricades  with  the  dead  bodies  of  their 
opponents.  Horrified  at  this  barbarity,  the  National  Assembly  invested 
general  Cavaignac  with  dictatorial  power.  Cavaignac  defeated  the  rebels, 
had  crowds  of  them  arrested  and  deported,  and  put  Paris  under  mili- 
tary law.  Protected  by  these  measures,  the  Assembly  then  completed 
the  republican  government  with  a  single  Chamber,  and  a  president,  who 
was  to  be  elected  every  four  years.  It  would  willingly  have  given.,  the 
majority  of  votes,  also,  to  general  Cavaignac  at  the  election  of  president ; 
but  the  people,  dazzled  by  the  lustre  of  the  imperial  name,  chose  Louis 
Bonaparte,  the  same  nephew  of  Napoleon  who  had  before  twice  attempted 
to  overthrow  the  government  of  Louis  Philippe  by  insurrections,  and 
who  had  paid  the  penalty  of  his  folly  by  long  imprisonments. 

§  663.  The  news  of  the  Paris  revolution  of  February  occasioned  a 
violent  shock  all  over  Europe.  Popular  commotions  took  place  in  Ger- 
many, Hungary,  Italy,  and  other  places,  which,  in  extent  and  violence, 
far  surpassed  all  previous  disturbances.  A  propaganda,  which  had  its 
seat  and  centre  in  Paris,  stirred  the  revolutionary  fire,  and  diffused  re- 
pubKcan  ideas,  with, a  tincture  of  Communism  and  Socialism,  as  the 
means  of  exciting  the  lower  classes.  The  first  eftects  displayed  them- 
selves in  Baden.  The  active  political  life  which  has  always  distinguished 
the  Grand  Duch}^  appeared  to  give  it  the  right  of  marching  foremost 
with  the  banner  of  progress  and  reform.  Urgent  petitions,  tumultuously 
presented  to  the  Estates  of  the  country  just  then  assembled,  demanded 
freedom  of  the  press,  juries,  a  militia  under  freely  elected  leaders,  and  a 
German  parliament,  as  a  popular  house,  by  the  side  of  the  Diet.  The 
Baden  government  not  only  granted  these  demands  so  far  as  laid  in  its 
power,  but  even  adopted  other  conciliatory  measures.  The  example 
of  Baden  acted  upon  the  other  states  of  Germany.  The  same  demands 
were  gradually  made  every  where,  and  yielded  to,  and  others  joined  with 
them.  In  Wirtemberg,  Saxony,  and  other  states,  the  heads  of  the  liberal 
opposition  were  summoned  to  the  ministry  and  the  reins  of  government 
placed  in  their  hands.     But  the  Austrian  empire  suffered  the  greatest 

»r  1  .o  convulsions.  An  insurrection  in  Vienna,  occasioned  by  some 
March  13.  .        .  ^  J 

students  and  young  rioters,  and  supported  by  the  rabble,  had 


THE   LATEST   REVOLUTIONS.  521 

Bucli  unexpected  success  that  prince  Metternich  laid  down  his  exalted 
office,  and  sought  refuge  as  a  grej-headed  fugitive  in  England.  Upon 
this  the  old  system  was  dissolved,  and  a  state  of  lawlessness  took  posses- 
sion of  the  capital.  The  freedom  of  the  press  soon  produced  a  revolu- 
tionary daily  literature  ;  the  right  of  assembly  was  made  use  of  for  form- 
ing tumultuous  mobs  and  democratic  clubs  ;  the  great  number  of  unem- 
ployed workmen  facilitated  the  schemes  of  the  revolutionary  party.  Thus 
it  happened,  that,  by  the  activity  of  the  democrats,  who  streamed  together 
into    Vienna   from    all    quarters,    insurrections    and    street    figlits    were 

crowded  upon  each  other.     The   emperor  retired,   witli  his 
"^*  court,  to  Innspruck  ;  and  only  returned  to  his  capital  when  the 

Diet,  which  had  in  the  mean  time  been  chosen  by  universal 

^  ^'  suffi-age,  assembled,  and  required  him  by  pressing  messages 

to  resume  his  seat  in  Vienna. 

Berlin  had  its  March  days  as  well  as  the  imperial  city.     After  long 

hesitation,  the  Prussian  government  at  length  consented  to  fieedom  of 

the  press  and  other  reforms,  and  held  out  a   prospect  of  a 
March  17.  ,     •         •        ,  i     -  c  .i       n  r   i       *• 

revolution  m   the  relations  of  the    German    confederation. 

But  as  hostile  encounters  had,  for  several  days  past,  taken  place  between 
the  military  and  the  people,  these  concessions  did  not  restore  tranquillity ; 
the  removal  of  the  troops  and  the  formation  of  a  militia  were  demanded. 
Poles  and  other  foreign  agitators  increased  the  hatred  and  excitem^it  by 
inflammatory  discourses.  Tlie  assemblies  in  front  of  the 
palace  increased,  and  the  threats  against  the  soldiery  became 
constantly  louder.  A  division  of  infantry  now  marched  out  of  the  palace, 
to  drive  back  the  increasing  masses.  Two  shots  were  fired,  by  whom  or 
from  which  party  is  uncertain.  'They  gave  the  signal  for  a  desperate 
street  battle  of  fourteen  hours.  On  the  morning  of  the  lOtli  of  March, 
the  contest  was  yet  undecided,  although  most  of  the  barricades  had  been 
taken  or  destroyed  by  the  courage  of  the  soldiers  and  by  the  effects  of  the 
grape-shot.  The  king  at  length  gave  command  for  the  retreat  of  the 
military,  dismissed  the  ministry,  and  consented  to  the  formation  of  a 
militia  for  the  defence  of  the  city  and  the  guard  of  the  palace.  An  un- 
conditional amnesty,  which  was  shortly  after  announced,  and  which  was 
imitated  in  the  other  states  of  Germany,  freed  from  punishment  all  those 
condemned  for  political  crimes  or  offences,  and  permitted  the  return  of 

fuf^itives :  and  three  days  later,  the  king  promised  in  a  pro- 
March  21.  °       .  ,  ,     .  ,  .        .,  ,   .1       •. 
clamation,  and  during  a  solemn  procession  through  the  city, 

that  he  would  place  himself  as  constitutional  king  at  the  head  of  a  free 
and  united  Germany.  A  constituent  National  Assembly,  elected  by 
universal  suffrage,  undertook,  a  few  weeks  later,  the  great  work  of  fram- 
ing a  representative  constitution  for  the  Prussian  monarchy. 

§  664.  In  the  mean  time,  a  niighty  revolution  had  taken  place  in  all 
the  German  states.   .  The  Diet  had  experienced  an  increase  of  liberal 
44* 


522  THE  LATEST  PERIOD. 

members,  and  seventeen  trustworthy  men  were  commissioned  to  design  a 
new  constitution.  In  Bavaria,  king  Louis  gave  way  before 
public  opinion,  and  resigned  the  government  to  the  crown 
prince,  Maximilian  :  a  similar  change  took  place  in  Hesse-Darmstadt.  In 
Hanover,  Hesse-Cassel,  and  the  greater  number  of  states,  the  often-per- 
gecuted  leaders  of  the  liberals  were  now  called  to  the  ministry,  and  re- 
forms were  introduced  in  a  democratic  spirit  and  with  destructive  haste. 
But  the  movement  soon  became  so  powerful  that  reforms  were  no  longer 
sufficient,  and,  here  and  there,  the  path  of  revolution  was  entered  upon. 
In  some  neighborhoods,  the  peasants  drove  away  the  stewards,  destroyed 
the  land  and  tithe  registers,  and  the  seats  of  the  landlords.  It  was  not 
sufficient  for  the  lovers  of  radical  reform  that  the  parliament  of  Fraiik- 
furt-on-the-Main,  which  assembled  by  its  own  authority  in  the  beginning 
of  April,  laid  down  the  principle  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people,  and 
embraced  the  resolution  that  a  freely  elected  National  Assembly  should 
prepare  a  new  constitution  for  collective  Germany,  and  that  a  perpetual 
committee  of  fifty  should  watch  over  the  strict  execution  of  this  resolu- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  government ;  a  radical  party,  with  Hecker,  Struve, 
and  others  at  its  head,  called  the  people  to  arms  in  the  upper  part  of 
Baden,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  German  republic.  The  republi- 
can arms,  however,  made  little  progress.  After  a  few  expeditions,  in 
whicli  the  union  general,  Frederick  Von  Gagern,  lost  his  life,  the  insur- 
rection was  quelled  and  the  leaders  obliged  to  fly. 

On  the  18th  of  May,  the  sittings  of  the  National  Assembly,  which  was 
to  frame  a  constitution,  were  opened*  The  assembly  in  the  church  of 
St.  Paul  in  Frankfurt,  distinguished  by  its  talent  and  eloquence,  was 
a  worthy  expression  of  German  opinion  and  civilization.  One  of  the 
first  acts  of  the  Frankfurt  parliament  was  to  set  aside  the  Diet,  and 
establish  a  new  central  power.  After  some  sharp  parliamentary  con- 
tests, in  which  the  "  bold  grasp"  of  the  president,  Henry  Von  Gagern, 
determined  the  result,  it  was  finally  arranged  that  the  National  Assembly 
should  choose  an  irresponsible  regent,  who  was  then  to  surround  himself 
with  a  responsible  ministry.  The  election,  which  took  place  on  the  29th 
^  ,    _  of  June,  was  decided  in  favor  of  archduke  John  of  Austria, 

July  11.  .  . 

who,  after  his  entrance  into   Frankfurt,  received  from  the 
hands  of  the  president  of  the  Diet  the  power  exercised  by  that  body. 

§  6G5.  Not  less  violent  were  the  convulsions  and  mutations  produced 
in  Italy  by  the  revolution  of  February.  In  Sicily,  the  war  against 
Naples  was  continued  for  upwards  of  a  year  with  great  vigor  and  perse- 
verance, without,  however,  the  unfortunate  island  being  able  to  attain  its 
asserted  independence.  The  king  of  Naples,  strong  in  his  mercenary 
Swiss  troops,  reduced  the  Sicilians  to  submission,  and  then  destroyed  by 
violence  the  constitutional  government  in  Naples,  which  he  had  granted 
m  a  moment  of  necessity. 


THE   LATEST    REVOLUTIOXS.  523 

In  Rome,  the  movement  soon  became  too  powerful  for  the  weak  Pope, 
Pius  IX.,  to  control.  It  was  in  vain  that  he  promised  a  constitutional 
government  to  the  Ecclesiastical  State,  and  summoned  an  assembly  of  the 
Estates  to  the  capital.  His  minister,  Rossi,  was  killed  by  the  thrust  of  a 
November  15,  dagger  in  the  throat  on  the  steps  of  the  House  of  Assembly, 

1848.  after  which  the  democrats  took  the  whole  power  into  their 
own  hands.  The  pope,  filled  with  terror,  fled  in  disguise  to  Gaeta,  and 
February,        relinquished  the  eternal  city  to  the  populace  and  the  volun- 

1849.  teers,  who  now  established  the  Roman  republic  and  seized 
upon  the  property  of  the  church.  Mazzini,  the  energetic  chief  of  Young 
Italy,  and  Garibaldi,  the  daring  leader  of  the  volunteers,  ruled  in  Rome. 
The  pope  now  addressed  himself  to  the  protecting  powers  of  the  Church, 
and  succeeded  so  far  that  a  French  army,  under  the  command  of  General 
Oudinot,  marched  to  the  walls  of  Rome,  and  demanded  the  restoration  of 
the  former  system.  When  this  was  refused,  the  French  proceeded  to  lay 
siege  to  the  city,  but  encountered  so  fierce  a  resistance,  that  it  was  only 
after  weeks  of  sanguinary  attacks  and  encounters  that  they  got  possession 
I  r  3  1849     ^^  *^^  place.     The  republicans  sought  for  safety  in  flight; 

and  the  old  state  of  things  gradually  came  back  under  the 
protection  of  bayonets. 

In  Tuscany,  also,  the  democrats  gained  the  upper  hand  for  a  short 
time,  and  compelled  the  Grand  Duke  to  take  flight ;  but  the  republican 
government  lasted  but  a  few  weeks. 

The  most  remarkable  revolution  in  affairs  took  place  in  Upper  Italy. 

„     ,  In  Milan  and  Venice,  the  Austrian  j^arrisons  were  driven  out 

March,  1848.    ,  ,...-,  ^   , 

by  popular  msurfections   and    street-fights,  whereupon   the 

standard  of  independence  was  raised  throughout  the  whole  of  Lombardy. 
This  filled  the  king,  Charles  Albert  of  Sardinia,  with  the  hope  of  making 
himself  master  of  the  Lombard- Venetian  kingdom.  He  declared  war 
against  Austria ;  and  being  supported  in  the  first  moments  of  enthusiasm 
and  surprise  by  numerous  Italian  volunteers,  he  drove  back  the  enemy 
to  the  northern  frontier  of  Italy.  But  the  state  of  affairs  soon  changed. 
On  the  25th  of  July,  field-mamhal  Radetzky,  who  was  eighty-six  years 
of  age,  gained  a  victory  at  Custozza,  which  was  followed  by  the  recon- 
quest  of  Milan  and  the  whole  of  Lombardy.  The  king  of  Sardinia  fled 
during  the  night  to  his  own.  dominions,  and  concluded  a  truce  with  tlte 
victors.  Urged  on  by  the  democrats,  Charles  Albert  again  tried  the  for* 
March  20-24,  tune  of  arms  in  the  following  spring.  But  the  old  Radetzky's 
1849.  campaign  of  four  days  on   the  Tessino  and   near  Novara 

brought  the  enterprise  to  a  rapid  termination,  and  rendered  abortive  the 
hopes  of  the  Italian  patriots.  Charles  Albert,  despairing  of  success,  ab- 
dicated his  throne  in  favor  of  his  son,  Victor  Emmanuel,  and  fled  by  secret 
paths  from  the  land  of  his  fathers,  till  he  found  a  refuge  in  Portugal, 
where  he  shortly  after  died.'  The  young  king  then  concluded  a  disad- 
vantageous peace  with  Austria. 


,  24  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

Venice,  rendered  impregnable  by  its  position,  withstood  for  soma 
months  longer  the  besieging  army  of  Austrians,  till  dissensions  within 
and  sufferings  without  gave  back  the  renowned  city  of  the 
August  2o.  j.jgynes  to  its  ancient  possessors.  Things  now  everywhere 
returned  to  their  former  state,  but  the  honor  of  Italy  had  been  redeemed 
by  the  struggle. 

§  GG6.  In  the  mean  time,  Germany  and  Hungary  experienced  still 
more  violent  revolutionary  storms  and  convulsions.  Whilst  the  constituent 
National  Assembly  was  consulting  in  Frankfurt  over  the  new  confederate 
constitution,  a  sanguinary  national  war  was  going  on  in  Schleswic-Holstein 
against  Denmark.  Supported  by  a  good  old  settlement,  according  to 
which  the  duchies  Schleswic-Holstein  were  to  remain  united,  and  to  descend 
as  a  heritage  to  the  male  line  of  the  princely  house  of. Oldenburg  only,  the 
sturdy  inhabitants  of  these  duchies  wished,  upon  the  approaching  extinc- 
tion of  the  royal  family  of  Denmark,  to  be  united  to  their  German  rela- 
tions under  the  legitimate  and  native  duke  of  Augustenburg.  This  hope 
the  kin<2:  of  Denmark,  incited  by  tlie  strong  Danish  party,  had 

Tii1v  S    1F4f?  I-         ^  ' 

'  '  destroyed  by  the  "  public  letter,"  in  which  he  announced  the 
indissoluble  connection  of  Schleswic  with  Denmark  and  the  undisturbed 
integrity  of  the  Danish  monarchy.  When,  in  consequence  of  the  Febru- 
ary revolution,  a  mighty  movement  was  communicated  to  all  nations,  the 
duchies  also  thought  that  they  must  gain  their  rights  by  their  own 
strengtli.  Trusting  to  the  assistance  of  Germany,  which  had  been  pro- 
mised to  them  in  many  addresses,  they  erected  a  provisional  government 
till  their  legitimate  position  should  be  secured.  The  central  government 
of  Frankfurt  recognized  their  right,  and  appointed  a  lieutenancy.  This 
was  the  signal  for  war.  The  German  people  interested  themselves  for 
the  land  attacked  by  the  Danes.  Volunteers,  among  whom  were  many 
students  and  promising  youths,  perilled  life  and  health  in  the  unequal 
contest ;  the  German  confederate  troops,  under  the  command  of  Prussia, 
cleared  Schleswic  of  the  Danes.  But  the  strife  was  rendered  unequal 
by  the  want  of  a  German  fleet,  and  the  maritime  trade  of  the  north  suf- 
fered much  loss  and  disturbance.  This  circumstance,  and  the  threatening 
attitude  of  Russia  and  England,  operated  in  favor  of  the  Danes  ;  so  that 
the  Prussian  government,  which  had  committed  the  management  of  the 
Schleswic-Holstein  question  to  the  central  authority  of  Germany,  entered 
into  diplomatic  negotiations,  and  concluded  the  not  very  creditable  truce 
August  26,  ofMalmo.  When  this  truce,  after  long  and  violent  opposi- 
1848.  tion,  was  sanctioned  by  the  National  Assembly  at  Frankfurt, 

the  German  republican  party,  which  had  long  been  dissatisfied  with  the 
prudent  moderation  of  the  parliament,  made  this  decision  a  pretext  for 
attemj)ting  to  disperse  the  assembly  in  the  church  of  St.  Paul  by  means 
of  an  insurrection  and  street-fight,  and  then  to  bring  about  a  revolution 
and  a  republic.  The  project  was  frustrated  by  calling  in  the  confederate 
troops  ;  but  the  frightful  murder  of  two  members  of  the  parliament,  Auers 


THE   LATEST    REVOLUTIONS.  523 

wald  and  Lichnowsky,  in  the  Bornlielmer  wood,  by  the  mob, 
'  afforded  a  fearful  proof  of  the  height  to  which  rudeness  and 
barbarism  had  already  risen  among  the  irritated  populace. 

§  667.  This  barbarism  shortly  afterwards  displayed  itself  in  the  Austrian 
empire  by  two  deeds  not  less  horrible.  The  Hungarians,  who  had  for 
some  time  past  been  excited  against  Austria  by  Magyar  agitators,  strove 
to  obtain  national  independence.  The  kingdom  of  Hungary  was  to  have 
its  own  government  and  a  separate  political  existence,  totally  indepen- 
dent of  the  imperial  government  in  Vienna,  and  to  share  neither  in  the 
military  system,  the  national  debt  or  the  finance,  tax,  or  trade  legislation 
of  tlie  rest  of  the  empire.  These  efforts  of  the  Magyai-s,  by  which  tlie 
kingdom  of  Hungary  was  to  have  retained  merely  a  "personal  union" 
with  the  Austrian  empire,  were  now  developed  with  greater  energy,  bat 
encountered  a'  vehement  resistance,  not  in  Vienna  alone,  but  among  the 
Slavish  races,  Croats,  Shwonians,  Servians,  &;c.,  which  were  united  with 
the  Magyars  in  the  Hungarian  kingdom.  Jellachich,  Ban  of  Croatia, 
took  the  field  against  the  Magyars ;  his  undertaking  met  with  secret 
encouragement  from  the  court  and  ministry.  This  excited  tlie  rage' of 
the  Magyars  to  such  a  height,  that  the  furious  mob  put  the  imperial  corn- 
October  3,  missioner,  Lamberg,  to  a  frightful  death  upon  the  bridge  of 
1848.  Buda-Pesth.     This  deed  called  forth  an  imperial  war  mani- 

festo, in  consequence  of  which  a  portion  of  the  Austrian  army  received 
orders  to  march  upon  Hungary.  But  the  Viennese  democrats,  who  saw 
their  own  cause  in  the  insurrection  in  Hungary,  prevented  the  march, 
and  excited  a  rebellion  in  the  capital  that  surpassed  in  vrolence  and  im- 
portance all  that  had  preceded  it.  A  crowd  of  people,  furious  with  Latour, 
the  minister  of  war,  who  had  had  communications  Avith  Jellachich,  forced 
their  way  into  the  war-office  and  killed  the  unfortunate  man  with  blows 
of  hammers  and  thrusts  of  pikes.  This  was  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Vienna  October  days,  the  most  .violent  catastrophe 
of  this  deeply-moved  time.  Horrified  at  the  fierce  proceedings  of  the 
aroused  masses,  the  king  again  left  the  capital  and  retired  to  Olmutz  in 
Moravia.  Thence  he  issued  his  commands  to  prince  Windischgriitz,  who, 
a  few  months  before,  had  displayed  his  vigor  and  resolution 
by  the  energetic  suppression  of  a  Slavish  insurrection  in 
Prague,  to  reduce  the  insurgent  capital  to  submission.  Thus  commenced 
the  memorable  siege  and  storm  of  Vienna.  For  three  weeks,  the  demo- 
crats, who  were  supported  by  a  licentious  press,  by  clubs,  and  public 
speeches,  defended  themselves  against  the  besieging  troops.  Volunteers 
and  democratic  leaders,  united  together  from  all  parts  in  the  capital,  kept 
alive  the  spirit  of  contest.  At  length,  the  military  superiority  of  the 
army  carried  off  the  victory.  The  town  was  taken  by  storm  and  put 
under  martial  law  ;  and  the  leaders  and  promoters  of  the  revolutionary 
movement  severely  punished.  Many  found  their  death  from  wdiat,  in 
military  law,  is  called  '•  powder  and  lead."     Among  these  was  Ptobert 


526  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

Blum,  a  member  of  the  Frankfurt  National  Assembly,  and  chief  speakei 
of  the  *'  Left."  He  had  taken  a  sliare  in  the  struggle  ;  his  character  ag 
representative  of  the  people  could  not  save  him  from  the  iron  severity  of 
the  general ;  the  German  democrats  regarded  him  as  the  martyr  of  liberty, 
and  celebrated  a  general  funeral  solemnity.  The  Austrian  legislative 
National  Assembly  was  removed  from  Vienna  to  Kremsier  in  Moravia. 
§  668.  These  proceedings,  and  the  violent  contest  that  sprang  up 
in  Hungary,  when  Windischgratz,  with  the  proud  consciousness  of  a 
victor,  led  the  Austrian  array  against  Pesth,  confirmed  the  majority  of 
the  Frankfurt  parliament  in  the  persuasion  that  it  would  be  advantageous, 
as  well  for  the  Germans  as  the  Austrian  confederacy,  if  each  were  sepa- 
rately to  erect  its  new  system  of  government  upon  a  liberal  basis,  and 
then  to  conclude  farther  federative  relations  with  a  trade  and  customs 
legislation  common  to  both.  Prussia  was  to  be  at  the  head  of  tlie  Ger- 
man union.  This  project  found  its  most  decided  supporter  in  the  presi- 
dent, Henry  Von  Gagern,  who,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the 
scheme  more  effectually,  assumed  in  December  the  presidentship  of  the 
imperial  ministry.  The  plan,  however,  encountered  the  greatest  opposi- 
tion from  the  Austrian  delegates,  who  discovered  in  it  the  exclusion  of 
Austria  from  Germany ;  from  the  Catholics,  who  feared  the  preponde- 
rance of  Protestant  Prussia ;  and  from  the  republicans,  who  saw,  in  a 
powerful  hereditary  monarchy,  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  the  realization 
of  their  principles,  and  who  were  irritated  with  the  Prussian  government 
on  account  of  the  dissolution  of  the  constituent  imperial  assembly  in  Ber- 
lin. The  king  of  Prussia  had  long  been  a  witness  of  the  senseless  pro- 
ceedings of  the  democrats ;  he  had  repeatedly  changed  his  ministry  in 
accordance  with  their  wishes,  he  had  offered  no  impediment  to  the  debates 
of  the  Diet  where  the  democratic  party  was  in  a  majority,  he  had  surren- 
dered the  capital  to  the  defence  of  the  militia.  But  when  the  presump- 
tion of  the  populace,  who  were  kept  in  a  constant  state  of  fermentation  by 
foreign  and  native  agitators,  by  placards  on  the  walls,  and  by  public 
orators,  exceeded  all  bounds ;  when  the  popular  unions  ruled  the  city ; 
when  crowds  of  noisy  rioters  surrounded  the  National  Assembly,  and 
exercised  an  influence  upon  the  course  of  the  debates  by  intimidation, 
the  king  at  length  resolved  to  put  an  end  to  these  proceedings.  The  new 
Brandenburg-Manteuffel  ministry  adjourned  the  National  Assembly,  and 
removed  the  next  sitting  to  the  town  of  Brandenburg ;  and  when  a  con- 
siderable number  of  the  members  refused  obedience  to  the  command,  and 
continued  their  meetings  in  Berlin,  despite  the  state  of  war  with  which 
November  ^^®  ^'^^J  ^'^^  threatened,  and,  at  length,  when  driven  out  by 
and  December,  the  military,  declared  the  levying  of  taxes  to  be  contrary  to 
^  ^^'  law,  the  dissolution  took  place.       At  the    same  time,  the 

government  itself  proclaimed  a  constitution  upon  an  extremely  liberal 
basis,  which  was  to  be  submitted  to  a  new  elective  assembly  with  two 
chambers,  fpr  its  examination  and  approval. 


THE   LATEST   REYOLUTIOXS.  527 

§  669.  It  was  not  long  before  a  similar  measure  followed  in  Austria. 
For  the  purpose  of  getting  a  free  field,  the  emperor  Ferdinand,  who,  at 
the  time  of  the  disturbances,  had  made  many  promises,  had  been  induced 
to  resign  the  government  as  early  as  December,  whereupon  his  youthful 
nephew,  Francis  Joseph,  obtained  the  imperial  throne.  He  dissolved  the 
constituent  Diet  of  Kremsier,  in  March,  1849,  and  then  proclaimed  an 
"  octroyed  "  *  constitution,  and  a  law  respecting  seignorial  rights  and  the 
indemnification  for  feudal  dues.  Hungary  was  at  the  same  time  to  be 
restrained  by  fresh  exertions  of  power.  But  the  Austrians  encountered 
a  noble  resistance  from  this  warlike  and  hardy  equestrian  and  nomadic 
people,  the  Magyars.  Excited  by  the  fiery  eloquence  of  Kossuth,  and 
supported  by  Polish  leaders,  like  Dembinski  and  Bern,  the  Hungarians 
compelled  the  hostile  forces  to  retreat,  captured  Buda,  and  got  possession 
of  all  the  fortresses.  Gorgey,  a  brave  and  able  general,  was  at  the  head 
of  the  forces.  The  army  of  the  insurgents  was  strengthened  by  the  native 
militia  (Honveds),  and  by  foreign  volunteers;  Hungarian  bank-notes, 
prepared  by  Kossuth,  were  paid  and  accepted  as  money.  Full  of  proud 
April  14,  confidence,  the  Diet  of  Debreczin  declared  Hungary's  inde- 

1S49.  pendence  of  Austria,  and  established  a  provisional  govern- 

ment under  the  direction  of  Kossuth.  It  was  now  discovered  in  Austria 
that  Windischgratz  had  undertaken  a  task  to  which  he  was  not  equal ;  he 
was  recalled,  and  field-marshal  Ilaynau  appointed  in  his  place.  As  the 
Austrian  court  was  convinced  that  he  could  not,  with  his  own  forces,  sup- 
press the  Hungarian  insurgents,  who  were  now  approaching  the  frontiers 
of  Austria,  it  called  upon  Russia  for  assistance.  The  hostile  armies  now 
marched  into  Hungary  from  three  quarters:  on  the. north,  Paskewitsch 
with  his  Russians ;  on  the  west,  Haynau  with  his  Austrian  troops  ;  and 
on  the  south,  Jellachich  with  his  Croats.  The  Hungarian  army  never- 
theless resisted  for  many  months,  and  Gorgey,  Klapka,  and  other  brave 
generals  yet  gained  many  a  splendid  victory.  But  internal  dissensions 
among  the  Polish  and  Magyar  leaders,  and  a  division  that  had  arisen 
between  Kossuth  and  Gorgey,  paralyzed  the  strength  of  the  insurgents. 
Pressed  upon  on  all  sides,  Gorgey,  who  had  been  named  dictator,  laid 
August  11,  down  his  arms  to  the  Russians  at  Vilagos,  and  thus  brought 
1849.  about  the  subjection  of  the  country.     Kossuth  and  many  of 

the  insurgent  leaders  found  refuge  in  Turkey ;  but  who  can  tell  how 
great  was  the  number  of  those  who  died  by  the  sentence  of  courts  martial, 
or  pined  away  in  dungeons,  or  who  served  in  the  baggage  and  convey- 
ance department  of  the  Austrian  army  ?  Gorgey  has  since  lived  in 
Carinthia  ;  but  the  public  voice  of  his  nation  accuses  him  of  treachery  to 
the  cause  of  his  country. 

§  670.  Hungary's  fall,  by  the  catastrophe  of  Vilagos,  was  the  close  of 

« 

*  That  is,  granted  by  the  sovereign,  of  his  own  free  will,  and  therefore  owing  its  validity 
to  his  authority,  instead  of  being  formed  and  decreed  by  the  people  themselves  or  by  theii 
representatives. 


528  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

the  revolutionary  movement  that  had  spread  over  Europe  after  the  Paris 
ian  revolution  of  February.  It  had  reached  its  termination  some  time 
previously  in  Germany. 

In  the  midst  of  many  contests,  the  Frankfurt  National  Assembly  had 
at  length  accomplished  the  solution  of  its  task.  It  had  established  and 
made  known  the  "fundamental  rights  of  the  German  people,"  and  had 
at  last  accomplished  the  formation  of  an  imperial  constitution.  The 
Gagern  party,  -which  was  striving  for  a  German  confederacy,  M'ith  an 
hereditary  emperor,  and  a  legislative  assembly  divided  into  a  government 
and  popular  house,  had  at  last  carried  their  proposal  by  a  small  majority, 
after  they  had  won  the  support  of  many  members  of  the  Left  by  accept- 
ing a  democratic  elective  law  with  universal  right  of  suffrage.  The  new 
imperial  constitution  was  brought  to  a  conclusion  by  this 
"  compromise,"  and  the  transference  of  the  hereditary  dig- 
nity of  the  emperor  to  the  king  of  Prussia  was  also  carried.  A  solemn 
deputation,  headed  by  the  worthy  president  Simson,  now  conveyed  the 
resolution  of  the  Assembly  to  the  king  of  Prussia,  and  made  him  an  oiFer 
of  the  imperial  crown,  upon  condition  of  his  accepting  the  constitution  in 
all  its  details.  It  was  a  great  historical  moment  when,  on  the  3d  of 
April,  king  Frederick  William  IV.  met  the  deputation  in  the  great  hall 
of  his  palace  in  Berlin  ;  the  results  of  this  event  were  looked  for  with 
the  utinost  eagerness  by  the  German  nation.  But  the  king  first  gave  an 
ambiguous  answer,  and  at  length  decisively  rejected  the  dignity  offered 
him  by  the  people.  The  deputies  of  parliament  had  gone  forth,  as  it 
were,  in  triumph  ;  they  returned  to  Frankfurt  very  like  scattered  fugi- 
tives. When  the  Prussian  Assembly  of  Estates,  which,  in  the  mean 
time,  had  been  again  summoned,  voted  an  address  to  the  throne,  in  which 
the  acceptance  of  the  imperial  office  and  constitution  was  recon^mended 
as  the  wish  of  the  nation,  the  second  chamber  was  dissolved  and  the  first 
adjourned,  and  then  followed  an  alteration  of  the  elective 
law,  so  that,  in  future,  an  election  arranged  upon  the  three 
tax-paying  classes  was  to  take  place  of  the  universal  right  of  suffrage. 

§  671.  This  rejection  of  the  imperial  constitution  brought  fresh  vevo 
lutionary  storms  upon  Germany.  The  democrats,  who  had  hitherto  been 
satisfied  neither  with  the  Frankfurt  parliament,  with  the  imperial  con- 
stitution, nor  with  the  "  historical  sentimentality "  of  an  hereditary  em- 
peror, now  took  advantage  of  the  rejection  for  again  assuming  arms. 
Violent  insurrections  and  sanguinary  street-fights  took  place,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  "carrying  through  the  imperial  constitution;"  and  even  first 
of  all  in  those  states  which  had  opposed  its  introduction  —  in  Saxony,  in 
the  Bavarian  Palatinate,  and  in  some  parts  of  Rhenish  Prussia.  Other 
states  also  were  soon  hurried  away  by  the  movement ;  and  when  a 
mutiny  bi'oke  out  among  the  soldiers  in  the  fortress  of  Rastadt,  in  the 
grand  duchy  of  Baden,  where  the  government  had  acknowledged  the 
imperial  constitution,  which  extended  itself  to   Carlsruhe,  and  in  conse- 


THE   LATEST   REVOLUTIONS.  529 

quence  of  which  the  grand  duke  was  compelled  to  take  flight,  and  th^ 
government  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  democratic  and  republican,  party, 
the  revolution  had  gained  a  broad  foundation.  In  the  Frankfurt  National 
Assembly,  also,  the  Left  was  constantly  gaining  power  by  the  opposition 
of  the  governments  to  the  work  of  the  constitution ;  especially  when 
many  of  the  conservative  and  constitutional  party  voluntarily  resigned 
their  seats,  and  others  yielded  obedience  to  the  calls  of  their  governments. 
In  this  melancholy  position,  Germany  was  saved  from  ruin  by  the 
bravery  of  the  Prussian  army.  Prussian  troops  first  repressed  the  iso- 
lated outbreaks  in  Eberfeld,  Dusseldorf,  and  many  other  places ;  Prus- 
sian troops  marched  to  Dresden,  at  the  call  of  the  Saxon  government, 
and  rescued  the  city,  after  a  barricade-fight  of  six  days,  from  the  hands 
of  the  provisional  government ;  lastly,  Prussian  troops  and  militia 
marched  into  Baden  and  the  Bavarian  Palatinate,  when  the  grand  duke 
sought  assistance  from  Berlin,  and  suppressed  the  revolution  at  the  mo- 
ment when  it  threatened  to  seize  upon  the  kingdom  of  Wirtemberg.  For 
whilst  these  proceedings  were  taking  place,  the  Frankfurt  National  As- 
sembly was  gradually  losing  its  conservative  members,  so  that,  at  last,  the 
whole  authority  devolved  upon  the  men  of  the  Left.  These  determined 
to  support  themselves  upon  the  revolution,  and  accordingly  removed 
their  sittings  from  Frankfurt  to  Stuttgart,  to  be  nearer  the  revolutionary 
mass.  The  *'  Rump  Parliament,"  scarcely  a  hundred  men  strong,  went 
over  to  Wirtemberg,  established  an  "  imperial  regency  "  of  five  members, 
and  gave  a  weight  to  the  revolutionary  movements,  till  the  minister, 

Homer,  a  man  of  firfh  hand  and  resolute  temper,  put  a  term 
June  18.  ,     .  ,.  ,  ,,    ,    ,  ,  ,       ,  . 

to  their  proceedings,  and  compelled  them  to  leave  the  king- 
dom. At  the  same  time,  the  Prussian  soldiers,  supported  by  the  imperial 
forces,  marched  through  the  grand  duchy  of  Baden,  defeated  the  revolted 
troops  and  volunteers,  under  the  Polish  adventurer,  Mierolawski,  in  seve- 
ral engagements,  and  again  restored  the  old  system.  Some  promoters 
of  the  insurrection,  and  among  them  the  parliamentary  member,  Trutsch- 
ler,  were  shot  by  the  sentence  of  a  court-martial ;  but  the  immediate 
originators  and  leaders  saved  themselves  by  flying  to  republican  countries. 
Whilst  the  movement  was  still  raging  unsuppressed  in  the  open  field,  the 
king  of  Prussia  issued  a  proclamation  to  his  people,  which  was  calculated 
to  awaken  their  confidence.  He  promised  to  satisfy  the  longing  for  Ger- 
man unity  by  establishing  a  union  with  a  popular  representation  ;  arid, 
shortly  after,  appeared  a  new  imperial  constitution  on  the  basis  of  the 
Frankfurt  proposal,  in  the  name  of  the  three  kingdoms,  Prussia,  Hanover, 
and  Saxony.  The  approval  with  which  this  proffered  gift  was  received 
by  all  the  moderate  party,  and  in  favor  of  which  a  large  number  of  the 
Frankfurt  parliament,  assembled  in  Gotha,  (the  after  parliament),  declared 
themselves,  contributed  materially  to  the  pacification  of  the  disturbed 
countries.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before  Saxony  and  Hanover,  sup- 
45 


530  THE   LATEST   PERIOD. 

ported  by  Austria,  retired  from  the  "  league  of  the  three  kings  ; "  upon 
which  Prussia,  who,  since  swearing  to  the  new  constitution  on  February 
6,  1850,  has  entered  into  the  number  of  constitutional  monarchies, 
attempted,  at  the  Erfurt  Diet,  to  unite  the  German  States,  which  still 
adhered  to  the  league,  into  a  confederacy.  But  this  plan  also  met  with 
opposition  from  Austria  and  the  other  kingdoms,  which  required  the  restor- 
ation of  the  old  Diet. 

§  672.  Owing  to  these  divisions  and  parties,  affairs  in  Schleswic- 
Ilolstein  took  a  disastrous  turn.  The  contest  had  begun  anew  in  March, 
1849,  and  the  news  flew  like  lightning  in  the  dark  night  through  the 
country,  that  German  troops  had  sunk  the  Danish  ship  of  the  line, 
"  Christian  VIII.,"  by  means  of  strand  batteries ;  and  that  the  proud 
frigate,  "  Gefion,"  had  been  compelled  to  surrender,  after  the 
loss  of  her  rudder.  The  victorious  Germans  soon  marched 
to  Frederica,  and  laid  siege  to  this  frontier  fortress.  But  the  activity 
of  the  alHed  troops  of  Prussia  and  Germany  being  paralyzed  by  the 
peace  negotiations  commenced  with  Denmark,  the  enemy  found  an  op- 
portunity to  reinforce  the  garrison  of  Frederica,  and  afterwards  to  drive 
back  the  German  army  by  an  unexpected  sally,  and  to  make  themselves 
masters  of  the  trenches  and  the  artillery.  A  fresh  truce  was  now 
arranged,  in  consequence  of  which,  Schleswic  was  placed 
under  a  neutral  government,  and  garrisoned  with  German  and 
Swedish  troops.  This  truce  became  a  peace  in  the  following  year,  by 
which  Schleswic-Holstein  was  to  have  resumed  its  former  relations  with 
Denmark.  But  the  lieutenancy,  that  had  been  established  there  during 
the  war  by  the  German  central  power,  would  not  accede  to  the  peace, 
and  determined,  after  the  retreat  of  the  Prussian  garrison,  to  maintain 
its  right  by  its  own  strength,  and  the  voluntary  assistance  of  the  German 
nation. 

Conclusion.  The  revolutionary  storms  of  the  years  1848  and  1849 
have  now  reached  their  termination.  These  two  years  were  rich  in 
hopes  and  experiences,  in  disappointments  and  griefs.  Providence  has 
once  more  placed  the  conduct  and  shaping  of  affairs  in  the  hands  of 
princes ;  may  they  employ  this  power  wisely,  and  to  the  benefit  of  their 
people,  that  confidence  may  be  once  more  restored  to  the  minds  of  men ! 
For,  true  as  it  is,  that  no  political  or  social  arrangement  can  secure  the 
true  happiness  of  the  people,  unless  a  deeper  morality  and  religion,  a 
more  active  sense  of  civil  and  domestic  virtue,  and  a  warmer  feeling  of 
duty,  preexist  in  their  minds  ;  so  true  is  it  also,  that  states  can  only 
prosper  and  flourish  when  the  public  faith  between  a  prince  and  his  peo- 
ple is  firmly  established,  and  the  confidence  in  the  honest  and  benevolent 
intentions  of  the  government  is  exposed  to  no  disturbance. 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE. 


B.C. 

NiMROD  builds  Babylon 2100 

Ninus  builds  Nineveh 2000 

Abraham  flourished .  2000 

Joseph            do.               .        .        • 1800 

S^sostris  king •••..  1500 

Moses  flourished 1500 

Joshua      do. 1450 

Trojan  war               •        .        .        •        • 1184 

Samuel  flourished 1150 

Hcraclidse  return  to  Peloponnesus 1104 

Saul  flourished 1095 

Moeris  and  Cheops 1080 

Codrus,  king  of  Athens,  dies 1068 

David  flourished 1050 

Solomon  do. 1000 

Rehoboam  do. 975 

Jeroboam  do. 971 

Sardanapalus  destroys  himself 888 

Lycurgus  reforms  the  Spartan  constitution 884 

Carthage  founded ' 880 

Foundation  of  Rome 753 

Decennial  Archons  at  Athens :  752 

First  Messenian  war 743 — 724 

Salmaneser  flourishes .        .        .730 

Salmaneser  subdues  Phoenicia 730 

Ten  Tribes  of  Israel  removed  by  Salmaneser 722 

(Judah  remains  130  years  longer.) 

Sennacherib  flourishes 720 

Sennacherib  besieges  Jerusalem,  biit  his  army  is  destroyed      .        ,        .  720 

Archilochus  the  poet  born  at  Paros 700 

Numa  Pompilius  king  of  Rome 700 

Second  Messenian  war 687  —  670 

Psammeticus  puts  down  the  power  of  the  Egyptian  priests  by  Greek 

mercenaries 650 

Tullus  Hostilius  king  of  Rome 650 

Ancus  Martius           do. 625 


t)32  CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 

B.  C. 

Draco  legislator 624 

Nineveh  destroyed 605 

Nebuchadnezzar  begins  to  reign  over  Babylon 600 

Nebuchadnezzar  plunders  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  removes  the 

chief  inhabitants 600 

Periander  reigns  in  Corinth 600 

Sappho  the  poetess  born  at  Lesbos 600 

Alcaeus  the  poet  born  at  Mitylene 600 

Tarquinius  Priseus  king  of  Rome           . 600 

Nebuchadnezzar's  attempt  on  Tyre  fails 590 

Judah  taken  into  captivity  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  remains  therein 

seventy  years :  Jerusalem  destroyed .  588 

Pythagoras  flourishes,  born  at  Samos     .         .         .         .         •         .         .  584 

Astyages  the  Median  king  flourished      ......         .  5  75 

Cyrus  the  Great                        do.           ......        .  560 

Pisistratus  tyrant  of  Athens            .        .        .        .        .        .         .        .  560 

Servius  Tullius  king  of  Rome         ........  550 

Polycrates  tyrant  of  Samos     .....         .         .         .        .  550 

Babylon  taken  by  the  Persians,  and  Cyrus  gives  the  Jews  leave  to 

return  home        . 638 

Tarquinius  Superbus  reigns  ......     from  533  —  509 

Cambyses  conquers  Egypt,  and  flourishes        ....     from  529  —  521 

Hippias  and  Hipparchus  begin  to  rule  at  Athens            .         .         .        .  527 

Darius  Hystaspes  comes  to  the  throne,  and  reigns  .        .     from  521  — 485 

The  Temple  at  Jerusalem  completed  in  the  reign  of  Darius  .        .        .  515 

Republic  established  at  Athens       .         .         .        .        .        .        .        .  510 

Abolition  of  royalty  in  Rome          ........  509 

Oppression  of  the  plebeians  by  patricians  for  debt          .        .        .'      .  495 

Secession  to  the  Sacred  Mount .  494 

Destruction  of  Miletus    .        . 494 

Coriolanus  banished  from  Rome 490 

Battle  of  Marathon n                                  /  490 

Battle  at  the  Pass  of  Thermopylae           .        .       /    Victories  gained    V  ^g^ 

Battle  of  Salamis (     by  the  Greeks     j  ^g^ 

Battle  of  Plat^a )  over  the  Persians.  (  ^^^ 

Banishment  of  Themlstocles  for  ten  years 471 

Earthquake  at  Sparta    .         .         .         .         .         .        .         .         .        .  465 

Ezra  and  Nehemiah  rebuild  Jerusalem           .        .        .         .        .        .  460 

Cincinnatus  taken  from  the  plough  to  be  dictator 458 

Ap:ibassadors  sent  to  Graecia  Magna  and  Athens,  to  collect  the  laws  of 

Solon  and  select  others 452 

Decemvirs  appointed ,        ,        .         ,  450 

Herodotus  bom 450 

Battle  of  Conorea           .        .        .        .        ,        .        .        ,        .        .  447 

The  peace  of  Pericles 445 

The  plebeians  obtain  a  share  in  the  consulate 444 

Military  tribunals  appointed  .         .         .         .         ,         .         .         .         .  442 

Isocrates  flourished ♦  ,        .436  —  838 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE.  533 

B.  C. 

Thucydides  bom            430 

Plato  flourished .         .         .         .429—348 

Death  of  Pericles  by  the  plague  which  visited  Athens    .        .        .        .  429 

Athenians  under  Demosthenes  capture  Pylos 425 

The  peace  of  Nicias  with  Sparta 421 

The  Athenian  expedition  against  Syracuse 415 

Destruction  of  the  Athenian  fleet  at  iEgos  Potamos        ....  405 

Athens  compelled  to  surrender  to  the  Spartans 404 

Xenophon  born 400 

Socrates  dies  by  poison 399 

Antisthenes  flourished 396 

Veii  subdued  by  Camillus 396 

Demosthenes  flourished 385  —  332 

Peace  of  Antalcidas  (Corinthian  War) 387 

Deathof  M.  Manlius  (Capitolinus) 883 

Battle  of  Leuctra '371 

Aristippus  flourished 370 

Battle  of  Alantinea 362 

Destruction  of  Sidon .        •        .  350 

War  between  the  Romans  and  Latins 342 

Peace  between  the  Romans  and  Samnites 340 

The  Latins  are  defeated  by  the  patriotism  of  Decius      ....  338 

Battle  of  Chaeronea,  liberty  of  Greece  ended 338 

Battle  of  Granicus  (Persians  defeated) 334 

Darius  Codomanus  defeated  at  Issus 333 

Destruction  of  Tyre  by  Alexander         .         .        .        .        .        •        .  332 

Battles  of  Arbela  and  Gaugamela  .        .       ^ 331 

Agis  IL,  king  of  Sparta,  defeated  at  Megalopolis 330 

Rupture  between  the  Romans  and  Samnites 325 

Diogenes  flourished         ...                324 

Alexander  the  Great  dies  at  Babylon 323 

Demosthenes  destroys  himself 322 

An tigonus  assumes  the  chief  power  after  Alexander's  death  .        .        .  821 

Syracuse  besieged  by  the  Carthaginians 817 

An  tigonus  is  acknowledged  regent  of  Alexander's  empire      .        .        .  316 

iEschines  flourished .        .        .  314 

The  Stoics  flourished 312 

Battle  of  Ipsus.    Defeat  of  Antigonus 801 

Samnites  defeated  by  the  devotion  of  the  younger  Decius      .        .         .  295 

Samnites  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  Rome 290 

The  Mamentines  seize  Messina,  and  devastate  Syracuse         .         .        .  289 
I'he  translation  of  the  Bible  from  Hebrew  to  Greek,  called  the  Septu- 

agint  Version     .        .         .        .        .        .    ^ 284 

Pyrrhus  engaged  in  war  with  Rome 281 

Theocritus  the  poet  flourished 280 

Euclid  the  mathematician  flourished  in  Alexandria        ....  280 

Pyrrhus  defeated  by  the  Romans  at  Beneventum *  2  75 

Pyrrhus  dies  before  Argos 272 

45* 


534  CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 

B.G 

The  Romans  win  their  first  naval  battle  at  Mylae 261 

The  Epicureans  flourish 260 

Aratus  the  Sicyon  chosen  commander-in-chief  of  the  Achaean  league  .  250 
The  Romans  make  a  successful  sally  against  the  Carthaginians  from 

Panormus                   242 

The  Carthaginians,  defeated  at  the  -Slgatian  islands,  consent  to  peace, 

and  give  up  Sicily      .        .        .        .        • 242 

Agis  ni.,  king  of  Sparta,  flourished 240 

Sicily  made  a  Roman  province 238 

Cleomenes  III.,  king  of  Sparta,  flourished 230 

The  Cisalpine  Gauls  make  an  inroad  into  Etruria,  but  are  defeated. 

The  Roman  province,  Gallia  Cisalpina,  established  ....  222 
Defeat  of  the  Spartans  by  the  combined  forces  of  the  Achaeans  and 

Macedonians  at  Sellasia 221 

Hannibal  crosses  the  Apennines 217 

Defeat  of  the  Romans  at  Cannas,  by  Hannibal 216 

They  successfully  engage  twice  with  the  Carthaginians  .        .        .        .  215 

Marcellus  besieges  Syracuse 214 

Archimedes  the  mathematician  flourished  in  Sicily  .  .  .  .  212 
Syracuse,  by  the  aid  of  Archimedes,  holds  out  three  years  before  it  is 

taken  and  destroyed 212 

The  Capuans,  deserted  by  Hannibal,  surrender  to  Rome       .        .        .  211 

Hasdrubal  crosses  the  Alps  to  join  Hannibal 208 

Philopcemen  reduces  Sparta  and  destroys  it 207 

Hasdrubal  is  slain,  and  his  army  destroyed  at  the  river  Metaurus  .        .  207 

Scipio  passes  over  into  Africa 204 

Battle  of  Zama.    Defeat  of  the  Carthaginians 202 

Philip  compelled  by  the  Romans  to  acknowledge  the  intdependence  of 

Greece 1&7 

Perseus  defeated  at  Pydna  by  Paulus -33milius 168 

Macedonia  made  a  Roman  province  by  Metellus 148 

Corinth  destroyed  by  Mummius 146 

The  Maccabees  are  governors  and  high  priests  of  Judea         .        .     142  —  135 

Numantia  taken  by  the  younger  Scipio 135 

Tib.  Gracchus  proposes  the  renewal  of  the  agrarian  law         .         .        .  133 

His  brother,  Caius  Gracchus,  proposes  the  same  after  his  death     .        .  123 

The  attempts  of  C.  Gracchus  utterly  defeated 121 

The  Romans  defeated  by  the  Teutones  and  Cimbri  .  .  ,  .  113 
Metellus  is  sent  into  Africa  against  Jugurtha,  and  retrieves  the  character 

of  the  Roman  army 109 

C.  Marius  chosen  consul  by  the  people 107 

The  Teutones  are  defeated  at  Aquae  Sextiae  by  Marius          .        .        .  102 

Manus  chosen  consul  for  the  sixth  time          .        .        .        .        .        .  100 

The  Social  war &0  —  88 

Sylla  sent  against  Mithridates  (first  Mithridatic  war)      ....  88 

Athens  captured.  Delphi  plundered  by  Sylla  .  .  .  .  '.  87 
Marius  gratifies  his  revenge :  is  chosen  consul  for  the  seventh  time,  but 

dies  a  few  months  after 86 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE.  535 

B.  C, 

The  death  of  Sylla 78 

The  second  Mithridatic  war 74  —  65 

Pompey  puts  down  the  rebels  under  Sertorius 73 

The  revolt  of  the  slaves 72 

They  are  defeated  by  M.  Crassus 71 

Lucullus  defeats  Tigranes  at  Tigranocerta 69 

Pompey  subdues  the  Armenians  and  defeats  Mthridates        .         .        .  66 

Pompey  turns  his  arms  against  the  pirates  in  the  East    .         .        .        .  67 

The  Triumvirate  formed  (Pompey,  Caesar,  Crassus)       .         .        .        .  CO 

Caesar  made  governor  of  Gaul 58 

Caesar's  wars  in  Gaul 68  —  50 

The  last  insurrection  put  down  at  Alesia,  by  Caesar        .        .        .        .  52 

The  second  civil  war  at  Rome 49,  48 

Caesar  advances  upon  Rome  with  his  army 49 

Pompey  defeated  at  Pharsalus :  is  assassinated  in  Egypt        ...  48 
The  hopes  of  the  republicans  at  Rome  and  their  army  destroyed  at 

Thapsus 46 

The  remnant  of  Pompey's  friends  defeated  at  Munda    ,        .        ,        .  45 

Caesar  assassinated         .        • 44 

Second  Triumvirate  formed  (Octavius,  Anthony,  Lepidus)  . .        .        .  43 

The  republicans  defeated  at  Phillppi 42 

The  victory  of  Octavius  at  Actium 81 

Egypt  becomes  a  province  of  the  Roman  empire 30 

Augustus,  emperor         .        •        •      ' j  b.  c.  30 


A.  D. 

The  Roman  legions  under  Varus  defeated  by  the  Germans    ...  9 

Augustus  dies  at  Nola 14 

Tiberius  emperor 14  —  37 

Caligula       do 37  —  41 

Claudius      do 41  —  54 

Nero            do. 54  —  68 

Galba,  Otho,  Vitellius,  emperors 68  —  70 

Vespasian  emperor 70  —  79 

Jerusalem  destroyed  by  Titus        .        , 70 

Vespasian  succeeded  by  his  son  Titus 79  —  bl 

Domitian  emperor 81  —  OG 

Nerva             do 96  —  98 

Trajan           do 98  — 117 

Adrian           do 117 — 138 

The  Jewish  nation,  as  a  state,  at  an  end 1 25 

Antoninus  Pius  emperor 138 — 161 

Marcus  Aurelius    do 161  —  180 

Conunodus              do 180  —  192 

Pertinax                  do 193 

Septimius  Severus  do.    . 193  —  211 

Caracalla                do.            211  —  217 


536  CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE. 

A.  D. 

Heliogabalus  emperor              218  —  222 

Alexander  Severus  do. 2*22  —  235 

Philip  the  Arab        do. 243  —  249 

Decius                      do. 249  —  251 

Gallienus                  do.            .         • 259  —  268 

Aurelianus                do. 270 — 275 

Tacitus  (descendant  of  the  historian)  do 275,276 

Probus                       do. 276 — 282 

Cams                        do. •      .      •  .         .  282  —  284 

Diocletian                 do.            . 284  —  305 

Constantino  overthroAvs  Maxentius  at  the  Milvian  bridge,  and  takes 

possession  of  Rome 312 

Constantine  becomes  sole  emperor.     Pie  favors  the  Christians         .  325 

Constantin us  emperor 357  —  360 

Julian  restores  the  renown  of  the  Roman  army  in  the  Netherlands  357 

Julian  proclaimed  emperor "> 

Constantius'  death > 

Julian  reigns  as  emperor 361  —  363 

Jovian    do.             do 363,  364 

The  empire  divided  |  ^'^^'"'.  ^.^^^'  ^^^^  *^^  ^""'^         '        '        -364-378 
(  Yaleutinian  I.  rules  over  the  West      .        .  364  —  395 
The  Goths  devastate  Thessaly,  Central  Greece,  and  the  Pelopon- 
nesus: made  to  retreat  by  Stilicho 396 

Alaric  devastates  the  banks  of  the  Po,  but  is  obliged  to  retreat        .  403 

Duke  Radagais  and  his  barbarous  horde  defeated  by  StiUcho          .  406 

Rome  besieged,  taken,  and  plundered  by  Alaric     .         .         .        .  410 

Adolf  founds  the  kingdom  of  the  West  Goths  in  South  Gaul           .  412 

Valentinian  III.  reigned 425 455 

Clovis  defeats  the  Alemanni  at  Zulpich 49  G 

JStius  defeats  Attila  on  the  Catalaunian  plains        .        .         .        '.  451 

Attila  retreats  into  Hungary            .         .         .         .         .         .         .  452 

An  end  is  put  to  the  Western  Empire  of  Rome  by  Odoacer  .         .  467 
Clovis,  king  of  the  Franks,  conquers  the  country  between  the  Seine 

and  Loire 486 

Clovis  puts  to  death  the  chiefs  of  the  Frank  tribes           ...  507 

Justinian  emperor  of  the  Byzantine  empire 527  —  565 

Amalasanta,  Theodoric's  daughter,  murdered          ....  534 

Belisarius  defends  Rome  against  the  Goths      .        .       ...        .  537 

Totila  made  king  of  the  Goths         .         .        .         .         .        .        ,  540 

JTejas  made  king  of  the  Goths,  but  slain  in  a  battle  with  Narses      .  554 

Mohammed  flourished .  571  —  632 

Mohammed's  flight  from  Mecca  (Ilegira),  16th  July       .         .         .  622 

Abu  Bekir  succeeds  Mohammed 632  —  634 

Omar  khalif 634 644 

Persia  becomes  subject  to  the  Moslems             634 

Alexandria  taken  by  the  Mohammedans  under  Amru     ...  640 

Othman  succeeds  to  the  khalifa  te .644—656 

The  Ommiadcs  take  the  khalifate 660 


CHEONOLOGICAL   TABLE.  5§7 

A.  D. 

rhe  Mohammedans  carry  their  arms  through  Cyprus,  Khodes,  Asia 

Minor,  and  attack  Byzantium GGS  —  675 

Leo  the  Isaurian  emperor  of  Byzantium 717  —  741 

Charles  IVIartel  defeats  the  Saracens  between  Tours  and  Poictiers  .  732 

Constantine  Copronymus  emperor  of  Byzantium      ....  741  —  745 

The  dynasty  of  the  Ommlades  overthrown       .....  752 

Pepin  dies,  and  divides  his  kingdom  between  his  sons      .         .         .  768 

Charlemagne  made  sole  ruler  of  the  Franks 771 

The   West   Goths  overthrown  at  Xeres  de   la   Frontera  by  the 

Arabians      .                  .........  712 

Charlemagne  takes  the  fortress  of  Eresburg,  and  compels  the  Sax- 
ons to  make  peace 772 

Charles  conquers  Pavia,  and  unites  Upper  Italy  to  his  empire          .  774 

Leo  IV.  emperor  of  Byzantium 775 — 780 

Charles  the  second  time  subdues  the  Saxons 777 

Thassilo,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  attempts  to  throw  off  the  Frank  yoke    .  788 

Irene  empress  of  Byzantium            ....*..  800 

Leo  the  Annciiiiin  riuiicr')!- of  Byzantium 813  —  820 

Louis  the  Debonnaire  liourished      .......  814  —  840 

Egbert  abolishes  the  heptarchy  in  England 827 

The  sons  of  Louis  take  up  anns  against  him     .....  836 

Louis  dies  near  Jugelheim 840 

The  treaty  of  partition  of  Verdun 843 

Basilius  the  Macedonian  emperor  of  Byzantium       .         .         .•        .  867 

Alfred  the  Great  flourished 871  —  901 

The  kingdom  in  Norway  founded jDy  Ilarold  Fairhair;  and  in  Den- 
mark, by  Gorm  the  old        ........  875 

Charles  the  Fat  flourished 8-76  —  887 

Arnulf  flourished 887  —  898 

Charles  the  Simple  flourished 898  —  929 

Kingdom  formed  in  Sweden  by  the  Ynglians           ....  90C 

Conrad  I.  elected  emperor  of  Germany 911  —  919 

Henry  the  Fowler 916  —  936 

He  defeats  the  Hungarians  at  Merseburg 933 

Otho  the  Great  flourished 936  —  973 

lie  puts  an  end  to  the  depredations  of  the  Hungarians    .         .         .  955 

The  victory  of  Otho  over  the  Hungarians  on  the  Lechfield     .         .  9  73 

Otlio  II.  emperor  of  Germany 973  —  983 

Otho  in.  do.  9^3  —  1002 

Hugh  Capet  king  of  the  Franks <  987  —  996 

Stephen  the  Pious  king  of  Hungary        . 1000 

Vladimir  the  Great  emperor  of  Russia 1000 

Canute  the  Great  flourished 1017  —  1035 

Conrad  IL  emperor  of  Germany 1024  —  1089 

Canute  the  Great  of  Denmark  and  Olaf  of  Norway  become  Chris- 
tians              1025 

The  Moorish  dynasty  in  Spain  divided 1038 

Henry  HI.  emperor  of  Germany     .         .  ...         1039  — 1056 


538 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE. 


Edward  the  Confessor       ........ 

Robert  Guiscard  (a  Norman  noble)  becomes  master  of  part  of 

Lower  Italy 

William  the  Conqueror  overthrows  Harold  at  Hastings 
Robert  Guiscard's  son,  Bohemond,  increases  his  territory    . 
Henry  IV.  defeats  the  Saxons  at  Unstruth 
He  personally  implores  the  withdrawal  of  the  ban  of  excommuni- 
cation at  Rome     ........ 

Gregory  deposed,  and  Clement  HI.  elected  Pope 
Henry's  expedition  against  pope  Gregory 

Pope  Gregory  dies  at  Salerno 

At  the  Assembly  at  Clermont,  pope  Urban  11.  calls  upon  Europe 

to  recover  Palestine 

The  first  Crusade     ........ 

A  large  army  under  celebrated  leaders  arrives  at  Antioch  on  its 

way  to  Jerusalem . 

They  come  in  sight  of  Jerusalem       ...... 

Jerusalem  taken  by  the  Crusaders,  July  15        .         .         . 

le  Cid  (Campeador)  flourished 

Henry  V.  emperor  of  Germany  ..... 
Lothaire  the  Saxon  emperor  of  Germany  .... 
Roger  II.  flourished,  and  forms  the  kingdom  of  Naples  and  Sicily 

Louis  VII.  king  of  France 

Conrad  III.  Emperor  of  Germany 

Henry  the  Proud  (House  of  Guelph)  dies 
The  second  Crusade  originated  by  St.  Bernard 

^'  Grisa  II.  king  of  Hungary 

Frederick  Barbarossa  emperor  of  Germany 
Henry  H.,  of  Anjou,  king  of  England         .... 
Frederick  undertakes  a  second  expedition  against  Milan     . 
Death  of  archbishop  Thomas-a-Becket        .         ... 
The  Germans,  under  Frederick,  defeated  at  Legnano 
Frederick  deprives  Henry  the  Lion  of  his  dukedoms  . 
Philip  Augustus  H.  king  of  France  .... 

The  Crusaders,  defeated  at  Tiberias,  and  many  towns,  together 

with  Jerusalem,  taken  by  Saladin  .         . 
Itichard  Lion-heart  ascends  the  EngHsh  throne  . 

''   Henry  HI.  emperor  of  Germany 

The  news  of  the  taking  of  Jerusalem  gives  rise  to  the  third  Cru 

sade 

John  (Lackland)  king  of  England 

/     Waldemar  II.,  the  Conqueror,  king  of  Denmark 

Tlie  fourth  Crusade 

The  Cross  is  preached,  by  order  of  the  Pope,  against  Ralmond 

VI.  and  the  Albigenses 

Philip  of  Swabia  murdered         .         .         .         .         . 

Innocent  HI.  renews  the  war  between  the  Guelphs  and  Ghibel- 

lines 


A.  D. 

1041- 

-loea 

1060 

1066 

1072 

1075 

1077 

1081 

1083 

1084 

1085 

1096- 

-1099 

1097 

1099 

1099 

1099 

1106- 

-1125 

1125- 

-1137 

1130- 

-1154 

1137- 

-1180 

1138- 

-1152 

1142 

1149 

1150 

1152- 

-1190 

1154- 

-1189 

1158 

1170 

1176 

1179 

1180- 

-1223 

1187 

1189 

1190 

1190  — 

-1197 

1192 

1199- 

-1216 

1202- 

-1241 

1203, 

1204. 

1205 

1208 

1210 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE.  539 

A.  D. 

Twenty  thousand  cliildren  leave  their  homes  for  the  Holy  Land  .  1218 

Magna  Charta  granted 1215 

Henry  III.  king  of  England 1216  —  1272 

Frederick  n.  emperor  of  Germany 1218  —  1250 

The  House  of  Zahringen  becomes  extinct    .        .        :        .        .  1218 

Louis  VHI.  king  of  France 1223—1226 

St.  Louis               do.                      1226  —  1270 

Woldemar,  king  of   Denmark, .  made  prisoner    by  Henry  of 

Schwerin 1227 

Zengis  Khan  chief  of  the  Moguls,  or  Tartars        ....  1227 

The  fifth  Crusade  undertaken  by  Frederick  H.            ...  1228 

Jerusalem  and  a  part  of  Palestine  ceded  to  him            .         .         .  1229 
Charter  ("  The  Golden  Bull ")  obtained  by  the  Hungarians  from 

Andreas  U 1234 

Russia  made  tributary  to  the  Moguls 1237 

J'ope  Gregory  IX.  dies     ^ 1241 

The  Christians  are  defeated  at  Gaza  by  the  Carismians       .        .  1244 

Henry  Raspe,  of  Thuringia,  rival  emperor  to  Frederick  H.         .  1246 

Alfonso  X.  king  of  Spain 1258  —  1284 

Manfred  defeated  at  Beneventum  by  treachery  ....  12G0 

Conradine  falls  into  the  hands  of  Charles  of  Anjou       .         .        .  1268 

Egypt  falls  into  the  hands  of  the  Iklamelukes        ....  1270 

Edward  L  king  of  England 1272—1307 

Ottocar,  king  of  Bohemia,  defeated  at  Marchfield        .        .        .  1278 

Rudolf  of  Hapsburg  chosen  emperor  of  Germany         .         .        .  1273 — 1291 

The  French  are  slain  on  the  SicUian  vespers       .         .         .        .  "> 

Peter  of  Aragon  frees  Sicily  of  Charles  of  Anjou         .        .        .  ) 

Dispute  between  Bruce  and  Baliol  for  the  Scottish  crown    .        .  1283 

Philip  the  Fair  king  of  France              1285  —  1314 

Adolf  of  Nassau  emperor  of  Germany 1291 — 1298 

The  Christians  retire  from  Syria,  when  the  Mamelukes  take 

Antioch 1291 

Adolf  of  Nassau  is  defeated  and  slain  in  the  battle  at  Gollheim    .  1298 

Albert  of  Austria  emperor  of  Germany 1298  —  1308 

Osman  makes  Prusa  in  Bithynia  his  capital,  and  carries  on  war 

against  Greece .  1299 

Pope  Boniface  VIH.  dies     . 1303 

Pope  Clement  V.  removes  his  court  from  Rome  to  Avignon        .  1305 

Edward  IL  on  the  English  throne 1307  —  1327 

Henry  VH.  of  Luxemburg  emperor  of  Germany          .        .        .  1308  —  1313 

The  persecution  of  the  Templars  by  Philip  the  Fair    . 

Molay,  their  Grand  ^Master,  tried  upon  various  charges 

Henry  VH.  makes  an  expedition  into  Italy         .        .        ,        .  1310 

Molay  condemned  and  burnt 1312 

Leopold  defeated  by  the  Swiss  at  Morgarten       .        .        .        .  1315 

Vladislaus  IV.  king  of  Poland 1320 

Frederick  the  Fair  defeated  at  Miihldorf 1322 

Alfonso  XI.  king  of  Spain 1324  —  1340 


540  CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE. 

A.  D. 

Death  of  Leopold,  the  brother  of  Frederick  the  Fair  .  .  .  1326 
Kdwardlll.  king  of  England      .         .         ...         .         .         .1327  —  1377 

Philip  YI.  king  of  France 1328  —  1347 

Casimir  the  Great  king  of  Poland 1333  —  1370 

The  tax,  Alcavala,  introduced  into  Spain 1340 

Waldemar  III.  king  of  Denmark 1340—1375 

Ix)uis  the  Great  (of  Anjou)  elected  king  of  Hungary  .        .         .  1342  —  1348 

Johanna  I.  queen  of  Naples          .         .         .         .         .         .         .  1343  —  1382 

Louis  of  Bavaria  has  a  rival  for  the  empire  in  the  son  of  John  of 

Bohemia 1346 

Battle  of  Cress}' (English  victorious)            ......  1346 

A  new  republican  Rome  established 1347 

Charles  IV.  emperor  of  Germany 1347  — 1378 

John  the  Good  king  of  France 1347  — 1364 

Charles  IV.  opened  the  German  University  in  Prague         .         .  1348 

Louis  of  Bavaria  lost  his  life  in  a  bear-hunt  near  Munich     .        .  1349 

Peter  the  Cruel  of  Spain 1350  —  1369 

The  death  of  Cola  di  Rienzi,  instigator  of  the  rebellion  at  Rome  .  1354 

Victory  of  the  English  at  Poictiers 1356 

Insurrection  in  Paris            .         .         .         ..         .         .         .  1358 

Calais  and  the  south-west  of  France  ceded  to  the  English  .  .  1360 
Murad  I.,  chief  of  the  Ottomans,  subdues  Asia  Minor,  and  passes 

into  Europe      ....                  1361  —  1389 

Philip  the  Bold  Duke  of  Burgundy 1363  —  1404 

Magnus  11.  deposed  from  the  Swedish  throne       .         .         .         .  1363 

John  the  Good  returns  to  his  captivity,  and  dies  ....  1364 

Charles  V.  king  of  France 1364  —  1380 

Louis  the  Great  made  king  of  Hungary        .....  1370  —  1382 

Death  of  the  Black  Prince 


Calais  alone  left  to  the  English  '' 

Richard  11.  king  of  England 1377  —  1399 

Wenceslaus  emperor  of  Germany 1378  —  1400 

Charles  VL  king  of  France 1380  —  1422 

Wickllff  flourished 1384 

Battle  of  Sempach 1386 

The  Jagellons  retain  the  crown  of  Poland 1386  — 1572 

The  great  cities'  war  commenced 1388 

Bajazet,  chief  of  the  Ottomans,  continues  the  victories  of  his 

father  Murad  L        ......                 •         .  1389  —  1403 

The  three   Scandinavian  kingdoms  under  one  sceptre  by  the 

union  of  Cal mar 1397 

Henry  IV.  (Lancaster)  king  of  England 1399—1413 

Zurich,  Berne,  and  Zug  join  the  Swiss  Confederation           .         .  1399 
The  electors  depose  Wenceslaus  from  the  empire  of  Germany     .  1400 
Rupert  of  the  Palatinate  is  chosen  emperor          ....  1400  — 1410 
The  Turks  are  defeated,  and  Bajazet  made  prisoner  by  the  Mo- 
guls, under  Tamerlane,  at  Angora 1402 


CHROXOLOGICAL  TABLE.  541 

A.  D. 

John,  Sans  Peur,  duke  of  Burgundy 1404  — 1419 

Sigismond  emperor  of  Germany 1410  —  1437 

Henry  V.  king  of  England 1413  —  1422 

Council  of  Constance   .         . 1414  — 1418 

Joanna  11.  queen  of  Naples 1414  — 1435 

IIuss  condemned          .         .        . 1415 

Victory  of  the  English  under  Henry  V.  at  Agincourt  .         .        .  1415 

Alfonso  V.  of  Spain 1416  —  1456 

Wenceslaus  died  of  apoplexy 1419 

rhilip  the  Good,  duke  of  Burgundy 1419  —  1467 

Murad  n.  restores  the  Ottoman  empire 1421  — 1451 

Death  of  Henry  V.  of  England,  and  Charles  VI.  of  France          .  1422 

Henry  VI.  succeeds  to  the  English  throne 1422  — 1461 

Charles  VH.  to  that  of  France 1422  —  1461 

Cosmo  de  Medici  (Florence) 1428  — 1464 

Joan  of  Arc  delivers  Orleans 1429 

She  is  captured  by  the  English  and  burned         .        .        ,        .  1431 

Council  of  Basle 1431  — 1449 

The  Taborites  defeated  at  Prague 1433 

Calais  remains  the  only  English  possession  in  France  .        .  -     .  1435 

Charles's  entry  into  Paris 1486 

Albert  H.  of  Austria,  emperor 1437  — 1439 

Frederick  HI.                do. 1440  — 1493 

John  Guttenburg  of  Mayence  invents  printing    ....  1440 

Hungarians  and  Poles  defeated  by  the  Turks  at  Warna       .        .  •           1444 

Casimir  IV.  on  the  Polish  throne 1447  — 1492 

Christian  I.  (Oldenburgh)  of  Denmark 1448  —  1481 

Nicholas  v..  Pope,  founder  of  the  Vatican  library         .        .         .  1450  —  1460 

The  House  of  Visconti  extinct  in  Milan  .....  1450 
Mohammed  II.  on  the  Ottoman  throne  :  he  takes  Constantinople, 

and  puts  an  end  io  the  Byzantine  empire         ....  1451  — 1481 

Sebastian  Brandt,  poet  of  Strasburg,  flourished    ....  1458  —  1521 

Matthias  Corvinus  (son  of  Huniades)  made  king           .        .        .  1458  — 1490 

Palgrave  Frederick's  (the  Victorious)  victory     ....  1461 

Louis  XT.  on  the  French  throne 1461—1483 

Edward  IV.  (York)  king  of  England 1461  —  1483 

Ivan  the  Great  throws  off  the  Mogul  yoke 1462 — 1505 

Alexander  Castriota  (Scanderbeg)  maintains  his  independence 

against  the  Turks 1467 

Charles  the  Bold,  duke  of  Burgundy 1467  —  1477 

Stt no  Sture,  king  of  Sweden  (separated  from  Denmark)      .         .  1471  —  1504 

Lorenzo  de' Medici  the  Magnificent  (Florence)   ....  1472  — 1492 

Copernicus,  the  astronomer,  flourished 1473  —  1543 

Isabella  queen  of  Spain 1474  —  1504 

Ariosto  the  poet  flourished 1474  — 1533 

Michael  Angelo  flourished 1474  —  1563 

Charles  of  Burgundy  defeated  at  Granson  by  the  Swiss  .  .  1476 
46 


542  CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 

A.D. 

Maximilian  of  Austria  foiled  the  attempt  of  Louis  XI.  upon  the 

dukedom  of  Burgundy 1479 

Ferdinand  king  of  Spain 1479  —  1516 

Raphael  the  painter  flourished 1483 — 1520 

Kichardm.  of  England 1483  —  1485 

Charles  Vm.  of  France 1483  —  1498 

Battle  of  Bosworth 1485 

Henry  VII.  (House  of  Tudor)  king  of  England   .         .        .        .  1485  —  1509 

Bartholomew  Diaz  reaches  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope     .         .        .  1486 

Discovery  of  America  by  Columbus 1492 

Louis  XII.  of  France 1498  —  1515 

Maximilian  L  emperor  of  Germany 1493  —  1519 

Hans  Sachs,  the  shoemaker  poet,  flourished          ....  1494  —  1576 

The  land-peace  established  at  the  Diet  of  Worms        .        .        .  1495 

Cabot  explores  the  coast  of  North  America          .        .        .        .  1497 

The  return  of  the  Medici 1498 

Maximilian  admits  the  independence  of  the  Swiss        .         .        .  1499 

Louis  Xn.  of  France  conquers  Milan 1500 

Charles  V.  of  Burgundy 1500 

Ferdinand  of  Aragon  gets  possession  of  Naples    ....  1504 

Death  of  Columbus  at  Valladolid 1506 

The  League  of  Cambray,  for  dividing  the  Venetian  territory       .  1508 

Henry  vm.  of  England 1509  —  1547 

Julius  11.  the  warlike  pope 1503 

Albuquerque  founds  a  Portuguese  colony  in  India       .        *         .  1510 

Balboa  discovers  the  Pacific  Ocean 1514 

The  Portuguese  establish  colonies  and  factories  in  Ceylon  and  on 

the  Coromandel  coast *         .  1515 

"  Battle  of  the  Giants "  of  Marignano.     Swiss  defeated        .        .  1515 

Luther  denies  the  supremacy  of  the  pope 1519 

Leonardo  da  Vinci  flourished '      .  1519 

Steno  Sture  slain ;  Sweden  reunited  to  Denmark        .        .        .  1520 

Soliman  the  Magnificent  on  the  Ottoman  throne          .         .         .  1520  — 1566 

Conquest  of  Mexico  by  Cortez 1521 

Luther's  doctrines  denounced  as  heretical,  and  his  writings  sen- 
tenced to  be  burned June  16,  1520 

Luther  burns  the  bull  of  excommunication Dec.  10,  1520 

Slaughter  at  Stockholm 1520 

The  Knights  of  St.  John,  expelled  from  Rhodes,  receive  Malta    .  1522 

Luther  establishes  peace  at  Wittemberg March,  1522 

Adrian  VI.  pope ...  1522,  1523 

Gustavus  made  king  of  Sweden  by  the  Diet  of  Strengnas    .        .  1523 

Camoens  the  Portuguese  poet 1524  — 1569 

The  defeat  of  the  French  at  Pa  via 1525 

Hungary  divided  on  the  death  of  Louis  II.  at  Mohacs           .        .  1526 

Macchiavelli,  the  statesman,  flourished 1527 

Rome  taken  by  the  Spaniards  and  Germans        ....  May  6,  1527 

Gustavus  introduced  Christianity  into  his  dominions    .         .         .  1527 


CHKONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 


543 


Andrea  Doria  frees  Genoa  of  the  French    . 

Half  of  Hungarj'  falls  into  the  power  of  the  Ottomans 

PIzarro  and  Almagro  conquer  Peru     . 

Diet  of  Spire 

The  Ladies'  peace  of  Cambray    .... 
Charles  V.  restores  the  Medici,  expelled  a  second  time 
The  men  of  Zurich  defeated  and  Zwingle  slain   . 
League  between  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  and  Elector 


at  Smalcald 

Ivan  Yasilyevitsch  11.  the  first  Czar     . 
The  Bible  completed  in  German  by  Luther 
Christian  III.  introduces  Christianity  into  Denmark 
Contest  between  Pizarro  and  Almagro.     Discover)'  of 
Charles  V.  captures  Tunis  .... 

The  ten  years'  truce  of  Nice         .... 
The  Reformation  established  at  Leipsic  and  Dresden  . 
Charles  V.  sends  a  second  expedition  to  Africa  . 
Francis  I.  commences  a  fourtli  war  against  Charles  V 
The  order  of  the  Jesuits  founded  by  Ignatius  Loyola 

Paul  III.  pope  of  Rome 

Corregio  flourished 

The  peace  of  Crespy 

The  crown  of  Sweden  given,  to  the  male  line  of  Vasa 

Council  of  Trent  opened 

Death  of  Luther 

Fiesco  attempts  the  overthrow  of  the  house  of  Doria 
Henry  IL  on  the  French  throne 

Edward  VI.  of  England 

Cervantes  flourished 

Gasca  sent  to  settle  the  affairs  of  Peru 
Albert  Durer  flourished       .         . 
Maurice  of  Saxony  rises  against  Charles  V. 
Lope  de  Vega,  Spanish  poet        .... 
The  victory  of  Maurice  over  Albert  of  Brandenburg 
Mary  Tudor  queen  of  England    .... 

Lucas  Cranach  flourished 

Paul  IV.  pope 

Philip  II.  of  Spain 

Ferdinand  I.  emperor  of  Germany 

Elizabeth  queen  of  England 

Peace  of  Chateau  Cambresis        .... 

The  Heidelberg  Catechism  drawn  up  .        . 

Pius  IV.  pope 

Francis  II.  on  the  French  throne 

Death  of  Melancthon 

Erich  XIV.  king  of  Sweden  .... 
Charles  IX.  king  of  France  .... 
Hans  Holbein  flourished 


of  Saxony 


Chili 


A.  D. 

1528 
1529 
1529  —  1535 
1529 
1529 
1530 
1581 


1533  — 

1534  — 

1535  — 


1542  — 

1543  — 


Dec.  13, 

Feb.  18, 


1547  — 
1547  — 
1547  — 


March, 

1552  — 

1553  — 

1555  — 
155G  — 

1556  — 
1558  — 


1559  — 

1559  — 

1560  — 
1560  — 


1531 
1588 
1534 
1539 
1538 
1535 
1538 
1539 
1541 
1544 
1540 
1549 
1543 
1544 
1544 
1545 
1546 
1547 
1559 
1553 
1616 
1548 
1548 
1552 
1635 
1553 
1558 
1553 
1559 
1598 
1564 
1603 
1559 
1559 
1565 
1560 
1560 
1568 
1574 
1563 


544  CimONOLOGICAL  TAiJLE. 

*•  A.  D. 

Shakspeare,  the  English  dramatist 1564  —  161G 

Maximilian  II.  emperor  of  Germany 1564  —  1576 

400  nobles  petition  against  the  Inquisition  'm  the  Netherlands      .  Nov.  1565 

Mary  Stdart  marries  Darnley 1565 

Galileo  flourished        .         .        . 1565  —  1031 

Death  of  Soliman  at  Sigeth  (Hungary) 1566 

Mary's  favourite,  Rizzio,  murdered 1566 

Duke  Alba  of  Spain  sent  to  subdue  the  Netherlands    .        .        .  1567  —  1573 

Death  of  Darnley,  Mary's  husband Feb.  10,  1567 

John  III.  king  of  Sweden 1568  — 1592 

Egmont  and  others  put  to  death  in  the  Netherlands     .         .         .  1568 

The  Huguenots  defeated  at  St.  Denis  by  the  Catholics        .        .  1568 

Mary  Stuart's  flight  into  England 1568 

Earls  of  Northumberland  and  Westmoreland  fail  to  set  Mary  at 

liberty      .         .         .        . 1569 

Henry  of  Beam  takes  the  lead  of  the  Huguenoits          .         .         .  1570 

Kepler  flourished 1572  —  1631 

Gregory  XIII.  pope  (arranged  the  present  calendar)  .  .  .  1572  — 1585 
The  Northern  States  of  the  Netherlands  recognize  William  of 

Orange  as  Stadtholder 1572 

Louis  of  Zuniga  succeeds  Alba  in  the  Netherlands       .         .         .  1573  —  1576 

Henry  III.  king  of  France 1574  —  1589 

Don  Juan  succeeds  Zuniga 1576  —  1578 

The  Pacification  of  Ghent 1576 

Titian  flourished 1576 

Iludolf  II.  emperor  of  Germany 1576  —  1612 

King  Sebastian  of  Spain  defeated  by  the  Moors  .         .        .         .  1578 

Alexander  Farnese  succeeds  Don  Juan        .        .         .        .         .  1578  —  1592 

The  Union  of  Utrecht 1579 

The  domination  of  Spain  over  Portugal  lasts  sixty  years       .        .  1580  —  1640 

William  of  Orange  assassinated .  1581 

Sixtus  V.  rose  from  a  shepherd  boy  to  be  pope    ....  1585  — 1590 

Execution  of  Mary  Stuart  in  England          .         .         .   •      .         .  1587 

The  Invincible  Annada  sent  against  England      .         .         .        .  1588 

Henry  of  Guise  creates  a  rebelhon  in  Paris           ....  May  12,  1588 

Henry  IV.  besieges  Paris 1590 

John  Fischart,  poet  of  May ence,  flourished 1591 

Henry  IV.  becomes  a  Catholic 1593 

Tasso  the  poet  died      .        . 1595 

Henry  allows  liberty  of  conscience  to  the  Calvinists  by  the  Edict 

of  Nantes 1598 

First  permanent  French  settlement  in  America  .         .         .        .  1607 

First  settlement  of  Virginia  at  Jamestown 1607 

Champlain  discovers  Lake  Champlain 1609 

Charles  IX.  king  of  Sweden 1600  —  1611 

Calderon,  Spanish  poet 1600  — 1687 

James  I.  (Stuart)  king  of  England 1603  — 1625 

The  Protestant  Union  in  Germany  concluded     ....  1608,  1609 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE.  543 

A.  J> 

A.  truce  between  the  Netlierlanders  and  Spaniards ;  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  former  acknowledged           1609 

Henry  IV.  murdered  by  Ravaillac 1610 

Louis  XIII.  of  France           ....                ...  1610  —  1643 

Matthias  on  the  imperial  throne 1612 — 1619 

The  Dutch  erect  some  trading  posts  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson 

river 1613 

Imperial  House  of  Romanoff  (Russia) 1613 

Death  of  Matthias May  20,  1619 

Frederick  V.  of  the  Palatinate  made  king  of  Bohemia          .        .  Nov.  1619 

First  settlement  of  New  England,  at  riymouth    .        .        .        .  Dec.  22,  1620 
Ernest  of  Mansfield  defeats  Tilly,  the   imperialist  general,  at 

Wiesloch April,  1622 

Richelieu  changes  the  government  in  France       .        .        .        .  1624 

Charles  I.  of  England 1625  —  1649 

Frederick  of  Bohemia  defeated  by  Ferdinand  n.         .        .        .  Nov.  7,  1625 

Ernest  of  Mansfield  and  Christian  of  Brunswick  die     .        .        .  1626 

Christian  IV.  defeated  by  Tilly  at  Lutter Aug.  27,  162G 

The  validity  of  the  Petition  of  Right  acknowledged     .        .        .  1628 

Settlement  of  Salem,  in  Massachusetts 1628 

Duke  of  Buckingham  assassinated 1628 

Christian  recovers  his  lands  by  the  peace  of  Lubeck    .         .        .  1629 

The  Edict  of  Restitution  published  by  Ferdinand  II.  .         .        .  1629 

Pomerania  surrendered  to  Gustavus  Adolphus     ....  1630 

Settlement  of  Boston,  in  Massachusetts 1630 

Diet  of  Leipsic Feb.  1631 

Magdeburg  taken  by  Tilly May  16,  1631 

The  imperial  anny  defeated  at  Leipsic  and  Breitenfield       .        .  Sept.  7,  1631 

The  victory  of  the  Swedes  at  Lutzen Nov.  16,  1632 

Alliance  of  Ileilbron  (Swedes  and  Germans)       ....  1633 

Settlement  of  Maryland 1633 

Wallenstein,  the  general  of  Ferdinand  11.,  murdered  .         .        .  Feb.  25,  1634 
The   peace  of  Prague  between  the  German  princes  and  the 

emperor  .        .         .         . 1634 

Richelieu  encourages  the  Swedes  in  their  undertakings  in  Ger- 
many         1635 

Settlement  of  Hartford,  in  Connecticut 1636 

Saxony  anQ  Thuringia  conquered  by  the  Swedes        .        .        .  1636 

War  with  the  Pequod  Indians  in  Connecticut       ....  163  > 

Ferdinand  III.  emperor  of  Germany 1637  — 1657 

Settlement  of  New  Haven,  in  Connecticut 1637 

Episcopal  form  of  service  repelled  from  Scotland          .        .        .  1637 

Rhode  Island  colonized  by  Roger  Wilhams          ....  1638 

Death  of  Bernhard  of  Weimar •        .  1639 

Charles  I.  (Stuart)  calls  a  parliament  after  eleven  years*  delay    .  1640 

Formation  of  the  New  England  Confederacy       ....  1643 

Frederick  William  elector  of  Brandenburg          ....  1640  —  1688 

Strafford  and  Laud  attainted  of  high  treason      .        .        .        .  1641 
46* 


646  CmiONOLOGICAL   TABLE. 

A.  D. 

Civil  war  between  Charles  and  the  parliament     ....    1642  —  1646 

The  Swedes  defeat  the  imperial  army  at  Leipsic                   .         .  1642 

Louis  XIV.  on  the  French  throne        .                           ...  1643—1715 

Christina  queen  of  Sweden 1644 

Battle  of  Marston-Moor July  3,  1644 

Contests  between  the  Presbyterians  and  Independents        .        .  Feb.  1645 

Charles  defeated  at  Naseby June  14,  1645 

Alexis  reduces  the  Cossacks  to  subjection    .....  1645  —  1676 

Charles  dehvered  prisoner  to  the  parliament        ....  1646 

Peace  of  Westphalia    .         .' 1647 

Cromwell  marches  upon  London  to  give  the  Independents  the 

superiority  in  Parliament June,  1647 

Escape  of  Charles  I Nov.  1 648 

Eighty-one  Presbyterians  expelled  from  Parliament    .         .         .  Dec.  1648 

War  of  the  Fronde 1648  —  1653 

Execution  of  Charles  I Jan,  30,  1649 

Prince  of  Wales  recalled  from  Holland,  and  acknowledged  as 

Charles  II.  by  the  Presbyterians 1650 

Cromwell's  victory  over  the  Scots  at  Dunbar        ....  1650 

The  royal  army  overthrown  at  Worcester 1651 

Navigation  act  passed  in  England        ......  1651 

Long  parliament  dissolved  by  Cromwell April,  1653 

Cromwell  dissolves  by  force  his  second  parliament       .        .         .  Dec.  1653 

Mazarin's  return  to  Paris 1853 

Christina  abdicates  in  favor  of  Charles  Gustavus           .         .         .  1654 

Charles  X.  of  Sweden 1654  —  1660 

Battle  of  Warsaw July,  1656 

Emperor  Leopold  takes  up  arms  to  secure  the  crown  of  Spain  for 

his  son 1657  — 1705 

Cromwell's  death         .        .        .        .^ Sept.  3,  1658 

Rump  parliament  restored  and  dissolved  by  the  army           .         .  April,  1659 

Charles  IL  returns  as  king May  29,  1660 

Casimir,  king  of  the  Poles,  makes  peace  with  Sweden        .         .  1600 

Charles  XL  of  Sweden         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  1660  —  1697 

Death  of  Mazarin        .        .         .         .         .        .        .        .        .  March  9,  1661 

T!>c  English  wrest  New  York  from  the  Dutch     ..."  1664 

Spalement  of  New  Jersey 1665 

Spanish  war 1667    1668 

Louis  XIV.  compelled  to  surrender  the  greater  part  of  his  con- 
quests in  the  Spanish  Netherlands    ....*.  1668 
The  AjMrian  government  executes  the  leaders  of  the  insurrec- 
tion in  Hungary 1671 

Louis  XIV.  carries  his  arms  agahist  Holland        ....  1672 — 1679 

Marquette  and  Joliet  discover  the  ilisslssippi  nver       .        .         .  1673 

Moliere  died 1673 

Spain  and  Germany  join  in  the  war  against  France     .        .        .  1674 

The  Swedes  defeated  by  Frederick  William        .        .        .        .  1675 

King  Philip's  war  in  New  England 1675 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE.  547 

A.  D. 

Bacon's  rebellion  m  Virginia 1676 

Feodor  czar '  .  1676  — 1682 

The  peace  of  Nimeguen 1679 

Habeas  Corpus  act       ...        .                 ....  1679 

Strasburg  taken  from  the  Germans  by  Louis  XIV.      .        .  So.pt.  1681 

Pennsylvania  granted  to  William  Penn        .        .         .        .        .  1681 

La  Salle  sails  down  the  Mississippi 1682 

The  Turks  defeated  before  the  walls  of  Vienna Sept.  1683 

Peter  Corneille,  French  dramatic  poet        ...                 .  1684 

Peace  concluded  with  France  at  Regensburg       ....  Aug.  15,  1684 

James  IL  ascended  the  English  throne 1685 

Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  by  Louis  XIV.        .        .        .  Oct  1685 

James  II.  fled  from  England Dec.  1688 

Sir  Edmund  Andros  deposed  at  Boston,  Massachusetts          .        .  1689 

Frederick  L  king  of  Prussia 1688  —  1713 

The  French  take  and  burn  Spire June,  1689 

Montesquieu  flourished 1689  —  1755 

War  of  Orleans 1689  —  1697 

Peter  the  Great  czar 1689  —  1725 

Expeditions  fitted  out  by  Mas^chusetts  against  Acadle  and 

Quebec 1690 

New  Charter  of  Massachusetts .  1691 

French  defeated  in  the  battle  of  La  IlogUe          .        .        .        .  1692  \ 

Witches  hanged  at  Salem .        .  1692 

Lafontaine  died .        .  1694 

Voltaire  flourished 1694  —  1778 

Death  of  king  John  Sobieski  of  Poland       • 1696 

Frederick  Augustus  chosen  king  of  Poland          ....  1697 

Charles  XIL  of  Sweden 1697  —  1718 

Peace  of  Ryswick 1697 

James  II.  and  the  Catholic  Irish  defeated  at  the  Boyne        .        .  July,  1690  ' 

Peace  of  Carlowitz 1699 

Racine  died 1699 

Settlement  of  Louisiana 1699 

Death  of  Charles  IL  of  Spain 1700 

Charles  of  Sweden  besieges  Copenhagen     ...                 .  1700 

Frederick  I.  solemnly  crowned  at  Konigsburg     ....  1700 

Anne  queen  of  England 1702  —  1714 

General  Catinat  defeated,  and  Savoy  and  Piedmont  made  allies 

of  Austria  by  prince  Eugene 1701 

Charles  of  Sweden  defeats  the  Prussians  near  Narva .         .        .  1701 

War  of  the  Spanish  succession 1702  —  1714 

Surrender  of  Warsaw  to  Charles  XII. 1702 

The  revolt  of  the  Tjrolcse 1 703 

Charles  XIL  deposes  Augustus  king  of  Poland    ....  1 703 

Peter  the  Great  founds  St.  Petersburg 1703 

Bossuet  died 1 704 

Battle  of  Hochstadt  (Blenheim)  .        .        .  Aug.  13,  1704 


548  CHRCNOLOGICAL  TABLE. 

A.  IX 

Stanislaus  Leczinski  elected  king  of  Poland         ....  1704 

Capture  of  Gibraltar  by  the  English 1 704 

Joseph  I.  emperor 1705  —  1711 

Defeat  of  the  French  at  Kamilies  by  Marlborough       .        .        .  May  23,  1706 

The  French  defeated  at  Turin  by  prince  Itlugene        .        .        .  Sept.  7,  1 706 

Peace  of  Altranstadt Sept.  24,  1706 

Scottish  representatives  admitted  into  parliament        .        .        .  1707 

Victory  of  Almanza Apr.  25,  1707 

Battle  of  Oudenarde  won  by  Marlborough  and  prince  Eugene    .  July  11,  1708 

Charles  Xn.  makes  an  expedition  against  Moscow       .         .        .  1708 

Charles's  army  suffers  greatly  from  the  severe  winter  ...  1 708 

The  Swedish  army  defeated  at  Pultowa July  8,  1709 

Battle  of  Malplaquet.    Defeat  of  the  French       .        .        .        .  Sept.  11,  1709 

Death  of  Joseph  1 1710 

Charles  XII.  escapes  into  Turkey 1710 

Boileau  died ^             1711 

Abortive  expedition  against  Canada,  under  Walker  and  Hill       .  1711 

Charles  y I.  emperor  of  Germany 1711 — 1740 

The  army  of  Peter  the  Great  almost  made  prisoners  on  the  Pruth 

by  the  Turks 1711 

Charles  XII.  arrives  before  the  gates  of  Stralsund       .        .        .  Oct.  1711 

Frederick  II.  born Jan.  24,  1712 

Rousseau  flourished 1712 — 1778 

Peace  of  Utrecht May  11,  1713 

Frederick  William  I.  king  of  Prussia 1713  —  1740 

Peace  of  Eastadt,  between  the  Germans  and  French  .         .        .  Mar.  7,  1714 
The  Spanish  Netherlands,  Milan,  Naples,  and  Sicily,  given  to 
Austria.     The  electors  of  Bavaria  and  Cologne  restored  to- 

their  lands  and  titles Sept.  1714 

Death  of  Louis  XIV Sept.  1,  1714 

George  I.  of  England 1714  —  1727 

Archbishop  Fenelon  died 1715 

Louis  XV.  of  France 1715  —  1774 

Philip  of  Orleans  regent 1715  —  1723 

James  (HI.)  Stuart  attempts  to  gain  the  throne            .        .        .  1715  —  1717 

Stralsund  surrendered  to  the  Prussians Dec.  1715 

Insurrection  in  Thorn  against  the  Jesuits 1717 

Winkehnann  flourished 1717  —  1 768 

Charles  XIL  killed  before  Friederichstadt Dec.  11,  1718 

Execution  of  Baron  de  Gorz        .        .         .        .        .        ,        .  1719 

Sweden  surrenders  nearly  all  her  foreign  possessions  .        .        .  1719,  1720 

Alexis  condemned  to  death  by  Peter  the  Great,  his  father  .        .  1722 

Klopstock  the  poet 1724  — 1803 

Kant  the  philosopher 1724  — 1804 

Catherine  I.  empress  of  Russia 1725  — 1727 

George  IL  of  England 1727  —  1760 

Peter  n.  emperor  of  Russia 1727  —  1730 

Lessing  flourished 1729  —  1782 


CKROXOLOGICAL   TABLE.  545> 

A.  D, 

Anna  empress  of  Russia 1730  — 1740 

Greorgia  founded  by  general  Oglethorpe 1732 

The  Polish  war  of  succession 1 783 

Frederick  Augustus  m.  king  of  Poland 1733  — 1763 

Wieland  lived      .        .         .         : 1733  —  1813 

Frederick  II.  marries  into  the  House  of  Brunswick      ...  1 734 

Francis  Stephen  exchanges  Lorraine  for  Tuscany       .         .        .  1737 

Charles  VI.  concludes  the  peace  of  Belgrade      ....  Sept.  18,  1739 

Frederick  II.  ascends  the  Prussian  throne 1740 

He  makes  an  expedition  into  Silesia Oct  1 740 

First  Silesian  war 1740  —  1742 

Battle  of  Molwitz.    Victory  of  the  Prussians        .  .        .April  10,  1741 

Elizabeth  empress  of  Russia 1741 — 1762 

Charles  Albert  crowned  king  of  Bavaria  at  Prague      .        .        .         Oct.  1741 
He  is  elected  emperor  of  Germany,  and  reigns     .         :         .         .1741  — 1745 

His  capital,  Munich,  taken  by  the  enemy Jan.  24,  1742 

Peace  of  Breslaw July  28,  1742 

Maria  Theresa  crowned  at  Prague 1 743 

French  defeated  at  the  battle  of  Dettingen  ....  June  27,  1743 

Second  Silesian  war 1 744,  1 745 

Herder 1744  —  1803 

Death  of  Charles  Vn.  at  Munich        .        ...        .        .        .  Jan.  20,  1745 

-  Treaty  of  Fiissen April,  1 745 

Victory  of  Frederick  II.  at  Ilohenfriedberg         ....    June  4,  1 745 
Battle  of  Kesseldorf.     Frederick  marches  to  Dresden.     Silesia 

ceded  to  him  in  the  peace  of  Dresden Dec.  25,  1 745 

♦Francis  I.  emperor  of  Germany 1745  — 1765 

Victories  of  the  French  at  Fontenoy  and  LafTeld         .        .         .    1745  — 1747 
Charles  Edward  the  Pretender  lands  in  Scotland        .        .         .  1745 
Capture  of  Louisburg,  on  Cape*  Breton,  by  troops  from  Massachu- 
setts           1745 

Ferdinand  VI  king  of  Spain 1746  —  1759 

Defeat  of  the  Pretender  at  Culloden April  16,  1746 

Peace  of  Aix  la  Chapelle  with  the  French       ....  1748 

Goethe  flourished  .........    1749  —  1832 

Joseph  Emmanuel  king  of  Portugal 1750  —  1777 

Alliance  between  Maria  Theresa  and  the  French  king  against  the 

king  of  Prussia Sept.  1751 

Braddock's  defeat  by  the  French  and  Indians       ....  1755 

Earthquake  in  Lisbon  .        .         .         .        .        .        ,        .        .       Nov.  1 755 

The  French  driven  into  exile  from  Acadie 1 755 

Frederick  of  Prussia  falls  suddenly  on  Saxony     ....  1 756 

He  marches  against  Bohemia 1757 

He  is  victorious  at  the  battle  of  Prague May  6,  1757 

He  is  defeated  a't  Collin June  18,1757 

The  French  defeat  his  allies  at  Hastenbeck July,  1757 

He  gains  a  splendid  victory  at  Rosbach        ...  .  Nov.  5,  1757 

He  defeats  Daun  at  the  battle  of  Beuthen    .  .       Dec.  1757 


550 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE. 


Capture  of  Fort  William  Heniy  by  Montcalm     . 

Adolf  Frederick  of  Sweden 

Unsuccessful  attack  on  Ticonderoga,  by  Abercrombie  . 
Frederick  of  Prussia  receives  support  from  England     . 

His  victory  at  Zorndorf 

He  is  worsted  at  Hochkirk 

He  is  defeated  by  the  Austrians  at  Kunersdorf    . 
Ferdinand  defeats  the  French  at  Minden    . 

Schiller  flourished 

The  Jesuits  expelled  from  Portugal  .... 
Battle  of  Quebec  and  death  of  Wolfe 

Charles  III.  of  Spain 

Ferdinand  defeats  Laudon  and  regains  Silesia     . 

George  III.  king  of  England 

Ferdinand  obtains  the  dearly-bought  victory  of  Torgau 

Elizabeth,  empress  of  Russia,  dies 

Peter  HI,  emperor  of  Russia,  murdered 

Catherine  II.  of  Russia 

Frederick  concludes  the  peace  of  Hubertsburg  . 
The  English  obtain  Canada  by  the  peace  of  Paris 
Death  of  Augustus  IH.  of  Poland        .... 
War  with  the  Indians,  usually  called  Pontiac's  war    . 
Poniatowski  chosen  king  of  Poland      .... 
Passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  for  taxing  America     . 
Joseph  n.  ascends  the  imperial  throne  of  Germany 
Stamp  Act  Congress  at  New  York       .... 

Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act 

Christian  VII.  of  Denmark 

The  General  Confederation  of  Radovi  formed 

The  Confederation  of  Bar,  in  Poland,  defeated    . 

The  war  between  Russia  and  Turkey 

Affray  with  the  soldiers  at  Boston        .... 

Gustavus  III.  comes  to  the  throne  of  Sweden 

Moscow  visited  by  pestilence,  and  civil  war  in  Poland  . 

Louis  XV.  orders  his  opponents  in  the  parliament  to  be  arr 

Neckar's  first  ministry 

The  treaty  of  partition  of  Poland  between  Russia,  Austria 

Prussia 

The  abolition  of  the  Order  of  Jesuits  .... 
Destruction  of  the  Tea  in  Boston  harbor  .  ... 
The  English  increase  their  forces,  and  shut  up  the  harbor  of 

Boston 

A  Congress  of  the  American  Colonies  meet  at  Philadelphia 
Rebellion  of  Pugatscheflf,  a  Don  Cossack      ... 

Louis  XV.  of  France  dies 

Battle  of  Lexington,  in  Massachusetts 

Battle  of  Bunker's  Hill 

Juliana,  stepmother  of  Christian,  directs  the  Danish  government 


1757 


A.  D. 

1757 

1771 

1758 

1758 

Aug.  25,  1758 

Oct.  14,  1758 

Aug.  12,  1759 

April  13,  1759 

1759  —  1805 

1759 

1759 

1759  —  1788 
Aug.  15,  1760 

1760  —  1820 
Nov.  3,  1760 
Jan.  5,  1762 
July  9,  1762 
1762  —  1796 

Feb.  21,  1763 

1763 

1763 

1764 

Sept.  1764  —  1795 

1765 

1765—1790 

October,  1765 

March,  1766 

1766—1808 

July  23,  1767 

Feb.  1768 

1768  —  1774 

March  5,  1770 

1771  —  1791 

1771 

1771 

1771  —  1781 


ested 


and 


Aug.  5,  1772 
1773 
1773 

1774 

Sept.  17,  1774 

1774 

1774 

April  19,  1775 

June  17,  1»775 

1775 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE.  551 

A.  D, 

Montgomery  killed  In  an  attack  on  Quebec  .        .        .        .  Dec.  31,  1775 

Pugatscheff  is  betrayed  and  suffers  death 1775 

The  British  troops  evacuate  Boston March  17,  1776 

Turgot  and  Malasherbes  (ministers)  reorganize  France       .        .  1776 
The  Dc(,'laration  of  Independence  adopted  by  the  American  Con- 
gress          July  4,  1776 

Battle  of  Long  Island  and  defeat  of  the  Americans      .        .        .  Aug.  27,  1776 

Battle  of  Trenton Dec.  25,  1776 

Battle  of  Bennington Aug.  16,  1777 

Battle  of  Brandywlne Sept.  11,  1777 

Battle  of  Germantown Oct.  4,  1777 

Burgoyne's  army  capitulates  at  Saratoga Oct.  15,  1777 

The  Bavarian  war  of  succession  .   ' 1778  — 1779 

The  French  form  an  alliance  with  America  ....     Feb.  6,  1778 

Battle  of  Monmouth June  28,  1778 

Spain  forms  an  alliance  with  America June  26,  1779 

The  French  and  Americans  repulsed  at  Savannah      .         .        .      Oct.  9,  1779 

Gen.  Lincoln  capitulates  at  Charleston May  12,  1780 

Gates  defejited  by  Corn wallis  at  Camden     ....  Aug.  16,  1780 

England  declares  war  against  Holland        .        .         .         .         .         Nov.  1 780 

Joseph  IL  of  Austria 1780  —  1790 

Battle  of  Guilford  Court  House March  15,  1781 

Neckar  obliged  to  resign  his  office 1781 

Cornwallis  surrenders  to  the  French  American  army  .  .  .  Oct.  19,  1782 
The  attempt  of  the  Spaniards  to  take  Gibraltar  foiled  .         .         Sept.  1782 

The  independence  of  America  acknowledged  by  the  English  in 

the  peace  of  Versailles Nov.  30,  1782 

Nicolai  of  Berlin 1783  —  1811 

Crimea  conquered  by  Potemkin 1 783 

A  democratic  insurrection  in  Holland 1 784 

Joseph  n.  offers  the  Austrian  Netherlands  in  exchange  for  Bavaria  1 785 

Shays's  rebellion  in  Massachusetts 1786 

Frederick  William  n.  restores  order  in  Holland  .        .        .  1787 

The  Netherlanders  expel  the  Austrians 1787 

Second  Turkish  war J. 787  —  1792 

Calonne  calls  an  Assembly  of  Notables Feb.  1787 

The  boldest  speakers  against  taxation  in  the  parliament  of  Paris 

arc  arrested  and  banished  to  Troyes Aug.  1787 

Gustavus  UI.  wages  war  with  Russia 1 788 

Brienne  compelled  to  resign  his  ministry Aug.  1788 

Neckar's  second  ministry 1788,1789 

The  Estates  summoned Dec.  1 788 

Oczakow  stormed  by  Potemkin  .  Dec.  1 7,  1 783 

The  Federal  Constitution  of  the  United  States  of  America  ffoes 

into  effect March  4,1789 

George  Washington,  President  of  the  United  States  .  .  .1789  — 1797 
The  Third  Estate  declares  itself  a  National  Assembly  .  .  June  17, 1789 
The  Hall  of  Assembly  closed June  20,1780 


552 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 


Mirabeau  opposes  tlie  dissolution  of  the  Assembly 

Storming  of  the  Bastille 

The  equaUty  of  citizens  declared 

Gustavus  meditates  war  with  France  . 

The  Netherlands  declare  their  independence 

Death  of  Joseph  IL 

Leopold  n.  of  Austria 

The  fortress  of  Ismail  stormed  by  Suwaroff . 

Feast  of  the  Federation  at  Paris 

Prince  Potemkin,  favorite  of  Catherine  II.,  died 

The  death  of  Mirabeau 

The  Poles  reorganize  their  government 

Louis  attempts  to  escape  from  Paris     . 

The  Russian  party  in  Poland  form  the  Confederation  of 

gowicz      ........ 

Gustavus  is  murdered  by  Ankerstrom 
France  declares  war  against  Austria  and  Prussia 
A  Russian  army  advances  into  Poland        .        '. 
Kosciuzko  defeated  by  the  Russians     . 
The  assault  on  the  Hotel  de  Ville 
The  Prussians  defeated  at  Yalmy 
Repubhcanism  established  in  France  . 
Custines  obtains  possession  of  jMayence 

Battle  of  Jemappes 

New  partition  of  Poland  between  Russia  and  Prussia 

Condemnation  of  Louis 

llis  execution      ....... 

Dumourier  defeated  by  the  Austrians  at  Neerwinden 

Chalier,  the  demagogue,  executed  at  Lyons 

The  Dutch  and  Hanoverians  defeated  at  Handschooten 

Trial  and  execution  of  Marie  Antoinette 

The  French,  under  Hoche,  defeated  at  Kaiserslautern 

Insurrection  of  the  Poles  under  Kosciuzko  . 

Execution  of  Danton  and  Desmoulins 

Execution  of  Elizabeth,  sister  of  Louis  XYI. 

Jourdain  compels  the  evacuation  of  Belgium 

The  Jacobins  denounced  in  the  Convention 

Execution  of  Robespierre,  St.  Just,  Couthon,  Henriot, 

Jacobins, 

Defeat  of  Kosciuzko 

The  French  compel  the  Prussians  to  retreat 

Poland  divided  between  Austria,  Prussia,  and  Russia 

The  Convention  surrounded  by  the  Mob 

Peace  of  Basle 

The  insurrection  of  the  1st  Prairial 

The  Austrians  get  possession  of  Heidelberg 

The  Royalist  party  suppressed     .... 

Bonaparte  defeats  Beaulieu  at  Milesirao  and  Montenotte 


and 


A.  D. 

.  June  27, 1789 

.  July  14,  1789 

.     Aug.  4,  1789 

1790 

1790 

.  Feb.  20,  1790 

.    1790—1792 

.  Dec.  22,  1790 

.  July  14,  1790 

1791 

.     Apr.  2,  1791 

.     May  3,  1791 

.June  21,  1791 


Tar- 


other 


iMar. 


Jan.  1792 

]VIar.  29,  1792 

April,  1792 

May,  1792 

July  17,  1792 

Aug.  10,  1792 

Sept.  20,  1792 

Sept.  21,  1792 

Oct.  21,  1792 

Nov.  6,  1792 

1793 

Jan.  17,  1793 

Jan.  21,  1793 

Mar.  18,  1793 

July  16,  1793 

Sept.  8,  1793 

Oct.  1793 

Nov.  1793 

Apr.  1794 

Apr.  5,  1794 

May  10,  1794 

June  26,  1794 

July  27,  1794 

.  July  28,  1 794 

.    Oct.  10,  1794 

Oct.  1794 

Jan.  1795 

31,  Ap.  1,  1795 

.     Apr.  5,  1795 

.  May  20,  1795 

.  Sept.  24,1795 

.      Oct.  5,  1795 

1796 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 


653 


Bonaparte's  victory  at  the  Bridge  of  Lodi   . 

Wurmser  defeated  at  Castiglione 

Jourdain  defeated  at  "Wurzburg  .... 

Retreat  of  Moreau  through  the  Black  Forest 

Peace  concluded  between  the  Germans  and  French 

French  victories  at  Areola,  Rivoli,  La  Favorita  . 

Pope  Pius  VI.  concludes  the  peace  of  Tolentino . 

Austria  concludes  the  peace  of  Leoben  with  Bonapart 

The  royalist  deputies  arrested  at  the  Tuileries     . 

The  peace  of  Campo-Formio        .        .        .        , 

Bonaparte  opens  the  congress  at  Rastadt     . 

Pius  VI.  deprived  of  his  temporal  power     . 

Mamelukes  defeated  by  Bonaparte  near  the  Pyramids 

Insurrection  at  Cairo  against  the  French     . 

Rome  retaken  from  the  Neapolitans     . 

The  Parthenopeian  repubUc  established  at  Naples 

Bonaparte  marches  against  Syria 

He  besieges  Jean  d'Acre,  but  is  repulsed     . 

French  defeated  at  Stockach  by  Archduke  Charles 

The  French  ambassadors  assaulted  on  leaving  Rastadt 

The  Russians  conquer  the  Cisalpine  republic 

Cardinal  RufTo  storms  Naples      .... 

Bonaparte  defeats  the  Turks  at  Aboukir 

Pope  Pius  VI.  dies  in  Paris         .... 

French  defeated  at  the  battle  of  Novi . 

Russians  defeated  by  the  French  at  Zurich 

The  Duke  of  York's  retreat  from  the  Netherlands 

Bonaparte  returns  to  France       .... 

He  forms  a  new  constitution  in  France,  and  takes  the 

of  affairs  into  his  own  hands     .... 
Victory  of  Kleber  at  Heliopolis  .... 

Death  of  SuwarofF 

Napoleon's  passage  of  the  Great  St.  Bernard 

The  Austrians  defeated  at  Montebello 

The  rout  of  the  Austrians  at  Marengo 

March  of  Macdonald  and  Moncey  over  the  Grisons 

Defeat  of  the  Austrians  at  Ilohenlinden 

Attempt  to  kill  Bonaparte  by  the  infernal  machine 

I*eace  of  Luneville 

Battle  of  Canopus  in  Egypt.    Death  of  Abercromble 
The  French  clergy  made  subject  to  the  Pope 
Alexander,  son  of  Paul,  declared  emperor  of  Russia 
The  Concordat  concluded  with  Rome 
The  French  conveyed  by  the  English  from  Egypt 

Peace  of  Amiens 

Bonaparte  made  consul  for  life     .... 
The  Imperial  Diet  (Germany)     .... 
The  cantons  in  Switzerland  are  made  independent 
47 


A.  D. 

.  May  10,  1796 
.     Aug.  5,  1796 
Sept  3,  1796 
Sept.  19,  1796 
.    Oct.  24,  1796 
Jan.,  Feb.  1797 
Feb.  19,  1797 
Apr.  18,  1797 
Sept.  4,  1797 
Oct.  17,  1797 
Dec.  1797 
Feb.  1798 
July  21,1798 
Oct.  21,  1798 
Nov.  1798 
Jan. 1799 
Feb.  1799 
Mar.  20,  1799 
IMar.  25,  1799 
Apr.  28,  1799 
June,  1799 
June  13,  1799 
July  25,1799 
Aug.  1799 
Aug.  5,  1799 
Sept  25,  26,  1799 
Oct.  1799 
Oct  9,  1799 


direction 


Nov.  9,  1 799 

Mar.  20,  1800 

May,  1800 

May,  1800 

June  9,  1800 

June  14,  1800 

July,  1800 

Dec.  3,  1800 

Dec.  24,  1800 

Feb.  9,  1801 

Mar.  21,  1801 

April  8,1801 

May  24,  1801 

July  15,  1801 

Sept  1801 

Mar.  27,  1802 

Aug.  2,  1802 

Feb.  25,  1803 

Feb.  1803 


654 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE. 


War  declared  by  the  English  against  the  French 
Bonaparte's  troops  advance  upon  Hanover 
Execution  of  the  Duke  d'Enghien 
Napoleon  proclaimed  emperor     . 
Republicanism  in  Italy  changed  into  monarchy 
The  Austrian  general,  Mack,  shut  up  in  Ulm 
The  capitulation  of  Ulm       .... 
Battle  of  Trafalgar.     Death  of  Nelson 
Napoleon  defeats  the  Russians  at  Dirnstein 

Murat  enters  Vienna 

Victory  of  Napoleon  at  Austerlltz 
The  peace  of  Presburg        .... 
The  dynasty  of  the  Bourbons  ceases  in  Naples 
Death  of  Pitt 


The  Prussians  defeated  at  Saalfield  by  the  French 
The  double  battle  of  Jena  and  Auerstadt     . 
Hohenlohe  and  1 7,000  men  surrender  at  Prenzlow 
Napoleon  makes  peace  with  the  Elector  of  Saxony 
Battle  of  Eylau  between  the  French  and  Russians 
Dantzic  surrendered  to  marshal  Lefebvre    . 
Napoleon  abolishes  the  tribunate  .         .    "     . 

Peace  of  Tilsit  concluded 

Bombardment  of  Copenhagen.     Capture  of  the  Danish 

the  English      ....... 

The  flight  of  the  Lisbon  court  to  the  Brazils.     Junot 

session  of  Lisbon 

Godoy  delivers  Spain  to  Napoleon 

Charles  IV.  abdicates  the  throne  of  Spain  . 

1,200  French  killed  in  the  Insurrection  at  Madrid 

Napoleon  names  his  brother  Joseph  king  of  Spain 

The  Spaniards  driven  back  at  Rio  Seco   by  Bessi^res 

Dupont's  capitulation  at  Baylen,  in  Andalusia 

Capitulation  of  Cintra 

Meeting  at  Erfurt  of  Alexander  and  Napoleon    . 

Napoleon  enters  Madrid,  and  restores  Joseph 

Saragossa  taken  by  the  French    .... 

Gustavus  IV.  deprived  of  the  crown  of  Sweden  . 

Austria  sends  an  army  into  Bavaria  and  Italy 

It  is  defeated  at  Abensberg  and  Eckmuhl    . 

The  two  days'  combat  at  Aspern  and  Eslingen    . 

Napoleon  destroys  the  temporal  power  of  the  pope 

Major  Von  Schill  falls  during  the  assault  of  Stralsund 

Pope  Pius  VII.  taken  from  Rome  by  violence 

The  Austrians  defeated  at  Wagram    . 

Napoleon  unites  the  States  of  the  Church  to  the  French 

The  Austrians  conclude  the  truce  of  Znaym 

The  French  defeated  by  Wellington  at  Talavera 


.  May  18 

.    .   May, 

.  Mar.  21 

A.  D. 

1803 
1803 
1804 

.  May  18, 
.  March, 

1804 
1805 

.  Oct.  14 

1805 

.  Oct.  20, 

.  Oct.  21, 

Nov. 

1805 
1805 
1805 

.  •  .  Nov.  13, 
.  Dec.  2, 

1805 
1805 

.  Dec.  26, 
.  Dec.  27, 

1805 
1805 

. 

1806 

.  Aug.  26, 

1806 

.  Oct.  10, 

1806 

.  Oct.  14, 

.  Oct.  28, 

Dec. 

1806 
1806 
1806 

.  Feb.  8, 

1807 

.  May  ^4, 

1807 
1807 

June  7-9, 
fleet  by 
.   Sept.  2-5 

1807 
1807 

kes  pos- 

Nov. 

1807 

.  Feb.  1, 
.  March, 

1808 
1808 

.  May  2, 
.  June  6, 

1808 
1808 

.  July  14, 

.    .  July  22, 

.  Aug.  30, 

1808 
1808 
1808 

.  Sept.  27, 
.  Dec.  4, 
.  Feb.  20, 

1808 
1808 
1809 

.  Mar.  13, 

1809 

, 

1809 

.  April  20- 22, 

.  May  21,  22, 

.  May  27, 

.  May  31, 

.  June  16, 

1809 
1809 
1809 
1809 
1809 

July  5,  6, 

territory  July  6, 

.  July  12, 

.  July  26, 

1809 
1809 
1809 
1809 

CHRONOLOGICAL    lABLE. 


555 


A.  D 

.  July  28,  1809 

.  Oct.  12,  1809 

.  Dec.  15,  1809 

.  Feb.  18,  1810 

the  < 

iuchy 

.  July  9,  1810 

.  Aug.  21,  1810 

.  Mar.  20,  1812 

.  July  16,  1812 

.  July  22,  1812 

.Aug.  17,  1812 

.  Sept.  7,  1812 

.  Sept.  14,  1812 

.  Oct.  24,  1812 

Nov.  26-29,  1812 

.  Feb.  3,  1813 

May  2  and  20,  1813 

.  June  21,  1813 

.  July  12,  1813 

>Aug.  12,  1813 

Death  of  Sir  John  Moore  at  Corunna 

The  attempted  assassination  of  Napoleon  by  Staps 

Napoleon  diyorced  from  Josephine 

Hofer,  the  Tyrolese,  shot  at  Mantua    . 

Napoleon  annexes  Hamburg,  Bremen,  Lubeck,  and 

of  Oldenburg  to  the  French  empire 
Bernadotte  declared  successor  to  the  Swedish  throne 
Birth  of  a  son  (the  king  of  Rome)  to  Napoleon  . 
The  French  cross  the  Nlemen,  and  enter  Wilna 
Wellington  defeats  Marmont  at  Salamanca 
The  battle  of  Smolensk  fought     .... 
The  French  gain  the  battle  of  the  Borodino 
The  French  army  enters  Moscow 
The  battle  of  Malo-Jaroslowetz    .... 
The  passage  of  the  Beresina         .... 
Prussia  forms  an  alliance  with  Russia 
The  French  victorious  at  Lutzen  and  Bautzen  . 
The  English  gain  the  battle  of  A^ittoria 
Austria  negotiates  at  the  congress  of  Prague 
Austria  declares  war  against  France   ... 
The  Prusso-Swedish  army  victorious  in  the  battles  of  Gros-Beeren 

and  Dennewitz Aug.  23  and  Sept.  6,  1813 

NaiX)leon  wins  the  battle  of  Dresden Aug.  26,  27,  1813 

Macdonald  defeated  on  the  Katzbach,  in  Silesia  ....  Aug.  26,  1813 
Vandamme  and  his  whole  army  surrounded  and  made  prisoners 

at  Culm Aug.  29,  30,  1813 

The  allied  armies  unite  in  the  plain  of  Leipsic  ....  Oct.  8,  1813 
The  French  defeated  at  the  battle  of  Leipsic  .  .  .  Oct.  16,  18,  1813 
Victory  gained  by  the  French  at  Ilanau       ....     Oct.  30,  31,  1813 

Blucher  crosses  the  Rhine Jan.  1,  1814 

Norway  given  to  Sweden  by  the  peace  of  Kiel      .        .         .  Jan.  14,1814 

The  armies  of  Blucher  and  Schwarzenberg  meet  in  Champagne, 

and  gain  the  battle  of  Brienne 

Napol[;on  obtains  the  victor}' of  Montereau 

Blucher  gains  fresh  advantages  over  the  French  at  Craonne  and 

Laon Mar.  7  and  9, 

Negotiations  between  the  allies  and  Napoleon  broken  off,  and 

his  dethronement  resolved  on  .         .         .        .        .        .    Mar.  20,  21,  1814 

The  allies  enter  Paris .*       .        .  Mar.  31,  1814 

Napoleon  resolves  to  abdicate  in  favor  of  his  son    ....  April  4,  1814 

He  signs  an  unconditional  act  of  abdication April  7,  1814 

Soult  defeated  by  Wellington  at  Toulouse April  10, 1814 

Napoleon  lands  at  Elba May  4,  1814 

Ferdinand  restores  unlimited  monarchy  in  Spain  .        .        .  May  10,  1814 

First  peace  of  Paris  concluded May  30,  1814 

Louis  XVni.  placed  on  the  French  throne  ....  May  30,  1814 

Napoleon  lands  on  the  south  coast  of  France  ....  Mar.  1,  1813 
Grenoble  opens  her  gates  to  him  ....  Mar.  20,  1815 


Feb.  1,  1814 
Feb.  18, 1814 

1814 


556 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 


Willi 


Murat  defeated  in  the  battle  of  Tolentlno     . 

The  French  compel  the  Prussians  to  retreat  at  Ligny  . 

Battle  of  Waterloo 

Kapoleon  resigns  in  favor  of  Napoleon  II.    . 
Paris  surrendered  to  Wellington  and  Blucher 
Alexander  of  Russia,  Francis  of  Austria,  and  Frederick 

III.  of  Prussia  form  the  Holy  Alliance 
Napoleon  arrives  at  St.  Helena    ..... 

Second  peace  of  Paris  arranged 

Democratic  display  at  the  festival  of  the  Wartburg 
James  Munroe,  President  of  the  United  States     . 
George  Sand  assassinates  Kotzebue     .... 

Sand  is  executed 

Riots  at  Manchester  suppressed  by  the  military  . 
Insurrection  of  the  soldiers  at  Cadiz    .... 

George  IV.  king  of  England 

Assassination  of  the  due  de  Berri  by  Louvel 

Dismission  of  the  moderate  ministry  of  Decaze   . 

Ferdinand  of  Spain  obliged  to  summon  the  Cortes  and  swear  to 

the  constitution 

Pepe  and  Carascosa,  with  the  insurgents,  enter  Naples 
George  IV.  attempts  to  divorce  his  wife 
The  Holy  Alliance  suppresses  the  liberal  movement   . 
Missouri  admitted  into  the  Union  by  a  compromise  on  the 

of  slavery 

John  VI.  returns  to  Lisbon,  and  swears  to  a  new  constitution 

Portugal  and  Brazil 

A  revolution  in  Piedmont.    Victor  Emmanuel  abdicates 

Greece  rises  in  arms    .         . 

The  Piedmontese  liberals  resist  at  Novara   . 

Napoleon  Bonaparte  died 

The  sacred  band  of  the   Greeks  destroyed  by  the   Turks  in 

Wallachia 

Queen  Caroline  (of  England)  died 

Lord  Castlereagh  committed  suicide    .... 

The  Holy  Alliance  requires  the  Spanish  Cortes  to  alter 

stitution   .        .        .         .        .        .  •       . 

A  French  army,  under  the  duke  of  Angouleme,  crosses 

Pyrenees  .        .        .    ♦ .        .  -      . 

They  appear  before  Cadiz 

Ferdinand  VII.  replaced  on  the  Spanish  throne  . 
Byron  dies  in  Greece  ....... 

Don  Miguel  is  banished  from  Portugal 
Gen.  Lafayette  visits  the  United  States 

Louis  XVHI.  dies 

John  Quincy  Adams,  President  of  the  United  States  . 
Count  of  Artois  becomes  king  of  France,  as  Charles  X. 
Emperor  Alexander  dies 


subject 


the 


A.  D. 

May  23,  1815 
June  16,  1815 
June  18,  1815 
June  22,  1815 
July  8,  1315 


Sept.  25, 
Oct.  18, 

Nov.  20, 

Oct.  18, 
1817  — 

Mar.  23, 
Sept. 

Jan.  1, 

1820  — 

Feb.  13, 

March, 


for 


1815 
1815 
1815 
1817 
1825 
1819 
1819 
1819 
1820 
1830 
1820 
1820 


Mar.  7,  1820 

July  13,  1820 

1820 

Jan.  1821 

1821 

Jan.  26,  1821 

March,  1821 

March,  1821 

April,  1821 

May  5,  1821 

June  19,  1821 

Aug.  7,  1821 

Aus.  12,  1822 


con- 
the 


Oct.  1822 


Feb.  1823 

Aug.  5, 1823 

Nov.  7,  1823 

April  19, 1824 

April,  1824 

1824 

Sept.  16,  1824 

1825—1829 

May  29,  1825 

Dec  1,  1825 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 


557 


A.  D. 

John  ^a  of  Portugal  dies iMar.  10,  1826 

Missolonghi  taken April  22, 1826 

The  destruction  of  the  Janissaries  at  Constantinople     .        .        .       June,  1826 

Canning,  prime  minister  of  England,  dies Aug.  8,  1827 

Battle  of  Navarino Oct.  20,  1827 

Don  ^Miguel  is  proclaimed  king  of  Portugal  ....       June,  1828 

Irish  Catholics  admitted  to  parliament  .         .         .        .        .  1829 

Gen.  Andrew  Jackson,  President  of  the  United  States         .        .    1829  — 1837 
Capo  d'Istria  appointed  President  of  the  Greek  States         .        .        July,  1829 

The  French  Chambers  dissolved Aug.  8,  1829 

The  Russians  surmount  the  Balkan Sept.  14, 1829 

William  IV.  on  the  English  throne 1830  —  1837 

Frederick  of  Spain  abohshes  the  Salic  law Mar.  29,  1830 

Algiers  taken  by  the  French July  5,  1830 

The  Revolution  of  July  broke  out        .....        .  July  26,  1830 

Louis  Philippe  appointed  regent July  29,  1830 

Louis  Philippe  king  of  the  French 1830—1847 

A  conspiracy  against  Russia  breaks  out  in  Poland        .        .        ,  1830 

Isabella,  daughter  of  Frederick  of  Spain,  born      ....         Oct.  1830 
Antwerp  bombarded  by  the  Dutch  general,  Chass6      .        .        .        Nov.  1830 

A  free  constitution  given  to  Hesse  Cassel 1831 

A  Russian  army  of  200,000  men  marches  into  Poland  .        .  Jan.  25,  1831 

A  disturbance  excited  in  Paris  on  the  day  of  the  due  de  Berri's 

death,  by  the  raising  of  the  white  flag Feb.  15,  1831 

The  Refonn  Bill  passed Mar.  1,  1831 

Insurrections  in  Paris  and  Lyons  suppressed        .        .        .      1831, 1832,  1834 

Batde  of  Ostrolenka May  26,  1831 

Belgium  separated  from  Holland  ...*..       June,  1831 

Thirty  friends  of  the  Russians  murdered  at  Warsaw.     Czar- 

toryski  flies  to  the  camp  of  Dembinski Aug.  1831 

Warsaw  and  Praga  surrender Sept.  6,  7,  1831 

Don  Pedro  compels  Don  Miguel  to  renounce  the  Portuguese 

crown,  and  leave  the  country 

The  French  seize  on  Ancona,  and  keep  it  several  years 

Otho  elected  king  of  Greece        ..*.... 

The  Hambacher  Festival,  in  Rhenish  Bavaria     .... 

The  duchess  of  Berri  unsuccessful  in  raising  Vendee  . 

South  Carolina  attempts  to  nullify  a  law  of  the  United  States     . 

Holland  desists  from  the  contest  with  Belgium    .... 

The  German  liberals  attempt  to  disperse  the  diet 

Frederick  VH.  of  Spain  dies 

The  Basques,  led  by  Zumalacarreguy  and  Cabrera,  rise  in  favor 

of  Don  Carlos 

Twenty-one  persons  lose  their  lives  by  the  attempt  of  Fieschi  to 

murder  Louis  Philippe 

Slave  Emancipation  Bill  passed 

Charles  X.  dies  at  Gorz 

Martin  Van  Buren,  President  of  the  United  States     .        • 


1832  —  1834 

Feb.  23,  1832 

May,  1832 

May  27,  1832 

Nov.  1832 

Nov.  19,  1832 

Dec.  1832 

Aprils,  1833 

Sept.  29,  1833 

Oct.  1833 


July  28,  1835 

Aug.  1835 

1836 

1887  —  1841 


5ipS  CHEONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 

A.  D, 

Ernest  Augustus  becomes  king  of  Hanover  .        .        .        .  1837 

Victoria  ascends  the  British  throne June  20,  1837 

The  old  constitution  of  Hanover  restored     .         .         ...         .         July,  1837 

The  Carlist  leader,  Maroto,  lays  down  his  arms  ....  Aug.  31,  1839 

Frederick  William  IV.  king  of  Prussia 1840 

Queen  Victoria  marries  prince  Albert  of  Saxe  Coburg,  .  .  Feb.  10,  1840 
Gen.  W.  H.  Harrison,  President  of  the  United    States.      His 

death April  4,  1841 

Espartero  effects  the  removal  of  Christina  from  Spain  .        .        May,  1841 

The  English  corn  laws  relaxed 1842 

Duke  of  Orleans  killed  by  an  accident  .  .  .  .  .  July  13,  1842 
Treaty  of  Washington,  negotiated  by  Mr.  Webster  and  Lord 

Ashburton,  settles  the  north-eastern  boundary  of  the  United 

States .        Aug.  1842 

The  Greeks  drive  away  the  Bavarians 1843 

Switzerland  disturbed  by  a  sft-uggle  between  Jesuitism  and  Badi- 

calism March,  1843 

Espartero  being  overthrown,  Christina  and  her  daughter  carry 

on  the  Spanish  government July,  1843 

Annexation  of  Texas  to  the  United  States March,  1845 

James  K.  Polk,  President  of  the  United  States  ....  1845  —  1849 
War  between  Mexico  and  the  United  States  ....  April,  1846 
Gen.  Taylor  defeats  the  Mexican  army  at  Palo  Alto  and  Besaca 

de  la  Palma      .  ^ May  8,  9,  184G 

The   king   of  Denmark   destroys  the  hope   of  the    Schleswic- 

Kolsteiners  of  being  united  to  Germany July  8,  1846 

Oregon   Treaty   with    Great   Britain   settles   the    northwestern 

boundary  of  the  United  States July,  1846 

Capture   of  Monterey  and   defeat   of  the   Mexicans  by   Gen. 

Taylor Sept.  21,  23,  1846 

Battle  of  El  Paso;  Mexicans  defeated  by  Col.  Doniphan      .  Dec.  25,  1846 

Frederick  William  IV.  makes  some  concessions  to  the  Prussians  1847 

Battle  of  Bucna  Vista ;  Santa  Anna  with  22,000  men  defeated  by 

Gen.  Taylor  with  5,000  . Feb.  23,  1847 

Battle  of  Sacramento ;  Col.  Doniphan  defeats  the  Mexicans         .  Feb.  28,  1847 

Vera  Cruz  surrendered  to  Gen.  Scott Mar.  29,  1847 

Mexicans  defeated  at  Cerro  Gordo  by  Gen.  Scott  .  .  .  April  18, 1847 
The  Swiss  radicals  dissolve  the  Sonderbund  ....  July,  1847 
Battles  of  Contreras  and  Churubusco ;  Mexican  army  defeated 

with  great  slaughter Aug.  20,  1847 

Bloody  batde  of  Molina  del  Bey;  Mexicans  defeated  by  Gen. 

Worth Sept.  8,  1847 

Chapultepec  stormed  and  the  city  of  Mexico  taken  by  assault 

by  the  American  army  under  Gen.  Scott  .  .  .  Sept  12,  14,  1847 
A  confederate  army  subdues  Freiburg  and  Lucerne    .        .         .    Nov.  4,  1847 

The  other  cantons  obliged  to  submit Dec.  1,  1847 

Death  of  the  duchess  Maria  Louisa Dec.  18,  1847 

Bicily  revolts  from  the  king  of  Naples Jan.  1848 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE.  559 

A.  D. 

Louis  Philippe  dismisses  Guizot,  and  promises  reform  .         .     Feb.  22,  23,  1848 
Louis  Philippe  abdicates  in  favop  of  the  Count  of  Paris.  A  republi- 
can government  formed Feb.  24,  1848 

An  insurrection  in  Vienna  causes  Metternlch  to  resign        .         .  Mar.  13,  1848 
The  Prussian  government  consents  to  freedom  of  the  press,  and 

other  reforms Mar.  17,  1848 

Disturbances  in  Berlin Mar.  18,  1848 

King  Louis  resigns  the  crown  of  Bavaria Mar.  20,  1848 

After  an  undecided  street-fight  of  fourteen  hours,  the  king  of 

Prussia  grants  an  unconditional  amnesty  .        .         .  Mar.  21,  1848 

The  Austrian  garrisons  in  Milan  and  Venice  expelled  by  popular 

insurrections IMarch,  1848 

The  emperor  of  Austria  and  his  court  retire  tolnnspruck    .        .        May,  1848 
Treaty  of  Guadaloupe  Hidalgo,  making  peace  between  Mexico 

and  the  United  States May  30,  1848 

The  emperor  returns  on  the  invitation  of  the  Austrian  Diet        .        July,  1848 
Archduke  John  of  Austria  is  elected  regent  of  Germany,  and 

enters  Frankfurt July  11,  1848 

Radetzky  gains  a  victory  at  Custozza July  25,  1848 

The  truce  of  Malmii  concluded  by  Prussia Ang.  26,  1848 

The  German  republicans  attempt  in  vain  to  disperse  the  National 

Assembly,  and  bring  about  a  revolution  and  republic       .         .  Sept.  18,  1848 
The  Magyar  mob,  enraged  at  Jellachich  taking  the  field  against 

Hungary,  murder  Lamberg  at  Bada-Pesth        ....     Oct.  3,  1848 

Latour  murdered  at  Vienna Oct.  6,  1848 

Rossi,  the  pope's  minister,  murdered Nov.  15,  1848 

Francis  Joseph  becomes  emperor  of  Austria        ....     Dec.  2,  1848 

A  liberal  constitution  granted  in  Prussia      .....     Dec.  5,  1848 

The  pope  flies  to  Gaeta.     A  republic  is  established  in  Rome        .         Feb.  1849 
Charles   Albert  takes  up  arms  for  the  Italians,  but  is  soon  de- 
feated by  Radetzky  .        ...         .        .         .  March  20 -24,  1849 

The  dignity  of  emperor  of  Germany  offered  to  the  king  of 

Prussia March,  1849 

A  Danish  llne-of-battle  ship  and  frigate  destroyed  by  the  Ger- 
mans at  Eckernford April  5,  1849 

The  Diet  declares  Hungary  to  be  independent  of  Austria,  and 

appoints  a  provisional  government April  14,  1849 

The  dissolution  of  the  second,  and  prorogation  of  the  first,  cham- 
ber of  the  German  Assembly April  27,  1849 

Prince  Windischgratz  sent  to  reduce  Vienna June,  1849 

The  minister,  Romer,  puts  a  stop  to  the  revolutionists,  and  com- 
pels them  to  leave  Germany    ......        .June  18,  1849 

A  truce  completed  between  Schleswic  and  Denmark  .         .        .        July,  1849 
The  French,  after  a  fierce  resistance,  enter  Rome       .         .        .     July  3,  1849 
Gorgey  surrenders  to  the  Russians  at  Villagos    ....  Aug.  11,  1849 

Venice  retaken  by  the  Austriaas Aug.  25,  1849 

THE    END. 


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